Sun gives light to us and nurtures every living thing on this earth. Gandhi, Meaning a Sun, which gave light to the entirety of India. The light which illuminated to us, the path of freedom and independence. Gandhi gave us the path of non-violence, followed by other revered leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and others.
It's a known fact that the sun burns itself to give light to us. In this context what has our Gandhi burnt to provide us with light? As my friend who visits the Gym opines "No pain no gain", What was the pain that Gandhi had to undergo?.. What did he sacrifice for the fire?.. ... Nehru's life is always quoted in letters to Indira Gandhi. Although Gandhi had four sons and also India was a patriarchal country, what happened to them.. ?.. I feel these questions remain unanswered in our history books. The answer lies in Gandhi's own life. They were his children that he burned. Yes, I am talking about Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devadas Gandhi.
The story of Harilal Gandhi resonates with how strictly Gandhi was forcing his son to be part of his team. But, Harilal Gandhi was an adamant child. He wanted to become a father and a barrister, just like his father. This Gandhi saw as a Not-as-per-plan idea and rejected it. This insulted the poor guy and he fell into the trap of addiction to liquor, ultimately ruining his career.
This story throws up some interesting facts about how Gandhi was for his family. He even quoted "I was a slave for my passions when Harilal was conceived". He considered his children as a curse for him. My inference from these was he considered his children a burden for carrying out his fight for independence which was his life's ultimate goal. Whoever was in the path was burned, including his sons. Manilal was sent back to South Africa as per the orders of Gandhi. Ramdas didn't like Gandhi's idea of asceticism and finally, Devadas continued to be with Gandhi.
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