Salt March

Hello. My name is Mahatma Gandhi, and I want to tell you a story about my home, a big, beautiful country called India. A long time ago, people from another country called Britain made the rules in India. One of their rules was very unfair. They told us we had to buy all our salt from them. But salt was everywhere in our land, right by the big, blue sea. We could find it ourselves for free. I thought, 'This is not right.' So, I came up with a peaceful idea, a plan without any hitting or yelling, to show everyone that the rule was unfair.

On a sunny day, March 12th, 1930, I started a very, very long walk. A few of my friends started with me, and our feet made soft sounds on the dusty road. As we walked, something wonderful happened. More and more people came to walk with us. Soon, our small group became a long, happy line of people walking together. We walked for 24 days. The sun was warm on our backs, and we smiled at each other. Everyone was excited. We were all walking to the sea. It was a long journey, but we were a team, and we knew we were doing something important. We walked and walked, all the way to the edge of the water.

Finally, on April 6th, 1930, we arrived at the sea in a little village called Dandi. The air smelled fresh and salty. Everyone gathered around to see what I would do. I walked down to the wet sand where the waves tickled the shore. I bent down, and I picked up a handful of muddy salt from the ground. With that one small, quiet action, I had made my own salt. I broke the unfair rule without a single angry word. My long, peaceful walk showed that we could be strong by being gentle. It taught us that even a tiny pinch of salt can help make a big, wonderful change for everyone.