Mahatma Gandhi:Biography, Quotes, Lifelesson, Picture

 Mahatma Gandhi

BASIC INTRODUCTION OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Bapu (the father of the nation) and Mahatma (the great soul) was born at Porbandar on 2nd October 1869. Karamchand was his father and putlibai was his mother. His father was a hereditary diwan of a petty princely state in Kathiawar. His mother was pious, God-fearing, and devout, and had religious practices such as prayers,  reciting God’s names, counting rosary beads, etc. They belonged to the caste of Vaishya. Gandhi's father came to Rajkot from Porbandar when Gandhi was only seven years old. Gandhi was married at the early age of 13 to Kasturba. He passed matriculation at the age of 17 and then studied for some time in a college in Bhavnagar.

YOUNG LIFE OF MAHATMA GANDHI

When quite young, he tried eating meat and smoking but instantly he was overcome with deep remorse, repentance, and revulsion. Similarly, when his father was dying, he was busy enjoying sex with his wife Kasturba Gandhi. When he came to know about the death of his father he was overwhelmed with a sense of shock and remorse. These petty misadventures and experiments of his formative years left an indelible impression on his young mind and later we see him taking _ a strict vow of celibacy, non-injury, and compassion towards all living beings. Thus, he developed sharp and strong ideas about a number of important things in life. After his father’s death, he sailed from Bombay to London to study law so that he could become the diwan of a princely State in Gujarat. The voyage was nothing short of a revolutionary step for him because for the traditional family of Gandhi it was a sort of Sacrilege. The whole vaishya community to which he belonged, fey Outraged and so declared him an outcast. His voyage across to London was regarded as a flagrant violation of the orthodox ap, traditional Hindu tenets been in practice for many thousand years Before his departure to London, he took a solemn vow to abstain from, meat, wine, and sex. 

GANDHI IN LONDON

In London, he had a very unhappy and restless life as he felt like, a square peg in a round hole in the so sophisticated English Society and milieu. He remained almost an outcast although he tried to ap. the English youth. All his attempts to become a fashionable English gentleman again proved a misadventure as his attempts to smoke and eat meat had proved earlier in India. Therefore, he gave up these attempts of becoming a gentleman and decided to follow his own nature, There he read Barnard Shaw's “Plea for Vegetarianism”: and declared, “From the day of reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice the. spread of which became my mission.” He also set up a vegetarian club there and one day invited Sir Edwin Amold to become the club’s Vice-president. In 1891, he passed his Bar-atLaw examination and in the summer of the -same year returned to India, to his great relief, and he was called to the Bar at Bombay but again as a practitioner of law, he proved a miserable failure. His self-consciousness was too great a stumbling block to overcome. Then he went to South Africa in April 1893 to help a distant relation in legal matters. His long stay in Africa proved a blessing in disguise and really a turning point.

GANDHI IN SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa, Gandhi was subjected to too much humiliation, indignities, and apartheid. He was even thrown out off a train because he dared to travel in the first class with a white man. These trials, tribulations, and travails helped him a lot to ponder hard on the matter to turn towards God for light, guidance, and help. This process of deep introspection and prayer soon transformed him into a determined vocal, analytical and committed person. Spiritually, he grew in stature rapidly and found his self-confidence and moorings: During these great formative days, he studied Gita besides Ruskin’s “Unto This Last”. It was just a chance that a friend had given a hit. Ruskin’s book to browse as he traveled on a board to Dublin from Johannesburg in 1904. He resolved to renounce wealth and materialistic possessions to become a true Karma Yogi. “Work is worship” because most cherished motto and ideal and he began to do all his work with his own hands in spite of the fact that he was now in a very comfortable position financially. He then took a vow of strict celibacy with the due knowledge and consent of his wife Kasturba.

