Mahatma Gandhi 7 - Mohandas Gandhi's Schooldays Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

How did Mohandas Gandhi,
A boy terrified of darkness,
Remove the darkness of
A whole nation!
A land enveloped in thick fog,
Chained to a forced bondage,
Finally, released, freed!
The people lighted million lamps
To experience the euphoria of
An independent India!

Life never starts as a full circle,
Or as a spotless picture;
Life begins with imperfections
Groping with ignorance,
Inadequate and incomplete!
If a diamond could emerge,
From a piece of charcoal,
By cutting and polishing,
Into a sparkling jewel,
Then man too can change!

As a kid one indulges in all kinds of games,
Some of least consequences,
Some of serious nature,
Some just for fun!
Yet, as time passes,
One tends to forget these incidents,
Dispels them as childhood pranks!
But Gandhiji who vowed to adhere to truth
Laid bare before the world
His experiments with truth!

Gandhiji's experiments with the truth
Began at an early age;
He was devoted to his parents,
Loved and
Respected them,
Never wanted to hurt them,
Even in the slightest way.
Precautions were taken
To do things in a right
And proper way!

Even as a boy,
He constantly kept a vigil on himself
His thoughts,
His likes and dislikes,
His ambitions,
His actions,
Carefully analysing all his actions.
He firmly believed,
There was no cleansing of the self
Without a clean confession!