Gandhi Jayanti Package
29th Sept to 3rd of October 2009

Gandhi--the name at once conjures up the image of a dhoti-clad man who single-handedly took on the might of the British Empire and threw it out of India after a prolonged non-violent agitation called satyagrah.

But M K Gandhi--fondly called "Bapu" and the "Father of the Nation"--was much more than just a crusader and a fighter and a wonderful leader of the masses. He was also one of the harbingers of the much-needed social and economic change. Actually, he was a vital clog in the wheel of economic development and self-sufficiency that, over the years, made India a self-dependent nation.

When Gandhi expounded the virtues of "Charkha" and urged the Indian people to weave cotton, he was not only asking them to defy the British, he was also encouraging them to become economically independent. Further, when he made salt at Dandi in Gujarat defying the British, he not only defied the empire but also tried to make India economically self-dependent.

He hit the British where it hurt the most and showed that India could cripple the mighty empire if it chose to do so. No wonder, the English were most afraid of Gandhi and his many mass movements that encouraged the people to shun British goods and become self-dependent.

Gandhi's stress on social equality and women emancipations were also of much importance. He made much efforts to bring the down trodden and the untouchables at par with the upper sections of the society by awakening their self-respect and by urging the upper caste people to treat them as equals. He also made the women of India, till then a third grade lot in their own country, a force to reckon with by making them aware of their worth and their value in the growth of the nation and the society.

Thanks mainly to M K Gandhi's initiatives and untiring efforts, the women of India came out of their homes and participated in the Indian freedom movement in a rather big way, besides substantially contributing to the growth of the Indian economy. It's no coincidence that majority of the people who supported Gandhi on the boycott of foreign goods and who used charka to weave cotton were women.