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Mahatma Gandhi Essay

Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader who dreamt of making India an independent state, which would be free from the British rule. From 1917 to 1947, Mahatma Gandhi has been a great leader and has worked to make his dream true. His non-co-operation movements and the famous Salt March are few examples of his life which are significant enough to express his identity (Metcalf and Metcalf, 2006). Gandhi had very aggressive nationalist facts (Metcalf and Metcalf, 2006). A number of characteristics were preserved by Gandhi during his leadership regime. One of such characteristic was Satyagraha. Apart from Satyagraha, many other actions were also taken by Gandhi to obtain independence and to join up India. Great commitment was given by Gandhi on Satyagraha, which showed that he did not want violence despite of the fact that he was a fighter who was fighting for the rights of his people. At first Gandhi lived completely according to the English culture, he even dressed like them. He obtained his education from London. But his life was pretty adaptive towards change. The books that he read influenced him a lot specially some of the quotes. There was one English quote which he inspired a lot, and that quote was one of the reasons why he chose a simple life ahead. He began working in the farm with those people who were considered as low cast in the Hindu culture (the untouchables). He started believing that hard work is the key to success. He also started believing that people desire for things just because other people also have them. Not just this, there were other changes as well which were seen in his life in the upcoming years. And all the changes made it clear that he was a man who was open for changes (Metcalf and Metcalf, 2006).

It was not only reading that transformed Gandhi's life completely but there were other things as well which brought about a change. Gandhi visited Champaran in 1917, and there he saw injustice taking place with the rural people. The rural were...

This was happening because of the British who were taking benefit out of the incomes of these poor people. This practice was further increasing the poverty rate. Gandhi decided to fight for these people. But before taking any initiative he learned to talk and dress up like the rural people. This initiative changed his looks completely. From that time onwards he started to dress up totally in a traditional manner. His new dressing style became a trademark of his personality (Metcalf and Metcalf, 2006).
Satyagraha is not just a term but a reflection of Gandhi's personality. The meaning of Satyagraha is non-violence. In September of 1906, Gandhi called up a meeting at Empire Theatre. This theatre is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The sole purpose of this meeting was to tell people that physical fighting is not a good option. At first this move was known as passive resistance but later Gandhi renamed it as Satyagraha. According to Gandhi the previous name could have been used in misleading terms because of its literal meaning. Gandhi elaborated the term Satyagraha, and told people that it represents love and truth. Satyagraha took the form of political protest but very soon it included other set of laws within it like self suffering and bravery. Gandhi used this combination as a weapon to win independence. This weapon soon took the form of a non-violent persuasion. Most importantly, these elements highlighted Gandhi's personality in future (Metcalf and Metcalf, 2006).

Examples and Explanations of leadership Qualities

Gandhi used to make use of Holy Books to preach the Indians who were living in South Africa. These books were Gandhi's inspiration and they played a major role in changing his life. When Gandhi was travelling to South Africa he came across Pretoria, where he faced racial discrimination. During the journey, a white British asked…

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References

Bondurant, Joan V. Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict. Princeton UP, 1988.

Fischer, Louis. The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas. Vintage: New York, 2002.

Gandhi, Rajmohan. Patel: A Life. Navajivan Publishing House, 1990.

Metcalf, Barbara, and Metcalf, Thomas RA. Concise History of Modern India: Cambridge Concise Histories. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
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