April 5th – The Salt March

Posted byRebecca BuddPosted inMohandas K. Gandhi, TransitionsTags:

“With this salt I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”

Mohandas K. Gandhi 

Ocean

April is my month of transitions, an awakening to new possibilities.  It is the month where winter relinquishes its hold and the world is transformed by spring’s gentle breath and soft rain.  Yet, April holds historical events that have changed the course of history.

Today, in 1930, Mohandas K. Gandhi came to the end of the famous Salt March, a walk that began on March 12, 1930.  With a hand-picked seventy-nine followers, Gandhi left his ashram and travelled almost two hundred and forty miles to the ocean.  By the time they reached their destination, thousands rallied around his call to action.

On April 5th, Gandhi and his followers went to the ocean side to collect salt encrusted sand.  Then, after a prayer, Gandhi did the unthinkable; he harvested the salt by boiling the sand. He implored his followers to make salt with him along the seashore or wherever it was convenient.   It was an illegal act, based on a taxation standard set by the British Government that served to impoverish a people.

The Salt March was an exceptional success for it proved that non-violent action can be effective.

Choosing peace over violence occurs even in small, insignificant events.  Boiling sand, a simple task, empowered a nation.

“I believe that Gandhi’s views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil.” 
Albert Einstein

Published by Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

165 thoughts on “April 5th – The Salt March”

    1. Thank you! It is one of my favourites that I came across when I was reading about the history of salt. I never knew how contentious salt could be over the centuries. I remember getting goosebumps as I read Gandhi’s words…

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    2. Thank you so much! I remember reading the story for the first time. The strategy took my breath away with its simple elegance. It was a tipping point for all that came after. It was the start of a non-violent approach that was embraced by Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.

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    1. I just asked my husband if he knew about this movie. He has seen it! Now I am on the hunt! Thank you for giving me the lead. Amazing that your son shares his birthday. What a celebration!!!

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  3. Hi Rebecca: This is so inspirational that I want to keep this post. I am reblogging this to my “curiosita..” blog. Thanks so much for your inspiring post!

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  4. Reblogged this on from "curiosita" to.. and commented:
    Thanks to my friend Clanmother, I am reblogging this post to my “curiosita…” blog which is primarily for collecting inspiring posts like this one. I have not done too much on this blog, but recently gave it a facelift with a different theme. I hope some of my readers will still read this blog and be inspired by Clanmother’s post. Thanks, Rebecca.

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    1. I agree – we must remember. It is a universal message that continues to speak to humanity. Even today, there are many who are continuing in their footsteps. Every day, we can choose to make a difference. I am so glad that you stopped by and joined the dialogue.

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  7. Wow, dear Clanmother, here comes a big hug to you! I love this post, just as I love the Salt Marshes of North Norfolk. I can’t think of anything more down-to-earth-happy-peaceful-walking than in the Marshes. Thank you.
    Have a great weekend.
    Love Dina

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    1. I agree wholeheartedly! He had a way of bringing together a complex, multidimensional nation by focusing on the power of a unified voice.

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    1. I came upon the story quite by accident. It is a testament to courage and resourcefulness. Thanks for stopping by….great to see your gravatar.

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  13. Good morning Rebecca,
    This was inspirational. I didn’t know about salt being of such great meaning but Ghandi was a wise man. It was good to see your words on my screen today. And read this story…

    Blessings your April is sweet…

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    1. I am so glad that you joined the discussion. We take salt for granted because we have so much. It was not until I did some research on the subject that I found out how essential it really was. Thanks for your blessing. Spring has come!

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    1. My pleasure. Peace and war are such extremes that we believe that only extreme measures will counteract evil. Gandhi serves to remind us of creative alternatives!

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  15. How wonderful to be reminded of Gandhi’s courageous march. May we all have the courage to stand up for what we believe in without going against our principles. Happy Spring!

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    1. I have always believed in the power of one to make a difference; the power of the collective, however, is awesome. There is nothing that can prevail against the force of a groundswell.

