MAHATMA ( The Great Soul )
- Story
of the 'Making of GANDHI'
I have written the
poem MAHATMA, a poem based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.
They deal with his earlier life, up till that life-changing incident, where he
was pushed from the train compartment in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. That
incident changed his thinking and his life and paved the way for the making of
'Mahatma’,which means ’The Great Soul’.
This is an immortal
story, of a mortal human being,
The effect of his
teachings, till now we are seeing.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
…………………………………........
Mahatma was one such
person, sent out by God,
To help out the
restive Mankind, to correct the odd.
Born as Mohandas, in
the year Eighteen Sixty-Nine,
Second October was
date, and the weather was fine.
The land that he did
choose, was India as they name,
We call him as our
Father and Mahatma for the same.
Mahatma translated
from Hindi, means a great soul,
Sums in these seven
letters, life’s message as whole.
Well off of worldly
means, no want was never ever felt,
As a boy he was very
shy, afraid someone might insult.
Not outstanding in
studies, though was above average,
Never lied in whole
life or took ulterior as the leverage.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
This son of Karamchand
and Putlibai was always true,
He was always
different and exhibited different hue.
Once while in school,
he was prompted out to cheat,
He never learned
copying a thing, honesty was his seat.
Obedient from his
childhood, served parents as a mission,
Following whatever was
command, always in submission.
Married to winsome
Kasturbai, at the young age of thirteen,
The child couple was
unaware, what marriage could mean.
To show as a tough
husband, he tried to boss his child wife,
She proved to be no
less adamant, children were in strife.
In his whole life
Mahatma was against the ‘Child-Marriage’.
At this time of life
though, he had straddled the new carriage.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
As Gandhi was growing
in years, India his land was in throes,
As you age in the
years, it’s natural that your curiosity grows.
So feeble in strength
and body, he wanted to be very strong,
So took to meat
eating, which was traditionally very wrong.
Along with meat
eating, he also took to occasional smoking,
To quench his
curiosity and thought that he was just joking.
Both these traits in
life did not though linger for very long,
They came and passed
by as lived his life and carried along.
But once it so
happened, as he tells, he was urged to steal,
To help out troubled
brother, stealing as a way did appeal.
But conscience pricked
him hard, he confessed to his father,
In a letter, which the
father read and tore, forgave him rather.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
Not afraid a bit of
the punishment that he may have to receive,
But peeved out about
the thought that he went out to deceive.
He loved his father so
much; lying to him had caused him pain,
Theft was always a
wrong thing but deceiving was problem main.
Absolved of all his
sins, the thought of ‘Ahimsa’ began to grow,
‘Ahimsa (Non-violence)
unifies the victim and offender in a row.
As happens out in the
teens your feelings are edgy and strong,
You are disgusted with
the world, for things you think as wrong.
Similar was the
situation, as Mohan Das contemplated of suicide,
But when called to act
reality, thought of suicide, was tossed aside.
That day he had
learnt, suicide was never a solution, on contrary
It is the permanent solution
of the problem which is temporary.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
This is an immortal
story, of a mortal human being,
The effect of his
teachings, till now we are seeing.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
………………………………
As I told you this
before, and I tell you this again,
Not to serve his
father, he considered worst pain.
His father though
suffered from diseases so severe,
No cure could he find,
though he searched far and near.
He nursed, helped his
father, with massage every day,
Irritation not a bit,
but liking, free will and gay.
God has His will, we
just follow, what to say,
Disease got for worse
and his father passed away.
His world was
shattered, but with fortitude did he bear,
Showed the stuff he
was made, it became now clear.
He stuck to his
religion, in particular moral aspect,
Service, love,
devotion, compassion, mutual respect.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the Mankind,
for that is His goal.
As the days passed by,
and the life went on,
He was growing as a
man, childhood now gone.
A family friend
advised to become Barrister from England,
For opening new
vistas, and for worthy jobs to land.
No jets in that age,
only means was by ocean,
He reached finally
England; saw a new life in motion.
Far from his home and
a place that was new,
Adjusted with
difficulty, his wants were but few.
Every shilling was
counted, every penny was accounted,
Simple living, high
thinking, his principles that amounted.
We may think in
ignorance that his life was dreary,
His routine cleansed
his soul, his body was not weary.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
Vegetarianism as a
fashion was then sweeping whole England,
Gandhi to experiment,
had completely changed, in the new land.
Through clubs and
meetings with practice he began,
His shyness though
hitch, which he found once again.
But, shyness as he
says, became his strong useful shield,
Thrift with the words,
no useless thoughts could he yield.
To improve upon his
English which he found a bit weak?
He went for
Matriculation, for his knowledge to peak.
Latin and French were
the languages, he would read,
Thought they would
help him when he went out to plead.
These were few things
which he indulged in England,
Then he caught a
glimpse of Christianity in new land.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
His first brush with
Christianity in India was painfully bad,
Their proselytizing
zeal, preacher’s words made him sad.
But here he was
astounded as he read New Testament,
Compelled to change
belief, compelled to change statement.
He found that all
religions, always teach on the same line,
Expounding out the
truth, telling all that what was fine.
‘Ahimsa (Non-violence)
was there, made belief more strong,
Christianity, based on
love and compassion, couldn’t be wrong.
His love for Holy Gita1,
sparked by Theosophists while in England,
‘Do your best, leave
the rest to Him, for His judgment’, was grand.
With doubts about his
professional abilities, to India he was back,
Conversant fully with
his limitations, lawyer’s knack he did lack.
