Mahatma Gandhi 23 - When Opportunity Knocked! Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

When doors of aspirations
Close before your very eyes,
Dismayed and dejected,
One turns to the Supreme force,
To show a path,
To show a direction,
An incentive that triggers off the dreams
Towards a goal of fulfilment!
The unknown force
Suddenly makes its presence felt
With a chance encounter,
A destiny!

Whenever Gandhiji prayed,
God truly saved him!
In all his trials of a spiritual nature
Or even as a lawyer,
The Almighty came to his aid.
After Gandhiji's stay in Mumbai
Hardly four to five months,
He returned back to Rajkot
To set up his own small office!
Things started to look up,
He began to earn a moderate income
Drafting applications and memorials!

But again, certain episodes in Kathiawad,
Where Gandhiji was subjected to rude behaviour,
Insults and assaults,
Left him fretting and fuming!
Gandhiji - a man with high principles,
Strong will and determination
To do things in a righteous way
To live with dignity,
Was disturbed by the poisonous atmosphere,
Shocked by the petty politics,
Petty intrigues,
That he was thoroughly depressed.

At this juncture of life
An opportunity came knocking
At Gandhiji's door
A job in South Africa!
Though a legal work with a humble salary,
Gandhji accepted it with humility.
The job in no way matched his
Bar at law degree from England!
But it was a new beginning,
A new environment,
A new hope!
A new challenge in South Africa!