He set up Phoenix Farm near Durban and continued his experiments with truth and soul-searching. He studied the Bible. Henry Thoreau's essay.on Civil Disobedience and the works of Tolstoy. These studies strengthened further his convictions, resolves, and vows regarding non-violence, brahmacharya, non-possession, devotion to God, and service to humanity at large. He had his first practice session in non-violence, civil disobedience, and service on a very small scale. He led the Indian community against very discriminatory and prejudicial laws which required them to be registered and fingerprinted and carry special identity cards. Similarly, he organized Indian Ambulance Corps in the Boar War and worked as a stretcher-bearer. It was an object lesson in how to serve mankind which earned him the appreciation and admiration of many in the government and the public

GANDI RETURNED TO INDIA

He returned to India in 1915 and was accorded a very warm ‘reception on his return to his country on January 9. He established an ashram on the bank of river Sabarmati, near Ahmedabad on the same lines and principles on which had done so in South Africa. He came under the influence of moderate Congress leader Gopal Krishna Gokhle and began to regard himself as his follower. He championed the cause of the indigo farmers of Champaran in Bihar against their exploitation. In 1918 he began the Kheda peasant satyagraha and then a movement against Rowlatt Act by giving a nationwide call for hartal for a day. His identification with the poor and downtrodden masses of India was natural, spontaneous, and complete. His utter simplicity, sincerity, and deep faith in the noble cause of freedom and the welfare of the people helped him to turn the freedom struggle into a mass movement. Soon he became synonymous with Congress and the freedom movement. He inspired the masses with confidence, courage, and hope. He introduced Khadi and popularised the spinning wheel tO mitigate the sufferings of the rural poor. The wheel and Khadi soon became powerful weapons and symbols of national unity, integration, social renaissance, and a kind of economical revolution among the masses. He traveled extensively, met people, exchanged ideas with them, won their hearts and minds, and converted them to his faith. Crowds rushed to see him, to know his views, and to seek his guidance On various issues. They became an integral part of his crusade against Slavery, exploitation, injustice, suppression, hatred, and violence. It was Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore who for the first time called him “Mahatma™. a great soul in recognition of his many great qualities of heart and soul. He was imprisoned on several occasions on false and fabricated charges but his spirit of devotion to the cause of liberty, remained ever undaunted, nay emerged stronger, nobler, and more determined after every such imprisonment. 

In December 1929, at the annual session of the Congress in Lahore, he made the party pass a unanimous resolution of Swaraj, Complete freedom. On March 12, 1930, he undertook the famous Dandi March, On April 6, he reached the seashore and lifted a lump of salt in a. symbolic violation of the monopolistic and cruel law of the British government. He was arrested and so were thousands of other leaders and his followers. It was a historic event and an-unprecedented example of mass civil disobedience. He was released in January and invited to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. After his return from London, he was again arrested and the Congress banned. Following the failure and rejection of Cripps Mission, he began his ‘famous “Quit India Movement”, a final mass civil disobedience movement. He and other leaders were again arrested and there were - widespread protests and demonstrations. At last, the British cabinet in London decided to withdraw the British government from India, and Lord Mountbatten was given the charge for the final withdrawal. He was against the partition but Jinnah was adamant and so the partition became. imminent. Finally, India became free on 15th August 1947, but at once the whole country was in communal flames and there were large-scale - arson, violence, murders, slaughters, and brutal attacks on convoys of migrating people. Gandhi was shocked; shattered and disillusioned. 

Gandhi was desperately busy containing the carnage and slaughter in Bengal. Delhi itself was engulfed in a sort of civil war. He reached Delhi to quell the communal violence and addressed a large gathering of people in his prayer meetings urging them not to shed blood but violence and hatred. He also contemplated a peace mission to Pakistan, but soon he was shot dead while going to the prayer meeting by a fanatic named Nathuram Godse. The whole country was flung -M. a great Crisis, turmoil, and mourning. Then addressing the nation, Pt. Nehru said, “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere...the father of the nation is no more. The best prayer we can offer him to his memory is to dedicate ourselves to truth and the cause for which this great countryman of ours lived and for which he died.” 

GANDI'S DEATH

His death marked the culmination of a great soul and his illustrious career. He had grown into a living legend during his lifetime. His legend continues to grow as happens in the case of great men of all times like Buddha and Christ. He led us to freedom and independence and we in our tum rewarded him with a cross. No doubt history repeats and so exactly.

Also Read About

1. Louis Pasteur
2. Leonardo Da Vinci
3. Gautam Buddha

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Louis Pasteur : Bio, Life lesson, Quotes, Discoveries.