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    1. I agree wholeheartedly. A smile, a hug, a thank you – they have made a profound difference in my life. I remember the conversations that changed the course of my life. I will always remember those who encouraged and challenged me. I think that is why blogging is so important. We are building a community that thrives on making a difference.

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  20. I can’t resist sharing with you Rebecca, a Ghandi story which always makes me giggle – when the Queen;’s engagement was announced in 1947, and presents started pouring in to Buckingham Palace, Ghandi sent Princess Elizabeth a cotton loin cloth he had spun and woven himself., When Queen Mary came to view all the presents that were displayed for people to inspect, Princess Margaret nipped ahead, and hid the loin cloth so as not to provoke a blistering outburst from her conservative old grandmother who’d seen Ghandi destroy her Empire !!!

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    1. Oh!!! How priceless! Thank you, Valerie, for sharing this marvelous story. I would imagine that Gandhi was not a topic that would come up at dinner conversation at Buckingham Palace.

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  21. A lovely episode in the life of the great man of wisdom. Simple and peaceful actions that brought results. A lesson for us all today too.

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    1. Vielen Dank für Ihre nachdenkliche Kommentare. Ganhi Leben füllen können Bücher! Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass weniger mehr ist. Manchmal ist es die Einfachheit der Idee, die uns zu überwinden komplexen Problemen hilft. Ich schätze Ihre Besuche.

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  25. Interesting post. Loved this “Choosing peace over violence occurs even in small, insignificant events.” Happy Monday 🙂

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  26. And that’s not even mentioning the great health benefits that apparently come from sea salt! Seriously, Gandhi’s message of peaceful change has never been more needed than it is today.

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    1. Thank you so much for joining the dialogue!!! I agree – we need these messages to reverberate throughout our perilously divided world.

      “We meet no ordinary people in our lives.”
      ― C.S. Lewis

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    1. Thank you for your comments and presence – much appreciated. I have always believed in the power of the collective voice for the good of humanity. One act, one idea…

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    1. Thank you so much for your presence and comments. I agree – Gandhi set a standard of excellence. We have all benefited from his ideas. I am glad that we are on a journey, together.

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  31. Pingback: The Best Moment Award | Patinspire

  33. Such an important story to remember, particularly when folks settle for apathy because acting on their beliefs seem like too much effort.

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  34. So true about April, I been so busy lately, it seems everyone is doing something. A wise man he was, the smallest things for peace can make the difference, we should do something every day towards peace, even if is just a smile. Have a great weekend Clan mother!

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    1. How wonderful for you to stop by and make my day joyful. Your comments reminded me of Carl Jung when he said “The word ‘happiness’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” I am glad that we are connected and are sharing the blogging journey…

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  37. There is a scene in the movie Gandhi
    that is very moving to me: it is when
    the unarmed Indian protesters line up
    to confront the armed forces of the
    British Empire. The soldiers beat them
    unmercifully, but the Indians, their
    broken and dead lifted tenderly out of
    the fray, keep coming.
    Alongside this image of brave followers
    of Gandhi there is, for me, an
    awareness of paying respect to all forms of non-violent protest across the world. It forms a human struggle to be free from those who deny civil rights.

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    1. I remember that scene with vivid clarity. I agree – “paying respects to all forms of non-violent protest.”

      “When every hope is gone, ‘when helpers fail and comforts flee,’ I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where. Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal.”
      ― Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments With Truth

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  38. Wonderful post… Gandhi and Einstein: 2 human giants! We do need people like them nowadays, but we lack of similar geniuses… Speaking of the British Empire, have you watched the big polémique about Maggie Thatcher?…
    – – –
    Thanx for your constant stop-overs by our international playground and friendly greetings from Toulouse, France… 🙂

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    1. Thank you for stopping by – love having company drop in all the way from France! I agree! We need clear thinkers in our perilously divided world. I have a feeling we have the genius amongst us; we just don’t recognize their possibility yet. The more I research this subject,the more exciting it becomes.

