Mahatma Gandhi - life story

If you’ve assumed that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the brightest students in class or one of the most outstanding student leaders in his youth, then you may be in for a surprise.

Not only was he a mediocre student, he was a very quiet and shy teenager too. But did that stop him from becoming India’s “Father of the Nation”?

No.

It’s a great piece of news for us! Because, if you’ve been through a similar situation, all is not lost yet! You’re still able to create your own story of victory… just like Gandhi.

A Family Disappointment

Born into a mid-ranking caste family, Mohandas K. or Mahatama (“Great-Souled”) Gandhi had a low self esteem when he was young. Because of that, he seldom stayed back after school to interact with other classmates for fear of being ridiculed at. That was also part of the reason for his early unhappiness in his marriage (when he was 13 years old) as his young bride had difficulty accommodating to his impatient, jealous and demanding outbursts.

He didn’t do well in school either. After struggling to graduate from high school, he moved on to study medicine in a local university only to fail badly and subsequently, forced to quit. At that time, he had only attended that university for only 5 months.

In their desperate bid to help the young man, his family decided to send him to England to study law, a course that they believed he would be able to cope. They pooled all the financial resources that they could get and finally sent the excited Gandhi off to London to embark on a fresh new start.



Life In London

A stranger in a foreign land, Gandhi had difficulty adjusting to the seasonal weather in London and would often be teased for his inappropriate seasonal attire and his poor command of the English language. To make up for all those, he worked very hard, trying to excel in both his studies and other curricular activities such as French, dancing, violin and elocution. He also tried to improve on his dressing by buying more suits.

Those proved to be short lived as he found himself running out of money gradually.

To cut costs, he gave up his hotel for a small room and walked instead of traveling on buses. He also changed his diet, switching English meals for simple vegetarian fare. Interestingly, those newly adopted lifestyle habits formed the basis of his lessons on health and simple living subsequently.

His Debut in the Court

During those times in London, Gandhi couldn’t wait to return home. The day after he passed his exams and was appointed to the bar, he made his trip back, only to be notified that his beloved mother had passed away while he was still traveling.

He then decided to leave for Bombay where he would not be reminded of his grief, to practice law. Sadly, life struck back again. Due to his inadequate knowledge about the Indian law, he had difficulty getting a case. Even when he finally secured one, he had stage fright at the last moment and abandon the courtroom abruptly, leaving his colleague to conduct the cross examination. It was a disgraceful debut.

Turning Point

His inability to succeed as a lawyer drove Gandhi back home again. With the help of his brother, Gandhi decided to go South Africa and take up a clerical position, at the expense of leaving his wife and 2 sons behind after barely 2 years back home.

But it wasn’t all that smooth sailing in South Africa either. Instead of landing on a clerical position, he realized that he was engaged for a civil suit that required strong accounting knowledge and detailed legal analysis. The realities of the life and the harsh discrimination against Indians in the country cornered Gandhi into making a decision whether he should pack his bags and leave South Africa or stay on to fight the case, until one day something happened.

While riding on the first class carriage on the train to another town, he was ordered to move to the freight compartment. When he refused, he was unceremoniously driven off the carriage. As he waited in the station for the next available coach, thoughts of his present circumstances flooded his mind. It suddenly dawned on him that despite changing his environment each time, he was still unable to avoid the challenging issues ahead. He realized that it was cowardice of him to shun away from his fears instead of helping the people to fight for the rights they deserve!

A Lawyer, A Human Rights Campaigner

Gandhi then started working hard on the case, drilling into the details zestfully. With his diligence and perseverance, he learned a lot about the case and counteracted against the punitive nature of the lawsuit by persuading his client and the other party to settle on an amicable reconciliation out of court.

His apt handling of the suit earned the respect of the Indian community so much so that he was asked to delay his departure back home to help them on another case to fight for the rights of Indian settlers in the country. That catalyzed his involvement into politics.

He would propose political negotiations with British leaders whom he regarded as his equal, work with people from different castes, religions and nationalities to achieve harmony in coexistence, fight for his country’s independence and set the highest standards for his people. All his work for civil rights, India’s Independence and active propagation of love and peace wouldn’t have been possible if not for his firm conviction that all people possess the innate capability to change from within, in the pursuit of what’s right.

What Did we Learn From This Story?

That the person you see in the mirror everyday while brushing your teeth, combing your hair etc is the person responsible for your life. Yes. That, is none other than yourself.
(1) Your Innate Potential Can Be Unlocked By Yourself

Who would have imagined that the shy and introverted boy who refused to stay back after school to interact with his classmates for fear of being laughed at, to be able to speak with such eloquence and persuasion, winning over the whole nation in his pursuit for India’s independence? Who would have expected the young timid lawyer who scrammed the courtrooms at the slightest tinge of fear to be able to stand up against tyranny and injustice?

