Mahatma Gandhi Essay | Essay on Mahatma Gandhi for Students and Children in English

Mahatma Gandhi Essay: It wouldn’t be difficult for anyone to identify the great yet humble personality of Mahatma Gandhi. The man who faced one of the world’s biggest superpowers, the British Raj with daunting courage and perseverance through his principle of non-violence, was indeed a force to reckon with. – The Angel of ‘Ahimsa’

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Long and Short Essays on Mahatma Gandhi for Kids and Students in English

Given below are two essays in English for students and children about the topic of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ in both long and short form. The first essay is a long essay on Mahatma Gandhi of 400-500 words. This long essay about Mahatma Gandhi is suitable for students of class 7, 8, 9 and 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants. The second essay is a short essay on Mahatma Gandhi of 150-200 words. These are suitable for students and children in class 6 and below.

Long Essay on Mahatma Gandhi 500 Words in English

Below we have given a long essay on Mahatma Gandhi of 500 words is helpful for classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Competitive Exam Aspirants. This long essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 7 to class 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the Western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar. He was born in a middle class family of Vaishya caste. His grandfather had risen to become the Prime Minister of Porbandar and was succeeded by his son Karamchand who was the father of Mohandas. Putlibai, Mohandas’s mother was a saintly character, gentle and devout and left a deep impression on her son’s mind. She was Karam Chand’s fourth wife, the first three having died in childbirth. Mohandas went to an elementary school in Porbandar, where he found it difficult to master the multiplication tables. He had two brothers and a sister and was youngest of all.

He was seven when his family moved to Rajkot. There he attended a primary school and later joined a high school. Though conscientious, he was a ‘mediocre student’ and was excessively shy and timid. The stories of Shravan and Raja Harishchandra had a great impact on him. While he was still in high school, he was married, at the age of 13, to Kasturba who was also of the same age. A friend of the family suggested that if the young Gandhi hoped to take his father’s place in the state service, he had better become a barrister, which he could do in England in 3 years. Gandhi jumped at the idea. The mother’s objection to his going abroad was overcome by the son’s solemn vow not to touch wine, women and meat.

Gandhi went to Bombay to take the ship for England. In Bombay, the people of his caste, who looked upon crossing the ocean as contamination, threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in going abroad. But Gandhi was adamant and was thus, formally excommunicated by his caste. Undeterred, he sailed on 4th September, 1888, for Southampton at the age of 18.

Having passed his examination, Gandhi was called to the Bar on 10th June, 1891 and sailed for India two days later. When he reached Bombay, he learnt to his profound sorrow that his mother had died. The news had been deliberately kept back from him to spare him from the shock in a distant land.

An offer from Dada Abdulla and Co. to proceed to South Africa on their behalf to instruct their counsel in a lawsuit, was a God-sent opportunity to young Gandhi, Gandhi jumped at it and sailed for South Africa in April 1893. It was in South Africa that this shy timid youth of 24, inexperienced, unaided, alone, came into clash with forces that obliged him to tap his hidden moral resources and turn misfortunes into creative spiritual experiences. After about a week’s stay in Durban, Gandhi left for Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, where his presence was needed in connection with a lawsuit.

A first class ticket was purchased for him by his client. When the train reached Maritzburg, the capital of Natal, at about 9 pm, a white passenger who boarded the train objected to the presence of a coloured man in the compartment and Gandhi was ordered by a railway official to shift to a third class. When he refused to do so, a constable pushed him out and his luggage was taken away by the railway authorities. It was winter and bitterly cold. This was the turning point in Gandhi’s life.

He extended his stay in South Africa to protest against the bill that denied Indians the right to vote. In 1910s, he established the Tolstoy farm for peaceful resistance. After the rights of the blacks were restored, Gandhi was hailed as a hero.

In January 1915, he finally returned to India, Mahatma, with no possessions and with only one ambition to serve his people.

At the end of his year’s wanderings, Gandhi settled down on the bank of the river Sabarmati, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, where he founded an Ashram in May 1915. He called it the ‘Satyagraha Ashram.’ The inmates, about 25 men and women, took the vows of truth, ahimsa, celibacy, non-stealing, non-possession and control of the palate and dedicated themselves to the service of the people.

It was the Rowlatt Act with its denial of civil liberties which finally brought Gandhi into active Indian politics. From 1919 to his death in 1948 he occupied the centre stage of the Indian politics and was the hero of the great historical drama which

culminated in the independence of our country. Like a magician, Gandhi roused a storm of enthusiasm in the country with his call for non-cooperation. He began the campaign by returning to the Viceroy, the medals and decorations he had received from the government for his war services and humanitarian works.

