Interesting Facts About the Life of Gandhi

Many people remember Gandhi for his famous hunger strikes, but there’s a lot more to
the story. Here are some interesting Gandhi facts that offer a small glimpse into the life
of the father of India:

1. Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Karamchand was the name of his father. The honorific title Mahatma, or "Great Soul,"
was given to him in 1914.
2. Gandhi is often called Bapu in India, a term of endearment that means "father."
3. Gandhi fought for much more than independence. His causes included civil rights for
women, the abolition of the caste system, and the fair treatment of all people regardless
of religion. His mother and father had different religious traditions.
4. Gandhi demanded fair treatment for the untouchables, India’s lowest caste; he
underwent several fasts to support the cause. He called the
untouchables harijans,which means "children of God."
5. Gandhi ate fruit, nuts, and seeds for five years but switched back to strict vegetarianism
after suffering health problems. He maintained that each person should find their own
diet that works best. Gandhi spent decades experimenting with food, logging the results,
and tweaking his eating choices. He wrote a book named The Moral Basis of
Vegetarianism.
6. Gandhi took an early vow to avoid milk products (including ghee), however, after his
health began to decline, he relented and started drinking goat’s milk. He sometimes
traveled with his goat to ensure that the milk was fresh and that he wasn’t given cow or
buffalo milk.
7. Government nutritionists were called in to explain how Gandhi could go 21 days without
food.
8. The British government wouldn't allow official photos of Gandhi while he was fasting, for
fear of further fueling the push for independence.
9. Gandhi was actually a philosophical anarchist and wanted no established government in
India. He felt that if everyone adopted nonviolence and a good moral code they could be
self-governing.
10. One of Mahatma Gandhi's most outspoken political critics was Winston Churchill.
11. Through a prearranged marriage, Gandhi was wed at age 13; his wife, Kasturbai
Makhanji Kapadia, was one year older. They were married 62 years.
12. Gandhi and his wife had their first child when he was 16 years old. That child died a few
days later, but the couple did have four sons before he took a vow of celibacy.
13. Despite being famous for nonviolence and involvement in the Indian independence
movement, Gandhi actually recruited Indians to fight for Britain during World War I. He
opposed India's involvement in World War II.
14. Gandhi's wife died in 1944 while imprisoned in the Aga Khan Palace. Her day of death
(February 22) is celebrated as Mother's Day in India. Gandhi was also in prison at the
time of her death. Gandhi was released from prison only because he contracted
malaria, and British officials feared an uprising if he, too, died while in prison.
15. Gandhi attended law school in London and was famous among the faculty for his bad
handwriting.
16. Mahatma Gandhi’s image has appeared on all denominations of Indian rupees printed
since 1996.
17. Gandhi lived for 21 years in South Africa. He was imprisoned there many times as well.
18. Gandhi denounced Gandhism and did not want to create a cult-like following. He also
conceded that he had “...nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as
old as the hills.”
19. Gandhi was assassinated by a fellow Hindu on January 30, 1948, who shot him three
times at point-blank range. More than two million people attended Gandhi’s funeral. The
epitaph on his memorial in New Delhi reads "Oh God" which are purported to be his last
words.
20. An urn that once contained Mahatma Gandhi's ashes is now at a shrine in Los Angeles,
California.
21. Gandhiji’s mother tongue was Gujarati.
22. He did his schooling from Alfred High School, Rajkot.
23. His birthday (2nd October) is commemorated world-wide as International Day of
Nonviolence.
24. He was the youngest child of his parents. He had 2 brothers and 1 sister.
25. Gandhi’s father was Hindu by religion and Modh Baniya by caste.
26. Mahadev Desai was Gandhi’s personal secretary.
27. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in the garden of the former Birla
House.
28. Gandhiji and famous author Leo Tolstoy interacted with each other through letters.
29. Gandhiji set up a small colony, Tolstoy Farm at an 1100 acre site, 21 miles from
Johannesburg, South Africa for his colleagues in the Satyagraha struggle.
30. Gandhiji was born on Friday, India got its freedom on Friday and Gandhi ji was
assassinated on Friday.
31. He not only fought for Independence but also demanded fair treatment for the
untouchables, lower caste and also done several fast in support of them. He also called
untouchables as harijans meaning "children of God".
32. Gandhi in 1982 is an epic historical drama film based on Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi won the Academic Award for best motion picture.
33. In 1930, he was the Time Magazine Man of the Year. He was a great writer and the
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi have 50,000 pages.
34. Do you know that 5 times Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
35. The country against whom he fought for India's Independence, Great Britain, released
a stamp honouring him, 21 years after his death.
36. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was not born with the title Mahatma. He was given the
title to him by the Nobel Prize winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.
37. When Jawaharlal Nehru was giving tryst of destiny speech to celebrate independence,
Gandhi ji was not present at that time.
38. Mahatama Gandhi funeral procession was 8 kilometers long.
39. Reserve Bank of India issued The Gandhi series banknotes by displaying portrait of
Mahatma Gandhi since its introduction in 1996. The series issued in 1996 is of 10 and
500 rupee banknotes.
40. In 1959, Gandhi Memorial Museum was established. It is located in the city of Madurai
in Tamil Nadu, India. It is also known as Gandhi Museum. It consists of a blood stained
 garment which was worn by Mahatama Gandhi when he was assassinated by the
Nathuram Godse.

Famous Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi's wisdom is often quoted by business leaders and volunteers. Here are a few of
his most famous quotes:

 "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

 "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."
 "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
 "There is more to life than increasing its speed."
 "Man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."
 "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."