                            Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur has been one of our greatest scientists. This French chemist and microbiologist made many very significant discoveries. These discoveries of fundamental value and far-reaching significance were in the fields of health, medicine, diseases, industry, and agriculture. These proved really landmarks in our glorious history of science and achievements. His devotion to his research and scientific work was exemplary and he never sought any personal gains or advantage for himself from these. His lifetime achievements in chemistry and bacteriology immensely benefitted the entire humanity and we all feel so proud of this great man and scientist.  

Pasteur’s discoveries were of great practical value for medicine, health, industry, and agriculture. These saved millions of lives and generated immense new wealth for the entire world. He saved silk, liquor, and agriculture from diseases and destruction. He discovered the process of pasteurization and invented ways and means to save mankind from such deadly diseases as anthrax, chicken cholera, and rabies. Because of his so many and so valuable discoveries he a darling of the world and grew into a legend in his own lifetime. 

Lous Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, France. His father was a tanner. He never wanted his son to follow in his footsteps because a tanner involved unremitting hard labor. Pasteur’s parents were honest, hard-working, and devout. In 1827 Pasteurs moved to nearby Arbois and there the child was admitted to a school. It was here that Louis as a schoolboy showed great promise and attracted.

He attention of the school teachers and the headmaster. At the age of 17, he received a degree of bachelor of letters from the Royal de Besancon College. For the next three years, he taught some Junio, Students to earn money and made preparations for the Ecole Normale a famous college in Paris. During this period he worked on the crystallographic chemical and optical properties of various forms of tartaric acid which laid the foundations for later research and studies in the geometry of chemical bonds. These studies helped him in Betting recognition and the job of an assistant to a professor of chemistry, 

Pasteur got a doctor of science degree in 1847 and soon became a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. As an assistant to Mr. Bolard, he came in contact with such other professors as Jean Baptiste, Dumas, etc. At Strasbourg, he met officially the President of the university. He developed a love for his daughter Marie Laurent and sent his marriage proposal to her father.: They were married on May 29, 1849. His wife shared his passion for science and research and they had five children but unfortunately, three of them died in childhood.

Pasteur became a professor of chemistry and dean. of new Science Faculty at the University of Lille in 1854. Some of his greatest work was done here during his stay at Lille. His interest in microbes was growing when a local distiller approached him for help in preventing alcohol from turning sour which he was producing from beet sugar. Pasteur found during his studies that fermentation was a complex Chemical reaction that happened only in the presence of certain living Organisms. He also discovered that fermentation, putrefaction, infection, and souring are caused by microbes. This was a revolutionary discovery. He also discovered what caused milk turning sour and gave the world the valuable technique of pasteurization and thus immensely helped the dairy industry.

In 1857, Pasteur left Lille and returned to his old institution, the Ecole Normale in Paris. He was made manager and director of the institute. In 1862 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. During these years he further studied the germ theory and proved that germs or microbes did not originate spontaneously in the matter but entered from the outside. In 1865 he discovered how bacteria caused diseases in silk production. He also showed how to prevent the disease by destroying bacteria in mulberry leaves. It was the result of his 2-years hard work and research leading to the isolation of the bacteria that caused the diseases in silkworms.

 Two of his children had already died and then in October 1868 he himself became a victim of another great tragedy. He was struck by paralysis. His left arm and leg were paralyzed and he was confined to bed, but within three months he was back at his work table. Then he was 45 years old. The paralytic stroke left its mark on him and for the rest of his life, his left foot dragged a little while he walked. Soon he began his research on contagious diseases. In 1877 he began to research a cure for anthrax, the fatal disease found in farm animals. He was also working on chicken cholera then. He found that when he inoculated healthy chickens with weakened cultures of the cholera microbes, the chicken developed immunity to the disease. He successfully applied this technique of immunization to the prevention of anthrax. He isolated anthrax bacilli and also how to control and eradicate it. 

At first, many scientists doubted his anthrax prevention theory and application. And so he agreed to a dramatic test and a public demonstration. He collected some forty-eight sheep, cows, and goats at a farm near Melun. Half the animals were first immunized with a weakened strain of anthrax microbes and then all were injected with strong cultures. Pasteur predicted that within 48 hours all the vaccinated animals would be alive while unvaccinated ones would be dead. And really the untreated animals died but the immunized ones showed no effect of the disease. The test and demonstration were a complete success. He called all inoculation cultures as vaccines and the technique of inoculation a vaccination. 

