The Beginning of Struggle In Africa

The turning point in Gandhi's life begin in South Africa. He found himself in the midst of an intimidated and oppressed Indian community that was the butt of racial discrimination. Only too aware of his own shortcomings, Gandhi struggled to overcome his personal inhibitions, and worked towards uniting the South African Indians to protest against discrimination and racial bias. After a few brief spells in prison, he succeeded in getting the local governance to relax its laws for the first time in 1908, then again in 1914.He withdrew his children from a regular school and established a farm at Phoenix in 1904 where he endeavored to build a community based on the combined philosophies of John Ruskin, Leo Tolstoy and Henry Thoreau whom he called a true American. Around the same time, he started a correspondence with Tolstoy. In 1906 he took a vow of celibacy. He lived in South Africa for 20 years and it would not be out of line to believe that the nature of his work in South Africa inspired him to achieve the near impossible back home, where Gandhi was already a name to reckon with.