" My life is my message"

My son has been really into these short biographical novels on famous people, leaders, and thinkers. I found myself picking up one on Mahatma Gandhi recently and learning more than I ever have about the leader in a short amount of time.

 Of course, Gandhi is best known as the non-violent leader who led the campaign for India’s independence from British rule. He inspired other leaders across the globe, including Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and others. He was born in Gujarat (my grandmother’s home state), he studied law in London and later moved to South Africa for over two decades. It was there that Gandhi first started experimenting with nonviolent resistance tactics, and he returned to India, determined to represent peasants, farmers, and poor laborers against discrimination. He eventually went on to lead a life marked by self-sufficiency, undertaking long fasts when protesting various causes. He led the famous Salt March in 1930, protesting the British salt tax, and in 1947, India was finally granted independence. Gandhi wished for a united independent India, with Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh faiths living in one nation. But India was ultimately partitioned into India and Pakistan, and Gandhi always thought this was a failure of the movement he had started. In the year following independence, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist that thought he was allowing Muslims to many freedoms.

 Gandhi lived a life marked by peacefulness. Once, when a reporter asked Mahatma Gandhi what his message to the world was, he responded simply:

Photo Credit: Jsubuswami, licensed under CCO 1.0 Universal

 My life is my message.  – Mahatma Gandhi

Though he was a powerful speaker and a remarkable orator, Gandhi actually spoke very rarely in private, and only when necessary.  Every ounce, every morsel of his message, of what he wished to convey to the world, was firmly planted in his actions, his work, and who he was.  Today, I know a handful of people who live their lives in such an honest and careful way.  I often look to them for guidance, for inspiration, and for support.  But it is not easy – it takes hard work, it takes dedication, and it takes a kind of self-reflection that is rare. It takes thinking through every thought, every decision, and every action as though it represents the fiber and cornerstone of who you are. Today I wanted to urge you all to let your life do the talking.

I once read somewhere that you should watch your thoughts, for they become your words.  Watch your words, for they become your actions. Watch your actions, for they become your habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character.  Watch your character, for they become your destiny.

— Reshma Patel, Executive Director