Finally, Pasteur devoted himself to solving a very great problem of rabies. Rabies is also known as hydrophobia and is caused by a virus infection that affects a wide range of animals including dogs, cats, foxes, skunks, and vampire bats. It is transmitted to human beings by bites and licks on skin abrasions. It directly and predominantly affects the central nervous system and salivary glands resulting in hallucinations and delusions. Other symptoms include restlessness, muscle spasms, and painful spasms of the larynx making it difficult for the infected person to drink. The alternative name “hydrophobia” stems from the difficulty in drinking water by the infected man or animal. 

In July 1885 a young boy named Joseph Meister bitten by a mad dog was brought before Pasture. Unless some effective treatment was given to the boy, he was bound to die soon. Pasture undertook to treat the patient and he was given the injection and there was gradual recovery and improvement and the treatment was successful. The. the technique of vaccination and inoculation had worked wonders. For his wonderful discoveries, he was awarded many honors and prizes. Honors poured upon him from all over the globe. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was set up in Paris. Thousands of persons contributed funds towards establishing this institute and laboratory of world fame, where scientists conduct research on different diseases. From 1888 till his death on September 25, 1895, he was head of the Pasteur Institute. The French government gave him a public funeral and his death was mourned in science circles all over the world. 

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Leonardo da Vinci: paintings, quotes, discoveries, life lesson , bio

                                                  Leonardo da Vinci

He has always been regarded as one of the three great creators of the Renaissance of the 16th century. During this period there were many small but prosperous States in Italy ruled over by families who had grown affluent from trade, banking, and commerce. The de Medici of Florance, the Borgias, the Skorzas of Milan, etc. were well-known families and houses. They were great lovers and patrons of arts and architecture. These men and women of great aesthetic taste attracted great artists of all kinds. Italy became a great center of new ideas, innovations, culture, and good taste. and manners. People flocked to Florance, Venice, and Milan from all over Europe to learn new ideas and imbibe new styles.

Leonardo da Vinci was a contemporary of Perugino, Signorelli, Michael Angelo, and Raphel. But he was much senior to Michael and Raphel. He was a man of dynamic and multifaceted genius and his range of work and interest was so large and diffused as defied any limits. He almost discovered blood circulation, invented the first armored fighting vehicle, projected many aircraft and helicopters, and anticipated the submarine. But unfortunately, none of these discoveries and inventions were complete. He left behind thousands of brilliant and practicable ideas in the form of notes and diaries with sketches and drawings and a handful of excellent paintings. He really anticipated Galileo, Newton, Copernicus, Bacon, Harvey, etc. His genius was versatile, unique, and matchless. He was a great painter, sculptor, thinker, architect, engineer, natural philosopher, and a great visionary, all rolled into one.

Leonardo, one of the greatest luminaries, was born in 1542 at Venice, the illegitimate and out-of-wedlock son of a Florentine notary. His mother Caterina, a sixteen-year lady was the daughter of a peasant family. Name of his father was Piero da Vinci. Piero married another woman of a well-known family, but he brought. Leonardo at his home as a legitimate son. Leonardo spent his early years of childhood s on the family estate near Florance. He indulged in clay modeling and drawing at an early stage with certain perfection too much for his age. And so his father put him under Verrocchio, the Florentine artist. In no time he became a skilled painter and artist and began to help his master with his works. He is said to have painted the left-hand angel in his master’s “Baptism” as a result of it Verrocchio gave up painting " forever out of shame and stuck to sculpture only.

Thus, very soon Leonardo became an independent and famous artist. At Verrocchio’s studio, he came across another artist Boticelli and they became intimate friends. Unfortunately, most of Leonardo’s early master paintings are lost. Besides painting and sculpture, he studied optics, anatomy, botany, geography, and astronomy as extensions of the art. He regarded art and science as two aspects of the same coin, His thirst for knowledge and . reproduction of the beauties and marvels of nature was insatiable. In . the artistic atmosphere and environment of Florence his genius found full expression and fruition, By 1472, he had already become a Master in the Guild of Florence. He made many new experiments and broke new ground in the field of art.

