Every year on 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated across India to mark the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This is the time when students get to participate in different school competitions such as essay writing, speech, story telling, and writing poems on Gandhi Jayanti. Popularly known as Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian Lawyer, political ethicist, and nationalist who fought in the Indian Independence Movement. Therefore, this day aims to commemorate his sacrifices for India’s independence. To help students get creative, here are some short and inspirational poems on Gandhi Jayanti in English.
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5 Most Popular Poems on Gandhi Jayanti
Here are five inspiring poems on Gandhi Jayanti, expressing different facets of his life. These poems are not only for school students to recite in schools and events but also teach the wisdom and struggle of Mahatma Gandhi.
Salutation to the Father of the Nation- by Anil Deshpande
O, thou, father of the nation,
We owe you salutation.
For each and everything that you did;
For the cause of the nation and freedom’s seed.
For the wheel called ‘CHARKHA’,1 the steering of ‘SWADESHI’;2
For the drive of ‘CHALE JAO’,3 to expel ‘VIDESHI’.
For the teachings of truth, nonviolence and peace;
For the messages of cleanliness & patience against tease.
Guided thou, for listening not , seeing not, speaking not an evil;
Still one of us only, dared you kill.
Gone might be you but not your thoughts;
Forever, they’ll inspire, like lustrous spots.
Therefore, O, thou, father of the nation,
We owe you salutation;
With lotuses of hearts of a hundred plus crores;
From the peak of the Himalayas to the ocean’s roars;
O, thou father of the nation,
We owe you salutation,
We owe you salutation.
Satyagraha- by Devarakshanam Govinden
You stood tall and still,
Clad in loincloth,
Stripped bare of pomp
And the garlands of adulation.
You took command and
spoke in clear and simple words
Believing in the force of your ideas
Rather than of a gun.
Soul force –
Is not the weapon of the weak
But the weapon of the strong.
Soul force –
When will and heart,
And body and mind,
Work in unison.
Soul force –
That alone could prevail
Against the gates of hell.
Fired not with hate for the Other
But with love
For wholeness and humanity.
With the strength to say,
“Enough!
We will not be trampled on like dust.
We will be free!”
The Sacrifice
They did not listen; and he prayed
That He, the loving Lord of all,
Who comforth the poor and weak
And saveth those who sin and fall,
May lead them to the path of light,
And teach them how to live in peace;
Or spare him in his weary age,
The sight of fratricidal war.
And then he fasted – and they came
And prayed to him to eat and live;
And vowed to be as brothers all.
And peace and calm was then restored
In fair Calcutta, and again
In Delhi, seat of ancient kings.
But soon again the gathering clouds
Broke in the north and over the wet;
And tales of horror shook the land –
Murder and fire and ravage grim,
And fury ‘gainst the young and old-
Mother and child and man and maid –
And deeds of shame more deep than death.
And then he prayed again that He
The loving Lord of all the world,
His erring children spare, and take
Instead him as a sacrifice –
So there be peace within the land!
There was a band of fiery men,
Who thought that he, the best of all
The Hindus had, by words of peace
Wrought weakness in their fainting hearts,
And given to those intent on war
Across the border, cause to gloat
In triumph o’er their hideous deeds.
And so they vowed that he should die –
That there be peace within the and.
And one of them in secret came,
And mingled with the waiting crowd;
And as this man of God approached
With folded palms to join in prayer –
Advanced, knelt, kissed his feet-and then,
Ere any arm could interpose,
Lifted his hand and shot him through
Thrice . . . . .
Mahatma Gandhi- by Vijayalakshmi K.
Friends, today we come together
To salute a saint, nay a father,
Staying in an ashram in Sabarmati,
Bapu taught us to have strength through unity.
His smile had serenity,
And his actions had severity.
“Practise what you preach” was his maxim,
Truth and honesty were his realm.
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are all one,
This is what we have to remember,
If we want our country to be no.1.
Bapu, I wish you would come here to the terrorists,
We are one country, no caste or creed,
Love, respect and tolerance is what we all need.
Bapu, I hope our country keeps progressing
For that we want your blessing.
The Man of the Millenium- by Shri.V.Muthu Manickam
Non-violence, he didn’t discover
Rather, he only got it recover
He practiced what he preached
He preached what he practiced
He experimented himself, to awake
He learnt from his own mistake
His autobiography was an experiment with truth
That remains to attract even the youth
He stood with his endeavor for truth, as firm
His success, time proved to affirm
With Gandhi, non-violence became a new medium
For he is regarded as the man of the millennium!
Short Inspiring Poem on Mahatma Gandhi in English
With a soul of cotton, so pure and white,
And a determined heart, a guiding light.
Gandhiji walked a humble stride,
For the country’s independence, he took the tide.
He held no weapon, no fist ever raised high,
Only truth and love, his ultimate battle cry.
Against bitter odds, injustice was faced,
With peaceful steps, a nation traced.
Short Patriotic Poem on Gandhi Jayanti
With every stride, a seed was sown,
Of justice earned, a freedom grown.
In simple cloth, a spirit so grand,
He led India, with everyone hand in hand.
Brotherhood’s song, beneath the sun,
Where every voice becomes one.
Also Read
Gandhi Jayanti Essay | Gandhi Jayanti Speech |
GK Quiz on Gandhi Jayanti | 5 and 10 Lines on Gandhi Jayanti |
Education of Mahatma Gandhi | Essay on Mahatma Gandhi |
Facts About Mahatma Gandhi | Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi |
FAQs
The three famous quotes by Mahatma Gandhi are:
1. “The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.”
2. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
3. “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
Gandhi Jayanti is one of the three National Festivals of India. This day is a public holiday marked to celebrate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. He is referred to as the Father of the Nation as he fought against British rule following the principle of non-violence.
Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat.
A popular slogan by Gandhiji is, “Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.”
Hope you enjoy reading these poems on Gandhi Jayanti. Do let us know how you celebrated this year’s Gandhi Jayanti. For more such information on trending events or important days, follow Leverage edu.