October 2 – International Day of Non-Violence As a Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

This is another holiday celebrated by the UN; it is also the last of 3 national holidays in India. Today is Gandhi’s Birthday. If he were still alive he would be 138 years old. Here are a few interesting facts about Gandhi that you may not have known:

1. He had a set of false teeth, which he carried in a fold of his loin cloth. He put them in his mouth only when he wanted to eat. After his meal, he took them out, washed them and put them back in his loin cloth again.

2. Mahatma Gandhi spoke English with an Irish accent, for one of his first teachers was an Irishman.

3. During the freedom struggle, he wore nothing but a loin cloth, but for years he lived in London and used to wear a silk hat and spats and carried a cane.

4. He was educated at London University and became an attorney. But the first time he attempted to make a speech in court, his knees trembled, and he was so frightened that he had to sit down in confusion and defeat.

5. As a lawyer in London, he got nowhere at all. He was practically a failure there. Years before, when he first came to England, his Irish teacher made him copy the Sermon on the Mount, over and over again, purely as an exercise in English. Hour after hour, Gandhi wrote “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. . . . Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God,” and these words made a profound impression on him.

Today I had no problem being non-violent. I didn’t even get close to having road rage in the car – easy to happen on I-5 in Seattle. I was planning to have a peaceful protest by sitting in front of the door while Jared tried to go to class tonight for his MBA program, but then I remembered he doesn’t have class on Friday…there went that plan. I was rather excited to see if I could do it – sit silently in front of the door, while he was protesting and trying to drag me out of the way…it was all great in my head. Alas, maybe I will have to try in another day when he actually has to go somewhere.

“Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the
other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more
effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.”
– Gandhi

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Gandhi