……………………………………………………………………………
This is an immortal
story, of a mortal human being,
The effect of his
teachings, till now we are seeing.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
………………………………….........
So happy was he now to
come back to India,
But what was in store,
he simply had no idea,
His brother told him
then, as he came off the docks,
Mother was no more, as
the worst of the shocks.
News was kept secret;
she had died much before,
Not to disturb him in
foreign, to trouble him more.
He soon got settled
down, and overcame his grief,
Shifted out to Bombay1,
to plead out and brief.
He came back in
months, he couldn’t there settle
Shyness and his morals
were the agents of scuttle.
He came back to Rajkot2,
and began there to work,
But see what
circumstances, decided there to lurk.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
It so happened that
his brother, knowingly once erred,
He gave wrong advice
and his superiors had differed.
The Court of the
officer, in which the case was sent,
Was prejudiced
against, on punishment he was bent.
Gandhi knew the
officer, as acquaintance from England,
Here he behaved as The
Master, India was subject land.
Gandhi went as an
acquaintance, to plead for his brother,
Haughty, arrogant and
smug, he chose to belittle him rather.
Not a minute did he
listen, and got him shoved out of door,
Neither Gandhi nor
anyone else, could do anything more,
Gandhi had then vowed,
he would never use acquaintance,
Not a single word for
help, what to talk of the sentence.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
In the distant land of
South Africa an Indian Firm had a case,
It was there God had
destined, for Gandhi to make his base.
As Attorney he was
sent, to plead and help in that dispute,
This Indo-South
African trading firm, was big, of high repute.
The year was 1893, and
he was not yet past twenty four,
As a young man could
he ask, for anything else anymore?
His principles came to
fore, and this happened in Durban
He chose to miss the
Court, when ordered to take off turban.
‘Unwelcome Visitor’
tag was attached to him by the Media,
But more was there in
offing, of which they had no idea.
His work required him
in Pretoria, and as he there travelled,
Mohandas would change
to Gandhi, a leader unparalleled.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
Pietermaritzburg was
the place, the capital of province Natal,
Chosen for the
momentous change, that would benefit us all.,
There came the moment,
which comes but rare in the History,
Men, place and the
happenings, God keeps them as a mystery.
A ‘White’ man boarded
the train, as the train halted out there,
A ‘Coolie3’
sitting in the First Class, “Audacious! How did he dare?”
An argument there
ensued, and Mohandas was asked to go out,
Mohandas was equally
adamant, and had a valid ticket no doubt.
A Constable, there was
summoned, who came there with a frown,
Shoved him out of the
compartment, and threw his luggage down,
Mohandas lay there on
the platform, with luggage strewn around,
This moment would
change the Man, a new Leader was found.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
This is an immortal
story, of a mortal human being,
The effect of his
teachings, till now we are seeing.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
……………………………………………
The night was so cold,
dark and very painful,
The agony was much and
the man so fearful,
The insult was
paralyzing, the shame was too much,
The conditions were
horrifying and strange as such,
Man is destined to
take birth in great pain,
The evolution of a
person, humanity to gain.
“What shall I do?
Defeated! Go back to India,
Pocket the insult,
Forget! Carry on to Pretoria,
What I suffered is
just the glimpse of the disease,
‘Apartheid’ the
system, won’t let you off with ease,
It’s so easy to
criticize, but so difficult to clean,
Skirting off the
issue, that’s what here I mean”.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
Mohandas was thinking
aloud, silently in the room,
God was working on
him, had new leader to groom,
On that fateful night,
he took a bold decision,
He would never ever
FEAR, a man or a situation.
That small resolve
would change the world for better,
For then was born a
Messiah, no parallel or greater.
FEAR is that chain,
which holds us tight in its grip,
‘To Do’ difficult to
take, ‘To Hold Back’ easy to sip,
Many a talents are
wasted, for want of one bold move,
We live seeking
approvals, and worthless points to prove.
Fearlessness is his legacy,’
Practice, Not Preach’ his Call,
‘My Life is My
Message’, that’s what he said to all.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
‘Apartheid’ was a
practice, which segregated human beings,
On the color of the
skin, which you were then seeing,
So blind with absolute
power, these men had then become,
They looked down with
hatred, ‘Black’ and “colored’ as scum.
The locality and the
beaches, and, the markets and the schools,
The roads and the
parks, and, the hotels and the pools,
All were segregated,
on the basis of the hue,
Restricted for the
minority, for the use of but few.
Natives of the land
were treated worse than beasts,
Inhuman conditions,
respect and dignity to the least.
The worst display of superiority,
pervaded out there,
Muted and suppressed,
worst brutality if you dare.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
It was this horrifying
scenario, which Gandhi chose to rectify,
What courage it would
have taken, that’s what I want to specify.
To feel the pain of
one, of whom you know the least,
To empathize with men
and women, treated like the beast,
It takes a lot of
character, to fight for one unknown,
The events that
unfurled, these very qualities were shown.
On that fateful night,
he had transformed to a different man,
No Fear, No Injustice;
Love and Compassion, I’ll fight for all I can.
The world became his
oyster; he stood for all those wronged,
Such was the charisma
of Gandhi; many had, there thronged.
Of this unparalleled
leader, whose talks will never dim,
MAKUSR is proud to
tell, and bows in respect to him.
………………………………………………………………………………….
This is an immortal
story, of a mortal human being,
The effect of his
teachings, till now we are seeing.
When God can’t visit
us, He sends out a soul,
To help out the
Mankind, for that is His goal.
-MAKUSR