It would be after the fact irony to say that someone probably did. That Gandhi had the good fortune to meet a good mentor who was able to see the potential in him that others didn’t. But the truth was, there was no such person in his life at that time.

But Gandhi didn’t wait.

He chose to be the miner and let the bolt of realization at the train station’s waiting area guide him in unearthing and polishing the gem hidden in a tad of dirty mud. Himself.

What about you? Did you choose to wait and see if there’s opportunities for you to develop yourself or actively seek to find such opportunities?

(2) Stop Blaming & Take Accountability

We live in a blame society.

We blame the fast food chains for producing junk food that makes people obese. But we ignored the fact that people willingly subject themselves to eating such food. We blame the Internet for being a source of violence and pornography for the kids but we forget that it’s the responsibility of parents to monitor and teach their children the right values in interpreting such information. We argue that our current predicament is a result of a lack of certain resources, overlooking the fact that those resources are not necessary to improve our situation in the first place!

In the midst of this blaming culture, it’s easy to possess a distorted view of the issue and fail to notice the essence of the problem, isn’t it? The problem never gets resolved. It just gets bigger.

This is where I think we can learn from Gandhi. Even though he was involved in the blame game in the earlier part of his life, he subsequently took accountability for it. His enlightenment started from the realization that no matter how his environment changed, if his mentality, attitude and internal mettle were still the same, he would never be able to breakthrough the chain.

And when he stopped blaming, the piece of filth clogging his visibility removed itself, allowing him to see the crux of his problem. Himself again.

by Ellesse Chow

Thomas Alva Edison - life story

Does anyone know that Thomas Alva Edison created more than eight hundred light globes before he made one that finally worked? By a small carbonized filament and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was finally able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light on lower current electricity.

When Edison was seven years old, he has already developed a fascination for anything involve mechanically and chemical experiments. At the local schoolhouse, after enduring his persistent questioning and self-centered behavior, his short-tempered teacher eventually declared that his brains were either addled or scrambled.

His furious mother quickly took him home and began to tutor him herself. She was convinced that her son unusual demeanor and hyperactive behavior were just signs of his remarkable intelligence.



Although Edison had only three months of formal schooling, it did not deter him from finding ways via independent self-instruction to appease his ever huge appetite for knowledge in contemporary mathematics, physics and engineering.

Before he began his career as an inventor, he sold newspaper and candy on trains running from station to station. He became a skillful telegrapher after being trained for only three months. Telegraphy related inventions were some of his earliest master pieces.

Armed with an immeasurable patience and a kaleidoscopic mind teamed with photographic memory, his highly individualistic style of acquiring knowledge led him to scores of experiments and eventually his own related theories.

By the turn of the 20th century, Thomas Alva Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history. He had developed hundreds of devices and gadgets that improved lives around the world. In addition, he was often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory which was build in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Among Edison's most famous inventions is the first practical and long-lasting light bulb. He also refined and developed other gadgets such as the phonograph, typewriter and the motion picture projector/ camera.

All these happened despite being partially deaf. In fact, his handicap did not hinder him from pursuing his dreams to invent. Instead, his deafness allegedly aided him because it blocked out noises that disturbed him and his work. He turned his limitations to strength to achieve success that most people would have lost hope for.

How often are we faced with difficulties and problems in our daily life? And how often did they slow us down in our progress? Did we treat them as challenges and play them to our advantage like the way Edison has done? Or did we stop what we are doing and give up trying?

by Eric Chay

Florence Nightingale - life story

Florence Nightingale - Nurse.



Was born to wealthy English parents in 1820, she was educated at home by her father and had a strict upbringing. Florence rejected marriage because she felt she would become entrapped by domestic responsibilities. She always felt she had a calling to serve, and in a time when respectable young ladies were expected to marry well, she refused and was not supported by her parents, who felt such a profession was beneath their status.

In 1853 the Crimera war broke out, it was a bloody war for both sides. This war received extensive press reporting and the stories from the battles shocked a whole nation, it was then that the legendary status of Florence Nightingale began. Florence went to the Crimera in 1855 and was asked to organise a group of nurses, initially cleaning the hospital though this would change when the hospital became overwhelmed by the number of casualties.



Florence soon blended her unique passion for cleanliness with her compassion for the injured and dying. Stories reached the English press of how comforting she was to the injured soldiers and her name became synonymous with caring. Florence Nightingale returned to England after the war and opened a school for Nursing at St Thomas's hospital London.

Florence Nightingale is not famous because she became a Nurse, she became famous because she thought outside of the box, did something she was not supposed to do, disobeyed her parents and followed her dream to help people and make a difference. It is easy to follow a path that is already marked out, but making a new path takes courage and determination, how easily she could have failed to achieve her goal, thankfully she succeeded, she has a place in history because she was motivated and determined.

Motivation and Determination are not Human Givens, they need to be learned.

by Paul Parkin