The person whom I admired first time is my mother. But, if we talk about the famous
person, I can say that, he is Mahatma Gandhi. He was from India. He is known as the
“Father of nation” in India as he played a very important role in gaining the freedom of
India.
Mahatma Gandhi gave the Indian People not only freedom but also the new
thoughts on non-violence and sustainable living. There are some qualities about him like
trust, non-violence, legacy, etc. These qualities are the ones that inspired me. He said
that “If my faith burns bright as I hope it will even if I start alone, I shall be alive in grave
and what is more speaking from it”.
Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in small town named Porbander.
Gandhi was a lawyer and he became the leader of the Indian National Congress. The
main things that admire me about him are that he was a great follower of non-violence.
About his non-violence he said that “I know my path. It is like edge of a sword”. More
than that, there are many things that admire me like once when he was very young, he
stole the gold from his house. By this time, he learnt that stealing something or to be
lying is a kind of sin. So, he thought that he should confess his mistake. The problem
was that his father was very strict and he was scared by him. So, he confessed his mistake
on a paper and he gave it to his father. His father read this paper and forgave him. The
first thing that admires me is that to confess our mistakes is not easy and he did that. The
other thing is that he found a way from the difficulties.
The other thing, which inspired me, is his punctuality. He was very prompt in his
life as he believes that punctuality is very important in the life. I think we all should be
punctual in the life. A very important example of being on time is when we want to
make a good first impression. Especially on occasions such as an interview or on the first
day of work.
The one of the most important thing in his life was that he never told a lie. “He
always said the truth. He tried to achieve truth by learning from his own mistake and
concluding experiments on himself”. I think there are very few people in the world that
can truly be honest. Gandhi is one of them. That is one more thing that inspires me that
we should not tell lies because if we tell a lie once, we have to lie hundreds of time to
hide that one lie.
He was known as “Father of nation” by Subhash Chandra Bose (other political
leader who played an important role in gaining the freedom for India) and then followed
by the nation. The other name of Gandhi was “Bapu” (father in Indian language). The
people who lived with him used to call him “Bapu”.
Now let’s ask some question to Mr. Gandhi.
Meghavi: It is very good to see you for the interview.
Gandhi: Thank you!
Meghavi: How does your family have an influence on your life?
Gandhi: I think family is the first necessity of the human. My family is very important in
my life. Nobody can replace the family. My family is the inspiration of my life. My
family help build my character and they have a great amount of influence on my life.
Our families play a major role in our lives.
Meghavi: How were you inspired to fight for freedom?
Gandhi: There was one worst experience in my life. I was traveling by train to Pretoria.
At that time the British had control over India. I was on the train in the first class coach.
During the trip, one British man came and told me that there was no place in the first
class coach for brown people. He told me to move from the first class coach to the third
class compartment. I refused to get out from this coach as I had tickets for this coach.
Then they threw my luggage from the train. At that time I felt very insulted. That was the
first incident in my life that inspired me to fight for the nation to get independence.
Meghavi: Why did you choose the vegetarian diet?
Gandhi: I was born in Hindu family. I followed the vegetarian diet just as most other
Hindus. When I went London to study, I made promise to my mother and uncle not to eat
any meat. From this, I gain “a basis for my life-long philosophies”. I believe in nonviolence, therefore I think that killing animals is not right. Also animals are just like
humans and we would not kill humans for our meals.
Meghavi: Why you believe in non-violence? Why did you choose the path of Nonviolence protesting?
Gandhi: “There are many causes that I am prepare to die for but no causes that I am
prepared to kill for”. I was like this from my childhood. I was inspired for promoting
non-violence by the religions of India, especially Jainism and Hinduism. I don’t like to
kill anybody or even insects because we can’t make them alive, so we have not right to
kill them. Since people used violence to gain freedom for India, we got our
independence a few years later than we would have if we had only used non-violence.
Meghavi: How do you feel about the criticism towards your ideas?
Gandhi: Sometimes, I feel awful when I heard about the negative remarks about me.
However, I took them in a positive aspect. I accept full responsibilities for the results of
my actions.
Meghavi: Why did you decide to wear only ‘Khadi’ (Kind of fabric) that is made by
‘Charkha’? (Spinning wheel, the equipment by which you can make the fabric)
Gandhi: I don’t want to wear any kind of the fabric that is not made in India. One more
thing that is by making the fabric, we can try to remove the unemployment from the India
as there is large amount of unemployment.
Meghavi: What was the great achievement in your life? And which one is special for you
in your life?
Gandhi: There are many achievements in my life like the Non-cooperation movement,
boycott (to avoid everything that is not made in India. he did that because at that time
most of things were made in England.), salt march (The march that is done to take out the
tax from the salt.) etc. But the salt-march is the most important in my life because salt is
the first necessity and the Indian people use salt most. British put the tax on salt and India
people can not afford it. So, I fight for to take out the tax for the salt and British
government canceled the tax from the salt after the march.
Meghavi: You played a very important role for the freedom of India. How did you feel
when British tortured the Indian people, who were with you? Did you ever feel to give
up on the way of non-violence?
Gandhi: I really felt very bad when they tortured us but I never thought to leave the way
of non-violence when they tortured the people, my goal became stronger and stronger to
get freedom from the British people by Non-violence. I used these negative aspects as a
motivation to continue on the policy of non-violence.
Meghavi: Do you want to say something about your hunger strike?
Gandhi: When India was ruled by the British government, there are many clashes
between the British and us. Sometimes British were not ready to agree with us even if we
were right. At that time I don’t have any option without hunger strike. That was the
effective way to convince them.
Meghavi: What is your dream to see India in the future?
Gandhi: My dream is to see India become prosperous and a republic. I hope to see India
continue to follow the non-violence policy. I would like to see a good relationship
between India and Pakistan. I know that my dream will come true one day.
Meghavi: How do you feel about scarifying your life for the nation?
Gandhi: I feel glad by scarifying my life for the nation. My sacrifice was not a waste. It
makes the nation free from the British. I do not regret any of my decisions in my life. I
would do anything for this nation. I am proud of my accomplishments.
Meghavi: Why people gave you the name like “Mahatma” and “Bapu”? (In the Indian
language bapu means father.)
Gandhi: I don’t know that why people gave me such names. I think people can give you
the better answer for this question. But I think people respect me a lot. The people think
that I understand their feelings in the better way than the others, that’s why they gave me
such names. But I think I don’t deserve it because whatever I did is for the nation. It is
my duty to do something for the nation.
Meghavi: Thank you so much for your precious time.
Conclusion
By doing the interview of Mahatma Gandhi, I learned many things about him. I
feel really proud by doing his interview. Today’s India is a gift by Gandhi. He told us that
“My life is my message”. He always told us that we have to fight for our rights. “Through
out his life, Gandhi remained committed to non-violence and truth even in the most
extreme situations”. Gandhi lived a very simple life. Gandhi was assassinated by
Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi. His last word from his mouth was
when he was shouted, “He Ram” (god in the Hindu religion). Gandhi’s life and
philosophies inspired many future equal rights such as “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Steve
Biko and Aung San Suu Kyi.” Gandhi is still praised today by people all over India. On
October 2, Gandhi’s birthday, the people of India consider this day as a national holiday,
which is called Gandhi Jayanti. Also, in the year 1996, the Indian government introduced
Gandhi’s picture on the Indian currency.