Heart to HEART

Children need good role models to emulate and inspire them to achieve greatness.

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Children need good role models to emulate and inspire them to achieve greatness. And what better role model than Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation who master-minded and won India's freedom struggle from the imperial Great Britain's exploitative rule? In the past few issues of the Kidzone section, we have been featuring excerpts from Growing Up with the Mahatma authored by Dr. Swati Popat Vats, president of the Early Childhood Association of India and the Podar chain of preschools. This richly illustrated book presents inspiring stories from the life of the Mahatma with each chapter narrating one of the many 'avatars' of Gandhiji and lessons to learn from them. The avatars include animal activist, fashion stylist, teacher, journalist, fitness expert, social worker, doctor, barrister and chef. Moreover chapter-end there are several activities for children to write a story, solve puzzles and a books quiz.

This month we present an excerpt from the chapter 'Mahatma inspires you to become a barrister/lawyer'.

When I grow up I want to be a Lawyer like Mahatma Gandhi.

"The law an eye for an eye makes a whole world blind."

Did you know that... As a barrister, if Mahatma Gandhi found his clients to be dishonest or guilty, he would not only rebuke them but also refuse to fight their case, even going to the extent of reporting them to the attorney general.

In the 1900s, it was difficult and expensive to qualify as a barrister in London. Bapuji worked hard to pass his bar exams. As a barrister, two principles were dear to him — honesty and truth. These principles are best exemplified in the ‘three monkeys’ maxim — ‘see no evil’, ‘hear no evil’ and ‘speak no evil’. If these principles are practiced by lawyers, many people would get the justice they truly deserve.