Ghandi
My ISTORIA Series
It was 1982 and I was a 12 year old girl living in Knoxville, TN. The 3 hour and 11 minute movie, Gandhi, was playing in theaters. The movie told the story of British rule in India and Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent resistance against the English officials that eventually led to independence for India. Sitting in the dark theater with my parents watching this movie is a significant memory. At intermission, my mother went to the restroom, and my father and I remained in our seats. He began to talk, and I listened. It was the first and only time he shared memories of a childhood under British rule. My mother would often share stories, and she was younger during the occupation. When my mother was 12, Cyprus became an independent country. My father was an older teen. His whole childhood and teen years were lived under British rule. Memories of rifles, curfews, soldiers, orders; all surfaced. In tears, my father shared what it was like growing up with the military in the streets of a village called Kato Zothia, Cyprus.
He farmed the land, growing watermelons with his brother and father. I remember my dad knew how to pick a watermelon. He would tap on it, look it over and put it in the cart. This was his specialty. He was the only sibling in his family to not only go to college, he earned a doctorate degree in biophysics in Manchester, England. The village held a huge parade for him when he returned home, as he was the only one in the village to earn such a high degree, actually any collegiate degree. Currently in Cyprus, the population has more opportunities for a college education. My father's parents were illiterate. My grandmother left school with a 6th grade education to help with family chores. My grandfather helped with farming. In 2020, Cyprus was reported as having the most higher education graduates per capita in the EU. What a difference a generation makes!
We sat sullenly together feeling emotions with memories of oppression as my father related his experiences to that of Gandhi. You learn to obey and do what you are told when soldiers hold a rifle to your head. There were injustices that we cannot comprehend would happen in the modern day. I know my family's story is only one of many that need to be told. In the US we do not understand what it means to be colonized, removed from your land, have your home taken away. Many have experienced this.
My mother often shares the same story of when she and her twin sister were 3 years old, playing in the bathtub. This was 1951, and the tub was literally that, in the yard, filled with hot water with buckets. As the soldiers approached, my mom's older brother stood in between the soldiers and the children playing. He knew English, stating, 'they are only children playing.' The soldiers did not like the noise my mother and aunt were making. Imagine, having to quell sounds of play so young out of fear. There is a reason for this memory that my mother cannot comprehend. To this day, as we walk, shop, and hang out, she shares as the memories arise.
Gandhi was brave and bold to stand up to the British occupying forces. We obey out of fear for our lives. I have seen how this affected my parents. Many times I could not understand why they would not challenge the system. Perhaps it was out of training to obey, or fear of retaliation; probably a little bit of both.
Ghandi with the Cyprus flag. Picture taken at the University for Peace campus in Colon, Costa Rica March 2024