Gandhi- The Great Soul Mohandas Gandhi was a man whose words and values helped gain India independence in 1947. His actions were courageous, brave, and purposeful. Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa helped him shape his ideas on British imperialism, his religious influences, and sense of moral value, and his use of civil disobedience to lead India to independence from Great Britain was efficient and intelligent. After watching the movie Gandhi in class, I learned about the great things this man has done not only for India, but also for the whole world. I think that Gandhi’s perseverance and will to not give up was truly inspirational and showed me what I can do if I don’t give up and stand by something I believe in. His teachings will never be forgotten. Early in his career, Gandhi was a lawyer practicing in South Africa. In the movie, we see Gandhi be thrown off a South African train for being Indian and sitting in first class, despite having a ticket. After his own personal incident on the train, Gandhi realized how biased and ridiculous the laws were, and started a non-violent protest to try and change the lives of Indian citizens. Gandhi believed that everyone was equal, calling himself a Muslim and a Hindu, and not being prejudice against anybody. He didn’t believe in the term ‘untouchable’, a term used to call those that were so extremely impure. In fact, Gandhi even made his own wife clean the latrines, even though that was a job thought left for the untouchables. Gandhi was a man who didn’t let religion or lifestyle get in the way of a true human being. He thought that using civil disobedience to state his case was the way to go, and it was, as violence gets people nowhere. Gandhi himself said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” meaning that in using violence, everyone gets hurt. Gandhi’s use of civil disobedience was very effective in leading India to independence from England. He held strikes, boycotts, and silent boycotts to prove his points and send out his messages. One of the first things Gandhi did was burn the passbooks that the British required people to keep. This infuriated the English, but Gandhi continued to burn the books, even though the officials beat him. He would soon declare April 6th a day of prayer and fasting, which halted all jobs and caused many problems for the British. This also embarrassed the British. In a few years, Gandhi