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  39. A fabulous and inspirational post! I am really trying to live by my principles more than ever and it’s wonderful to be reminded of acts of greatness that are so “quiet” and simple, brave and world-changing! Thank you so much for sharing this… and here’s to your April! xx

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  40. Thank you for sharing this story, Rebecca. Gandhi is inspiring. He and Martin Luther King, Jr. have taught us of the power of non-violence.

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    1. So very true! And I believe that your blog clearly demonstrates this principle. We need to be reminded that there are peaceful alternatives. I just finished a biography on Nelson Mandela, who modeled his behavior after Gandhi. May we remember to do the same in our everyday moments.

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  42. You’re back in the blogging world! You have no idea how happy I am to see you back. This is a wonderful story, and I missed that from you. April is a month of transitions for me as well, because it really gets me thinking about what things I will change about my life. Whether it be myself (personality and appearance), the way I do things and how I behave in certain situations. There’s just something about the sun coming out and the flowers budding that gets me going.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for your heartwarming message!!! You made my day brilliant. I agree – there is something about the sun coming out! By the way, I have been here just on a couple of other blogs that I have going (check the side panel) I am enjoying your posts – always something new and exciting, challenging and inspiring. All the very best, my friend.

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  43. I always love your words of wisdom. Boston is my hometown. Bombs went off and about 40 rounds of fire was heard, a few hours ago in Watertwon, about 5 miles from Boston. Are we under seige again ?
    PLease read my blog and reblog if you feel compelled, so people will know what is going on. And most of all, Pray for us here. Thank you.
    http://www.aboomersvoice.wordpress.com

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    1. Ah, dear George Carlin! He was perceptive and had a amazing way of synthesizing the greatest issues of our day. He delivered his message is a few simple words. And the world listened.

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  49. In grade school, my first real interest in salt was from its meaning. You’ve inspired me to learn more about salt and how it has played such a powerful role, including how Gandhi used it to make a strong but peaceful point.

    I went to Wikipedia and found this: “he Roman word salarium linked employment, salt and soldiers, but the exact link is very clear. The latest common theory is that the word soldier itself comes from the Latin sal dare (to give salt), but previous theories were on the same ground. Alternatively, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder stated as an aside in his Natural History’s discussion of sea water, that “[I]n Rome. . .the soldier’s pay was originally salt and the word salary derives from it…”. Others note that soldier more likely derives from the gold solidus, with which soldiers were known to have been paid, and maintain instead that the salarium was either an allowance for the purchase of salt[3] or the price of having soldiers conquer salt supplies and guard the Salt Roads (Via Salaria) that led to Rome.”

    The most embarrassing thing is that I grew up only about fifty miles from a Salt Museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, and I’ve yet to visit it. http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php We have salt mines here, because we were once an ancient sea.

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    1. I am absolutely delighted that you stopped by and added so much to this dialogue. I must confess that I knew relatively very little about salt and its remarkable history until I read “Salt” by Mark Kurlansky, which was a page turner. You would enjoy his thoughtful dialogue. Salt is the history of our world.

      “In every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable have true value. The search for love and the search for wealth are always the two best stories. But while a love story is timeless, the story of a quest for wealth, given enough time, will always seem like the vain pursuit of a mirage.”
      ― Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History

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  53. Pingback: Super Sweet Blogging Award – 3 Nominations | Ajaytao 2010

  54. Your blog on Gandhi’s Salt March is inspiring. His message is an eternal flame for mankind. As he said, ‘My life is my message’. It has the power of truth.

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    1. I remember when I first read about Gandhi’s Salt March. I was spellbound by his strategy, clarity of vision and ability to persuade others that there were alternatives to violence. He saw things as they could be and took the steps towards the ultimate goal.

      Thank you so much for stopping by and connecting. I very much appreciate your comments.

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  55. Beautiful posting…I have long been an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. He did not put himself above his people…he was one with them. A far cry from what we see of the USA Congress today. SO much corruption and greed…it is devastating. Your writing reminds us of another way…I think we should send this one to each member of Congress! I love the gentleness of your writing and the very cool background of your blog, I might add! An amazing blog!

