irteen. He passed his matriculation exam in 1887. He then joined a college but soon returned to Porbandar because the studies were too tough for him. There, one of the family friends advised him to pursue barrister ship in England. After a lot of opposition from his mother and some other people, he was allowed to go only after he vowed not to touch woman, wine and meat. In London, Gandhi joined The University of London to study law. He passed the London Matriculation at the second attempt. He was unknown of any English Laws. He bought many books and tried to understand them but it was beyond him. At last he sailed back for India on the 12th of June 1891, a day after he was enrolled into the English High Court. While in India, he went to Bombay to study Indian Laws. But even this was difficult for him. Eventually he got a case, but in the court he became so nervous that he left during the case and never went to another one until going to South Africa. Gandhi sailed for South Africa in April 1893 and reached Natal at the close of May. It was in South Africa that Gandhi had a lot of experience in laws, handling cases and many other fields. He observed the pitiful conditions of the Indians and other colored people and also experienced it when on his way to Pretoria from Natal, he was thrown out of a train because he was the only colored person in the first class compartment. The case for which Gandhi had come to South Africa was between two businessmen, Abdullah Seth and Tyeb Seth, concerning a huge amount of money. Gandhi had to defend Abdullah Seth. He worked very hard and convinced Tyeb Seth for arbitration. Abdullah Seth won the arbitration and Gandhi’s joy knew no bounds. He understood that the true function of a lawyer was “to unite parties riven asunder.” During this time Gandhi became deeply interested in religion. His Ch...
