CLASS TRIP - 5

Students often ask, “Why do we learn History?’ The answers are simple:

 

History teaches us to learn from the past!

 

History teaches us to understand the modern world!

History teaches us not to repeat the mistakes made in the past!

So a trip by Class 5 to Mani Bhavan, now a museum dedicated to the Father of the Nation, gave the students an insight into the lessons they could learn from the life of a man who single-handedly achoieved independence for the Indians from the British.

 

 

Mani Bhavan is one of the important places in Indian History due to Mahatma Gandhi’s close association with it for about seventeen years. A visit to Mani Bhavan is a mind blowing experience, as there is memorabilia of the Father of our Nation, which is a reminder of India’s great struggle for freedom.

 

 

On the morning of November 6, we were all jumping up and down with enthusiasm as we were going to visit Mani Bhavan. We all took reams of paper as we wanted to jot down points about Mahatma Gandhi and his life. We sashayed into the bus and reached Mani Bhavan after a forty minute drive.

 

We could only hear the elegant and beautiful birds humming a soothing and mellifluous tune from the trees of that leafy canopy at Gamdevi, where Gandhiji’s abode is located. There was a surreal calmness about the place, much like its past resident.

 

As we walked in we were mesmerized by the pictures depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Mahatma Gandhi was born in Porbandar in Gujarat, and studied law in London. He also practiced law in South Africa. Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi, while in S. Africa, was arrested during the protest march in Transvaal in 1913? He spent 249 days in South African prisons.

 

 

Gandhiji didn’t believe in bringing about a change using violence. He evolved a successful non- violent movement instead; which meant he would bring about a change without using any force or ferocity.

 

At the Bhavan we also learnt that Gandhiji loved writing books. He clearly was a voracious reader and wrote innumerable books. He thought that books could help people lead a life of wisdom and literacy. He also adored children and would act like one while playing with them.

 

His famous quote, ‘Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immorality’, now finds an echo in everyone’s heart. The other two quotes famous by Gandhiji were, ‘Different religions are beautiful flowers from the same garden, or they are branches of the same majestic tree’ and ‘Woman is the companion of man with the same mental capacities. She has the right to participate in the very minutest detail in the activities of man, and she has equal right of freedom and liberty with him.’ These words tell us about his strong belief in equality of religion and gender.

 

Gandhi used the spinning wheel to weave clothes, to challenge the British; an act we found quite inspiring. He also encouraged the Indians to make clothes on their own, and not buy them from stores run by the British. This taught us self-reliance and became the turning point of our freedom struggle.

 

After looking at all of this, we were truly enriched. We all loved Mani Bhavan because of all the pristine thoughts and inspirational stories. We learnt a lot about Gandhiji’s good deeds too. We were all encouraged by his commitment to the people of India and vowed that we would carry his ideals and philosophy in our hearts for the rest of our lives.

 

Thia Sheth,
Class 5A