Day Tripping: April 6
Salty, Sweet, and Sour
Positive Steps
Salt Satyagraha was a twenty-four-day march led by Mohandas “Mahatma’ Gandhi in a non-violent protest against the salt monopoly held by British Imperialists in India. When he reached the coast of Dandi in 1930 and made illegal salt by evaporation, it signaled the beginning of the independence movement in India.
By emphasising the everyday item of salt and the taxes levied against India’s citizens for producing it, Gandhi was able to create a more focused awareness of the country’s plight. Illegal to make and taxed at 8.2%, the British Colonial Government effectively forced Indians to buy their own salt from them.
In a dramatic demonstration of civil disobedience, Mahatma picked up a clump of salt ladened mud on the coast of Dandi and declared “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.” Gandhi had no illusions that his acts would force the British to acquiesce, but his determination for non-violent ‘truth’ would capture the hearts and minds of his followers.
Leaps And Bounds
This is another inventive day in history where our lives were made so much better. In 1980, the Post It Note was introduced to the public by the 3M Company. Teflon was invented by Roy J. Plunkett in 1938.