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    1. How wonderful to received your kind and generous comments. We are on an amazing adventure – I’m glad that we will be walking the same pathway, together. Looking forward to our dialogue!

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  57. Pingback: A Bouquet of Awards – 8 Nominations | Ajaytao 2010

  61. Ich wäre froh, wenn ich besser Englisch verstehen würde, um deine Gedankenwelt noch besser verstehen zu können. Eine schöne Geschichte. Sie gefällt mir. Dir eine gute Zeit.
    Liebe Grüsse. Ernst

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    1. Ich wäre froh, wenn ich Geman verstanden. Mein Sohn ist unter deutschen Sprache Studien an der Simon Fraser University – geht in das zweite Jahr. Ich benutze Google transalater, die mich verstehen, ein wenig mehr hilft. Vielen Dank für Ihre Unterstützung und Ermutigung. Ich schätze Ihre Besuche und Kommentare.

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  62. Wow, I roll a long time to come to the post comment part of this post, and I did not know you know German as well =). I was in the Gandhi Ashram on 28 April, was very inspired by a lot of his words during the visit, one is: My life is my message!

    kc

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    1. How wonderful for you to stop by!!! You made my day beautiful. Lucky you – to be at the Gandhi Ashram! I can only imagine how inspiring to know you were walking in his footsteps…

      Thank you for your comments and presence…
      (BTW, I would love to know German, but have found that the Google translater is becoming my best friend)

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  64. Beautiful post! If only it were as easy as in Ghandi’s day, when there wasn’t the technological advancements in military might to keep people oppressed with the threat of horrible actions 😦

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by and adding so much to the dialogue! Indeed, we live in a perilously divided world, but I believe that there are those who are choosing to seek peaceful solutions. Even in our everyday routine, we can chose our response. Together, we can and do achieve great things. One of my favourite quotes is by Robert F. Kennedy.

      “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

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      1. Absolutely! Now all we need to do is ensure that wonderful people, like Robert F Kennedy, aren’t systematically murdered for their liberating messages and wonderful, humanitarian ideals….

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  65. Pingback: What Would Gandhi Do? | My Heathen Heart

  67. The salt march was called ‘dandi march’ and it found many imitators here in India. Gandhi marched with very few people, but the imitators have a huge contingent (mostly paid!) and still end up as rabble rousers. Not one will be remembered in history like Gandhi. India craves for the Mahatama, and in doing so, flirts with someone who has the same surname, or someone who wears the same cap! Afterall don’t they say ‘hope is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark’.
    Two Gandhis are badly needed. One for the world – one who genuinely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize (he never got it, though Obama did!) and one for India, where not only is the vacuum acute, but is now life threatening.

    I remember reading as a child, the British Encyclopedia which said about Gandhi – ‘probably the greatest man to walk the earth after Christ’. That’s saying a lot.

    I just adore your blog. It’s amazing and the scores of comments above mine (and inevitably below) say much more than one comment can.

    Do glance at the story of the awakening of a spent nation written in verse and dedicated to ‘Nirbhaya’ (the name given by the Indian press to the Delhi gangrape victim) who came to symbolize the state of India, at http://www.nirbhayasindia.com

    I really look forward to your comments.

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    1. Thank you for adding so much to the dialogue. I am looking forward to our ongoing conversation. We live within a global world that is perilously divided, but I have always believed that, in the end, people of courage and integrity, can change the world. Humanity has never lived an easy, comfortable existence. In fact, those who chose mediocrity live far below their potential. One of my favourite authors is J.R.R. Tolkien, who went through the horrors of WWI and lost his closest friends. This is the quote that comes to mind.

      “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
      “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
      ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

      I am glad that we connected over the blogger miles!! Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

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      1. Very well articulated. I agree completely and believe positive change will happen. Thank you for the ‘visit’

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      3. And Gandhi’s land is again making news for Maoist violence and for a whole new scam in Delhi and not to mention an alleged attempt to murder activist who is battling for her life in hospital

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