This epic poem was thought to have set the foundations for his later beliefs. Gandhi passed the Bar Exam on June 10, 1891 and then sailed back to India two days later with his license to practice law. However he did not stay in India for long. At age 23, he set off to South Africa where he was offered a year-long case. There is where he made the transformation from a shy man to a great leader against discrimination. His first test of standing up against discrimination came when he was asked to take a trip from Natal to Transvaal. A railroad official told him that he had to move to the third-class train car although he was holding first-class tickets. When he refused, a police officer came and threw him off the train. After that experience, Mahatma realized that he should stay in South Africa to fight inequality. .
While fighting discrimination in South Africa, Gandhi came up with his own philosophy, Satyagraha. This literally means "truth force"." However in this sense "truth " could mean "natural right ". Satyagraha is a form of nonviolent resistance. A person who practices Satyagraha would resist injustice by refusing to cooperate with an unjust law. When resisting and injustice , they would not get angry, would put up freely with physical assault, and would not use foul language to disrespect their opponent. The overall goal of this form of protest was to correct the unjust law. There are, as with everything, some pros and cons to this kind of philosophy. This kind of philosophy is looked upon as weak when used in protest, so it is often not taken seriously. Another problem with this kind of philosophy is that it can take along time for anything to be accomplished because it is not as forceful as other forms of protest. Aside from these downsides of Satyagraha, there are many upsides to the philosophy as well. Many beautiful things have come from this form of protest MAHATMA GANDHI: THE VISIONARY OF EQUALITY 4 such as, protest music and protest art.
