Gandhi respected the Hindu religion that he observed through out his life. His values and principles had basis on religion and the understanding of basic human rights, gained from his career in law. To Indians, Gandhi is the founding father of their nation. Gandhi lived according to his philosophy of creating harmony of thought,
speech, and action (Allen, 2008). His philosophies are still worthwhile and applicable today.
Mohandas was the last-born son of karamchand, from his fourth wife. Mohandas got into marriage at an early age, marrying his age mate. Theirs was an arranged marriage reflecting the Indian culture instilled in Gandhi. In his childhood, there was nothing peculiar, Gandhi lived to respect his parents and was an ordinary student in school (Jegen and Deats, 2005).
In 1888, Gandhi left India for London, to further his studies. He spent three of his years studying law in London. Gandhi spent the first three months of his life trying to accustom himself to fit in the English culture but gave after he realized that he could handle a simple life better. He gave up on the English sophistication. He settled down to concentrate on his studies and obtained his degree in law. Gandhi travelled back to India after his studies to rejoin his wife and kids.
Gandhi returned to India only to face disappointment because he could not get a job. Fortunately, an opportunity opened up in South Africa. He set out to South Africa, and his stay there transformed the soft-spoken Gandhi to a more assertive individual. In his first formal trip, he faced discrimination for being Indian. South Africa was under the British rule and the colonialists discriminated all other races. Gandhi chose to fight for the rights of Indians in South Africa. Therefore, he extended his stay in South Africa. The oppressing system did not allow Indians to vote and Gandhi wrote petitions concerning this issue.