He made a special study of fold structure, the interplay of light and shade to create something new, innovative, and different from the old school, He also studied human biology and physiology closely and visited hospitals, graveyards, churches, and busy marketplaces, He was a very keen observer of things and nothing worth its name escaped his notice. He also experimented with the technique of oil painting as is evident in the Madonna in Munich in which the minute detail of the dew drops on the crystal vase was so remarkable that they astounded his contemporary painters. His reputation as a master artist and painter was rapidly increasing as is evident from the fact that he was commissioned to paint a large “Adorations of the King” for the monks of S. Donato a Scopeto near Florence.

In about 1483 Leonardo moved to Milan to work for Lodovico Sforza, II Moro Duke of Milan. Lodovico or Ludovico, the Duke of Milan was a man Of great taste but also tyrannical and with ruthless ambition. He actually ruled as a regent for his nephew but made himself the real center of power and authority. He made alliances with Rodrigo Borgia and married a daughter of the powerful d’Este family -from Ferrara. He invited great artists to his court and Leonardo da Vinci was one of them. Perhaps Leonardo was recommended to him by Lorenzo de Medici. A draft letter addressed to Lodovico Sforza IH by Lodovico exists in which he offered his services to the former. In this letter, Leonardo claimed in detail to be a highly skilled military engineer ‘ and then concluded it by saying “In peace, I believe that I can give you as complete satisfaction as only one in the construction of buildings, both public and private... I can further execute sculpture in marble, bronze, or clay, and in painting, I can do as much as anyone, whoever he may be. Moreover, I would undertake the commission of the bronze horse, which will endow with immortal glory and eternal honor the auspicious memory of your father and of the illustrious house of Sforza.”

Leonardo painted the “Lady with an Ermine,” which was a representation of Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Lodovico IH Moro. He remained in Milan till 1499 on a few art projects and many scientific ones. He had begun to .work on a bronze equestrian monument of Francisco Sforza, the father of Lodovico II Moro, but the project went no further than a huge clay model of the horse without its rider. But there are found some sublime drawings of horses connected with this project. He himself was an expert horse rider and had planned a book on the anatomy of the horse while working on the Sforza monument. Another major work of this period was the “Last Supper.” This painting is remarkable as it shows with great skill the Stress and strain on the faces of Christ’s disciples and the tension of the situation when the Master announces that one of them is about: to betray him. He gave a new dimension to contemporary painting by introducing the elements of psychological expressiveness. He set new examples of creativity. and contemplative art expressions by his works, which elevated paintings etc. to new and sublime heights. He also planned and built an extensive system of canals for Milan and also planned for two-level highways to facilitate different kinds of traffic, however, it was not executed.

The stories of Leonardo’s slowness in working on his paintings are well known. Later it was interpreted in an altogether different light and he came to be regarded as the “originator of the idea of the artist ag a contemplative and creature thinker, the equal of the philosopher, and Dot a mere artisan who was paid to cover so many square yards of the wall a day. Certainly, all the 16th-century ideas on the dignity of artist can be traced back to the example set by him.” That is why there are only a few paintings that he actually completed and finished though he planned and sketched in a large number. It appears that he was never satisfied and did not consider any piece of art well done and finished with such high was his standard and expectations.

The French invasion of Milan in 1499 greatly disturbed Leonardo’s artistic life. He was obliged to leave Milan and return to Florence. During 1502-03 he was working as a military engineer for Caesar Borgia. It is during these years also that he undertook a lot of dissections and became an expert anatomist of his time. He also undertook the project of a gigantic wall painting showing Florentine Victories in the Council Chamber of the New Republic but again it was left unfinished. One of Leonardo’s few finished works is the famous portrait of the wife of a Florence official, known as Mona Lisa or La Gioconda. It was done during 1500-1504.

Leonardo regarded Mona Lisa as his masterpiece and never gave it and took it with him to France when invited there by king Francis 1. The king then bought the painting for 12 thousand francs and hung it in the Louvre, the national museum of art in Paris which contains one of the finest art collections in the world. It was built for Francis 1. He spent his last years in France, at Cloux near Amboise in a chateau given by the king. His last years were mainly spent on scientific projects. It is said that his last painting was done in 1517 before he moved to France. It was the “S. John” (Louvre, Paris). A treatise on paintings written on the basis of Leonardo's notes was published in 1651. The finest collection of his drawings is in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, London, situated on the River Thames. He died on May 12, 1519, at the age of 68.

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