Page:Masani - Gandhi's story.pdf/13

in the heart of the village. They smoked the hukka, a big gurgling communal pipe, and chatted. Munshiji would then tell them how over two hundred years ago India, under the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb, was weak and divided. The various princes who ruled in different parts of the country were always fighting each other and the Emperor was not strong enough to control them. Then came the foreigners, first to trade, then they began acquiring land and settling. They brought their soldiers with guns and cannons, and one by one they defeated the Indian princes and conquered their lands. Soon they became the rulers of India and they governed the country until 1947 when India at last got her freedom.

Before 1947, the country had become very poor, and the people had sunk very low, and there seemed to be no hope for gaining independence. Then came a man by the name of Mohandas Gandhi. He made the people of India take heart again. He showed them the way they could fight for their freedom against one of the most powerful empires that the world has ever known. He made the people of India believe in themselves. All this Munshiji had told them.

The loud knocking continued. Paltoo woke from his sleep and muttered to himself, “That must be Munshiji's door. I wonder who is trying to wake him at this hour? It must be urgent.”