Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World

National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council (NCSS/CBC) Outstanding Social Studies Book for Young People   

An Excerpt from Akira to Zoltan   

M is for Mohandas, father of modern India. Mohandas Karamchand Gandi was so shy as a boy that when school ended, he would run home he would not have to talk to anyone.

At age 17 Mohandas left British-ruled India to study law in England. He later moved to South Africa to work. There he was shocked when he was rudely thrown off a train-- even though he had a first-class ticket-- because of his skin color. Mohandas then decided to lead a peaceful protect against the unfair laws of South Africa. After 21 years there, Mohandas now called Mahatma, meaning "great soul," returned to India.

In 1919, after British soldiers opened fire on a group of protesters, Mahatma urged Indians to oust the British without violence. To help India become independent from England, he organized protests against unfair laws, often enduring long jail terms and harsh conditions as a result. He encouraged the Indian people to show their independence from British trade and rule by growing their own food and making their own cloth, salt, and other necessities. In 1947 Britain withdrew peacefully from India.

"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind."

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

Words to the "Change the World" rap