This story is not an attempt to downgrade his personality, but it reveals how Gandhi became from ordinary to an extraordinary human being. He learned from his experiences, moved on, and became one of the great leaders in the contemporary history of the world.
by Promod Puri
While Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolence activism got him international fame and many followers, an important part of his personal life and preferences has been revealed in an unknown small book by Professor Kris Tangri.
Kris Tangri lived a retired life in Victoria, Canada, after a very successful academic career in Canadian and American universities. He died a couple of years ago in his mid-90s
Kris reveals in his book that during his university days in India, he fell in love with a fellow student who was the granddaughter of Gandhi. The romance went for quite some time and finally, the couple decided to get married.
But according to Kris that was not acceptable to Gandhi. For the only reason, he figured out that he was a Punjabi getting into a Gujarati family. It never happened before.
Otherwise, Kris in his young days was quite handsome, educated, intelligent and belonged to reputable and established Punjabi Khatri Hindu family. He had all the required qualifications to be accepted by Gandhi and his family. But he was not a Gujarati.
Despite, the initial no to this proposal, the couple was adamant and the engagement ceremony was performed. At this point, Gandhi came with a condition that the marriage could only take place if the couple did not see each other for the next seven years as a test of their everlasting love for each other.
The destiny had its own plan.
Kris was to leave for Europe for higher studies. And while abroad, due to lack of fast communications, he lost his contact with the person he loved.
Gandhi’s scheme worked and his granddaughter in the meantime got married, which Kris learned when he came back to India.
Well, that was Mahatma Gandhi known for his universal fight against racism and prejudice, but in his personal life, he was just a Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Promod Puri.com 