Gandhi's Face | Teen Ink

Gandhi's Face MAG

June 3, 2010
By olive94 GOLD, Hanover, Maryland
olive94 GOLD, Hanover, Maryland
15 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I never knew Gandhi had such a lovely face. I was looking for the word “gallant” in the dictionary. I guess I must have skipped a few pages past it. Then I saw his name. “Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. Known as Mahatma. 1869-1948. Indian leader who developed the practice of nonviolent disobedience that gained independence for India.”

On the other side of the page, past a row of words, ­etymologies, and definitions, was a picture of him – goofy-looking, bald, bespectacled. He looked so happy, I even smiled. I guess I turned the page, because right after I blinked the blurriness from my eyes, there was a big mascara teardrop on the word “gallant.”

Why I cried, I'm still not sure. Maybe I'm jealous of the pure happiness radiating from his face. Maybe I want someone like him in my life. Or maybe I recognize that smile as my own, one I used to have when I was truly happy, not surrounded by endless barricades of snow, not angry and adamant against my parents. I may have recognized it so much that when I saw him, I cried, like someone who sees a friend after years of thinking they are gone forever. Maybe that's it. Maybe.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 3 comments.


Vidra PLATINUM said...
on Oct. 28 2011 at 2:30 pm
Vidra PLATINUM, Midlothian, Virginia
46 articles 17 photos 89 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;I write only because<br /> There is a voice within me<br /> That will not be still.&rdquo;<br /> -Sylvia Plath

This piece is truely beautiful.

on Sep. 19 2010 at 8:46 pm
Alex_Durham GOLD, Vineland, New Jersey
14 articles 1 photo 234 comments

Favorite Quote:
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

I LIKE IT ALSO. JUST TO SEE WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT IM GOIBG TO LOOK HIM UP AS WELL!

on Sep. 11 2010 at 7:04 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;il piu nell&#039; uno,&quot; (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)<br /> <br /> &quot;Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality&quot; ~Emily Dickinson<br /> <br /> &quot;The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain&quot; <br /> ~Kahlil Gibran

I received a lot of joy from reading this piece. Despite its simple style, it is exceptionally beautiful. I admire Gandhi and his teachings so much, I begin to understand why there is joy in his face. I thank you dearly for writing this.