Resumo de Parantage Of Our Mahathma Gandhiji

PARANTAGE OF OUR MAHATHMA GANDHIJI

From his Autobiography
Gandhis belonged to the Bania Caste. They seem to have been originally grocer. But for the three generations of my grandfather they have been Prime Ministers in several Kathiawad States. Uttamchand Gandhi, Alias Ora Gandhi my father must have been a man of principle. State intrigues compelled him to leave Porbandar where he was Diwan (Governor) and to seek refuge in Junagadh. There he saluted the Nawab with the left hand. Someone noticing the apparent discourtesy asked for an explanation, which was thus given- The Right hand, is already pledged for Porbandar. Ota Gandhi married a second time after losing his first wife. He had four sons fro his first wife and two from his second wife. I do not think that in my childhood I ever felt or knew these sons of Ota Gandhi were not the entire same mother. The fifth of these six brothers was Karamchand Gandhi, alias Kaba Gandhi and the sixth was Tulsidas Gandhi. Both these brothers were the Prime Ministers of Porbandar one after the other. Kaba Gandhi was my father. He was a member of RajasthanickCourt. It is now extinct but in those days it was a very influential body for setting disputes between the chiefs and their fellow clansmen. He was for sometime a prime Minister of Rajkot and then in Vankaner. He was a pensioner of the Rajkot state when he died.. Kaba Gandhi married four times in succession having lost his wife each time by death. He had two daughters by his first wife and the second. His last wife Putlibai bore him a daughter and three sons, I being the youngest. My father was a lover of his clan, truthful brave and generous. But he was short tempered. To certain extent he might have been given even a carnal pleasures. For he married for the fourth time when he was over forty. But he was incorruptible and had earned a name for strict impartiality in his family as well as outside. His loyalty to the state was well known. An assistant political Agent spoke insultingly of the Rajkot Thakore Saheb, his chief and he stood up to the insult. Agent was angry and asked Kaba Gandhi to apologize. This he refused to do and was therefore kept under detention for a few hours. But when the Agent saw that Kaba Gandhi was adamant, he ordered him to be released. My father never had any ambition to accumulate riches and left us very little property. He had no education, save the experience. At best he might be said to have read up to the fifth Gujarati standard. Of History and geography, he was innocent. But his rich experience of practical affairs stood him in good stead in the solution of the most intricate questions and in managing hundred of men. Of religious training he had very little, but he had that kind of religious culture which frequent visits to the temples and listening to the religious discourses make available to many Hindus. In his last days he began reading the Gita at the instance of a learned Brahman friend of the family. He used to repeat aloud some verses every day at the time of worship. The outstanding impression my mother has left on my memory is that of saintliness. She was deeply religious. She would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers. Going to the Haveli Vaishnava temple was one of her daily duties. As far as my memory can go back I do not remember her having ever missed the Chaturmas (period of semi fasting for four months) . she would take her hardest vows and keep them without flinching Illness was no reason for relaxing them. I can recall her once falling ill when she was observing the Chaturmas. During another Chaturmas she vowed not to have food without seeing the sun. We children of those days would stand staring at the sky waiting to announce the appearance of the sun to our mother. Everyone knows that at the height of the rainy season the sun often does not appear. And I remember the days when at his sudden appearance we would rush to announce it to her. She would run out tto see with her own eyes but by that time the fugitive sun would be gone., thus depriving her of her meal. That did not matter her- she said cheerfully ?God did not want me eat today. Then she would return to her round of duties.My mother had strong common sense. She was well informed about the matters of the state and the ladies of the court thought highly of her intelligence. Often I would accompany her for exercising the privilege of childhood. I still remember many lively discussions she had with the widowed mother of Thakore Saheb.

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