Gandhi Jayanti

If there was one man who was instrumental in acquiring independence for India, it was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This was the man--slight, bespectacled and mild in manner--who controlled the National Movement for nearly three decades. A mass leader, he believed that he must identify himself with the masses he leads.

From then--till India gained independence--Gandhi gathered an entire nation behind him in his relentless quest. But Partition was a big blow to his dreams and ideals, and Gandhi was a sad man on the night of India's Independence.

In short, he would take a step that would involve the millions, a small step by itself, but which would magnify a million-fold. The British often wondered what it was about Gandhi that attracted so many to him. But the people had no such questions. They understood the way in which he identified with them. Actually, Gandhi took pains to learn to sign his name in all the major Indian languages.