Mohandas was born in Porbandar, India on October 2, 1869. He came from an upper class family and his father was a leader in the community. As was tradition where he grew up Mohandas' parents arranged a marriage for him at the age of 13. Both the arranged the marriage and the young age may seem strange to some of us, but it was the normal way of doing things where he grew up. His parents wanted him to become a barrister, which is a type of lawyer. As a result, when he was 19 years old he went to London, England to attend the University College London in order to study law. Three years later he returned to India and tried to start his own law practice. He wasn't successful so he took a job with an Indian Law firm and moved to South Africa to work out of the South African law office. It was in South Africa where Gandhi would experience racial prejudice against Indians and would begin his work in civil rights.