The anti-climax came suddenly in February 1922. An outbreak of mob violence in Chauri-Chaura shocked and pained Gandhi that he refused to continue the campaign and undertook a fast for five days to amne for a crime committed by others in a state of mob hysteria.

On 12th March, 1930, after having duly informed the Viceroy, Gandhi, followed by 78 members of his ashram, both men and women, began his historic 24 day march to the sea beach at Dandi to break the law which had deprived the poor man of his right to make his own salt. The rest is history how a single man shook the foundations of the British Empire and how at his single call the entire nation rose from slumbers to fight for their rights unanimously, forgetting all their differences. In 1942, he launched the Quit India Movement with the slogan ‘Do or Die’.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” -Gandhiji

Mahatma Gandhi Essay

 

Short Essay on Mahatma Gandhi 200 Words in English

Below we have given a short essay on Mahatma Gandhi is for Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below.

On 15th August, 1947, India was partitioned and became free. Gandhi declined to attend the celebrations in the capital and went to Calcutta where communal riots were still raging. And then, on the day of independence, a miracle happened. A year old riot stopped as if by magic and Hindus and Muslims began to fraternise with one another. Gandhi spent the day in fast and prayer.

Unfortunately the communal frenzy broke loose again on 31 st August, and while he was staying in a Muslim house, the safety of his own life was threatened. On the following day, he went on a fast which was ‘to end if and only if sanity returns to Calcutta’. The effect was magical. Those who had indulged in loot, arson and murder amidst shouts of glee, came and knelt beside him and begged for forgiveness.

On 4th September, the leaders of all communities in the city brought him a signed pledge that Calcutta would see no more of such outrages. Then, Gandhi broke the fast. Calcutta kept the pledge even when many other cities were plunged in violence in the wake of partition. On 30th January 1948, ten days after the bomb incident, Gandhi hurriedly went up the few steps of the prayer ground in the large park of the Birla House. He had been delayed due to a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and was late by a few minutes.

He loved punctuality and was worried that he had kept the congregation waiting. ‘I am late by ten minutes, he murmured. ‘I should have been here at the stroke of five’. He raised his hands and touched the palms together to greet the crowd that was waiting. Everyone returned the greeting. Many came forward wanting to touch his feet.

They were not allowed to do so, as Gandhi was already late. But a young Hindu from Poona forced his way forward and while seeming to do obeisance fired three point blank shots from a small automatic pistol aimed at the heart. Gandhi fell, his lips uttering the name of God (Hey Ram). Before medical aid could arrive the heart had ceased to beat-the heart that had beat only in love for humanity had ‘stopped’. Thus, died the Mahatma, at the hands of one of his own people, to the eternal glory of what he had lived for and to the eternal shame of those who failed to understand that he was the best representative of the religion for which he suffered martyrdom.

The nation’s feeling was best expressed by Prime Minister Nehru when with a trembling voice and a heart full of grief, he gave the news to the people on the radio.

“The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere”.

He was fondly called ‘Bapu’ and is the Father of the Nation. His birthday is a national holiday. His image appears on Indian currency notes. His death day is observed as Martyr’s day. For some, he was a saint or ‘fakir’, some called him a ‘leader’ and some a politician. But, he was in reality an extraordinary soul in an ordinary mortal’s body. That’s why he was called ‘Mahatma’.

Mahatma Gandhi Essay Word Meanings for Simple Understanding

  • Bespectacled – wearing eyeglasses
  • Agile – quick and well-coordinated in movement
  • Daunting – to lessen the courage of, dishearten
  • Conscientious – careful and painstaking, meticulous
  • Docile – obedient
  • Excommunicate – to exclude or expel from membership or participation in any group, association, etc
  • Undeterred – persevering with something despite setbacks
  • Profound – intense
  • Intrigue – a plot of crafty dealing
  • Lawsuit – a case in a court of law involving a claim, complaint, etc., by one party against another, suit at law
  • Intelligentsia – intellectuals considered as a group or class, especially as a cultural, social, or political elite
  • Palate – the sense of taste
  • Atone – to make amends for an offense or crime
  • Fraternise – to associate in a fraternal or friendly way
  • Arson – the act of intentionally or recklessly setting fire to another’s property or to one’s own property for some improper reason
  • Congregation – a gathered or assembled body
  • Obeisance – deference or homage