INDIAN CIVILIZATION AND CULTURE
Mahatma Gandhi
MOHAN DAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI (1869-1948), popularly known as Bapu or the Father of the Nation, was more a spiritual leader than a politician. He successfully used truth and non-violence as the chief weapons against the British rule in India and helped India gain independence.
From 1915 till 1948, he completely dominated Indian politics. He died at the hands of a fanatic on 30 January, 1948. His autobiography, My Experiments with Truth, and the numerous articles that he wrote for Young India and the speeches that he delivered on different occasions, reveal him not only as an original thinker but also as a great master of chaste, idiomatic English. In the following extract 'Indian Civilization and Culture,' Gandhiji talks about the sound foundation of Indian civilization which has successfully withstood the passage of time. The western civilization which has the tendency to privilege materiality cannot match the Indian civilization that elevates the moral being.
A. Answer the following questions orally:
- What do you know about Gandhiji?
- What did Gandhi do for the farmers in Bihar?
- What do you understand by civilization and culture?
- What do our holy scriptures tell us about universal human values?
Indian Civilization and Culture
1. I believe that the civilization India has evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestors. Rome went, Greece shared the...