Mahatma Gandhi: Difference between revisions

He then moved to South Africa to practise law, where his ill-treatment was made famous in the 1982 Ben Kingsley film. Although he had a first class ticket for the train he was forcibly thrown out, and while arguing a case in court he was ordered to remove his turban. Gandhi decided to conduct a civil rights campaign on behalf of the Indians in South Africa, who were working as labourers for miserable pay in terrible conditions.

 

 

Returning to India and allying himself with the newly formed Indian National Congress, he organised a series of strikes, civil disobedience campaigns, and boycotts aimed at the British. He remained committed to his philosophy of ''ahimsa'' (non-violence) and ''satyagraha'' (soul/truth force), going so far as to ask his followers not to raise a hand to defend themselves even when being attacked by the police. His most famous campaign was the 1930 Salt March, where in protest against the British tax on salt he walked 390 kilometers to the coastal town of Dandi to make salt from the sea. Gandhi would travel to Britain several times to negotiate with British leaders, and was something of a media celebrity, even [[Go Karting With Bowser|taking tea with King George V]].

* [[Badass Pacifist]]: Although Gandhi technically wasn't a pacifist, he viewed pacifism as defeatist and his concept of ''ahimsa'' was to actively work to counteract violence.

* [[Bald of Awesome]]

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

* [[Celibate Hero]]: Another of Gandhi's principles was ''brahmacharya'', achieving spirituality through celibacy. Gandhi would never forget that he was having sex with his wife at the exact moment his father died, which caused him horrible guilt. At the age of 36 he became celibate while still married, and would remain so for the rest of his life.

* [[Church Militant]]: A rare positive version; his chief inspiration was not nationalism but religion.

* [[Death By Irony]]: A peaceful and devout Hindi ... violently murdered by a Hindu extremist.

* [[Determinator]]: His struggle for Indian independence took literally decades, during which he was beaten and imprisoned countless times.

* [[How Much More Can He Take]]: The press reported daily on his legendary fasts, including some in which he came close to death.

* [[Moral Event Horizon]]: Doesn't believe in them. When asked by reporters what he would do to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] if they met, he replied that no one had considered the possibility that Hitler [[Heel Face Turn|could be redeemed]]. To be fair it was in the middle of WWII and knowledge of Hitler's atrocities were unknown at the time. But it shows how committed Gandhi was to compassion.

* [[Principles Zealot]]: Absolutely refused to compromise on issues like nonviolence, Indian sovereignty, etc.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]

* [[Smart People Wear Glasses]]

* [[Velvet Revolution]]: Type 3, and the original. Although there was still a lot of violence, particularly the British massacre of civilians in Amritsar and Hindu-Muslim violence when Pakistan was being partitioned, Gandhi and his followers never resorted to violence themselves in their quest for independence.

 

=== Gandhi in fiction ===

* ''[[Gandhi (Film)|Gandhi]]'': The 1982 film that Sir Ben Kingsley won an Oscar for.

* "The Last Article" is a short story by [[Harry Turtledove]] depicting the interactions between Gandhi and the new German governor of India in an [[Alternate History]] in which the Nazis won [[World War II]].

* The short subject ''[[Gandhi At the Bat (Film)|Gandhi At the Bat]]'' is a [[Mockumentary]] about Gandhi secretly visiting [[Big Applesauce|Yankee Stadium]] in 1933 and pinch hitting for the New York Yankees.

* Was in [[Celebrity Deathmatch]] against [[Genghis Khan]].