Matriculation mark-sheet of Mahatma

1940. Sevagram. See one of the most exceptional heads of human race ever!

In a delightful short essay, Shri Ramachandra  Guha has revealed the matriculation mark-sheet of Mahatma, on the basis of a meticulous 74-page book authored by Shri J. M. Upadhyaya, the then principal of Rajkot High School, in which Gandhiji had spent 7 long years of his student life.

Mahatma’s roll number in 1887 batch (96 years before me and 101 years before my wife's tryst with the dreaded test) matriculation examination of Bombay University was 2275. He had secured 404^th position out of 3067 students. He traveled by train to Ahmadabad in Nov 1887 to appear for the exam and that was his first visit to a city.

Gandhiji was never a brilliant student in his early years in school. His marks hovered in the range of 45% to 55%. However, he secured a scholarship of Rs 10 per month during his final years in school. Though he scored above 60% and once 66.5% in his middle school classes, his was a real test in the examination that mattered most, i.e. Matriculation! Mahatma’s mark-sheet was as follows:

    English                              89 out of 200        (44.5%)

Gujarati                             45.5 out of 100     (45.5%)

Mathematics                      59 out of 175        (33.71%)

General Knowledge           54 out of 150        (36%)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Grand Total                   247.5 out of 625    (39.6%)

Mahatma used to get “Very Good” for his conduct whereas a grade of mere “Good” was extremely difficult to obtain. (You really don’t deserve a prize to guess that about Mahatma’s general conduct in the school)

Examples of questions Gandhi had to answer in his matriculation examination:

1. Write an essay of about forty lines on the advantages of a cheerful disposition (45 Marks) 

2. Paraphrase the poem which described how Jesus would reveal himself only to the poor peasant, not  to the rich men whose chariots went contemptuously ‘whirling past (25 marks)  

The venerable Head Master further informs us that the best friend of Gandhiji was a muslim. Again no prize for guessing that man! 

See the smiles and smile please!