Gandhian Politics and Religion in Raja Rao's 'Kanthapura'

As a first generation Indian-American, I am no stranger to being a part of a distinct community while observing two unique cultures. Traveling to India exposed me to a dynamic population with rich diversity comprising of numerous languages and differing religions. Though these individuals may have had differing customs from their neighbors, there were similar ambitions to conquer grinding poverty. This poverty can be clearly noticed by seeing citizens sleeping on floors of a railway station, or the lack of air conditioning in searing hot weather. The frailty and mortality of the human condition was starkly visible in India. As a fellow human, I was humbled not only by the lack of privilege and opportunity of many citizens, but also by their

Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 in the Indian coastal city of Porbandar (Background Essay). He then studied law in London, where he noticed that Indians were expected to imitate their rulers, the Englishmen (Background Essay). Gandhi wanted all people to live free, even those imposed by India’s caste system so he decided to take action in a peaceful manner (Background Essay). By doing so he was able to gain India’s independence in 1947 (Background Essay). This caused Gandhi to be known as “ Mahatma” or “ Great Soul” because he was able to do it without violence (Background Essay). Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he accepted the consequences to his actions, strived for fairness to all mankind, and didn’t think of the British as enemies.

Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist and writer who would lead the independence movement of India to free the country of British rule (“Mahatma Gandhi,” 2017). He would prove that a single person could change the course of history and take on the entire British Empire. Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence and civil disobedience are attributed to his success in gaining independence for India. The act of passive resistance allowed Gandhi to generate more support for his movement for independence while making it difficult for the British to find reasons to arrest them. He argued that although violence could be more effective than peaceful

To others, Religion is one condition among so many other countries, but to the Indian people it is one great sustaining force, pertaining to all the spheres of their lives. Mahatma Gandhi who was born and brought up in India could not escape this strong influence of religion in all his activities.

In 1757, Great Britain extended its empire into India. This occupation would not fully end until 1947. In the time between, there were many movements by the Indian people to gain independence from the British. The movement that finally succeeded in winning India’s independence was led by one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi’s methods for fighting against the occupation of the British were very different from those of any of the freedom movements before. And that was why it worked. Gandhi did not agree with the general reasoning of the time: that conflicts could be solved through negotiation and forceful resistance.1 Rather, his faith led him to go

Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. He proposed a speech to all of his followers explaining what his resolution was to gain independence, without using violence. Mahatma Gandhi adopts a subtle and affirmative tone while revealing that non violence and the spreading of love is the way to approach this movement for independence. He also portrays his outline for the movement by appealing to the audience's emotions.

2). He goes on to say, “As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world” (1998, p. 2). As others were revered in the community and pitied outside of it for failing, he persevered, refusing to fail. This intestinal fortitude would shape him into the man he was to become.

This paper attempts to examine the fictional projections of Indian girls, to see how they emerge in ideological terms. Their journeys from self-alienation to self-adjustment, their childhood struggles against the hypocrisies and monstrosities of the grown-up world, eventually demolishing the unjust male constructed citadels of power that hinder their progress- are the highlighted issues. The point of comparison between the two novels focused on here is the journey of Rahel in The God of Small Things and Sai in The Inheritance from a lonely childhood to a tragic adulthood passing through a struggle with the complex forces of patriarchal society. Both the novels portray the imaginativeness, inventiveness, independence, rebelliousness, wide-eyed wonder and innocence associated with these young girls.

Born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandor, Kathiawar, India, Mahatmas Karmachord Gandhi was the son of Karmchand Gandhi, chief minister, and Putlibai, who was deeply religious lived in part of the British Empire (Biography.com Editors). With early marriages common, Mahatmas married at age 1 (Housel, Debra. Pp. 73-75). Mahatmas married Kasturba Makanji, the merchant’s daughter. As a result of the marriage, the teenagers rebelled by smoking, eating meat, and stealing money from household servants. Althrough Mahatmas had a rebellious attitude, Mahatmas was a shy, remarkable student, who was so timid that he slept with the lights on even as a teenager. In 1885, Mahatmas’s father passed as well as his first young child. With an interest in becoming a doctor, Mahatmas’s family steered him to enter the legal profession just as his father wanted him to be a government minister. In 1891, Mahatmas’s mother passed. With grief, Mahatmas struggled in being a lawyer (Biography.com Editors). Mahatmas’s mother was very religious and a devoted practioner of Vaishnavism, self-discipline, and nonviolence (History.com Staff). As a result of this, Mahatmas grew up worshipping the Hindu God, Vishnu, and followed Jainism, an ancient Indian religion that stressed nonviolence, fasting, meditation, and vegetarianism. In 888, Mahatmas moved to London and struggled with the transition to the Western Culture. Mahatmas

In this story, the Indians often resort to violence when faced with something that threatens their culture, or way of life. They see the fact

As I talked about earlier in this paper Gandhi was immersed in his culture and in his family traditions. They played a huge part in the journey of his life and in even planning significant parts of his journey like his marriage, career path and moral development. His life experiences also played a big role in how he developed his moral reasoning such as when he encountered prejudice on the train and as a result

In The Guide, the protagonist, Raju, struggles with divergent values, egotism and altruism, when he is first treated with undeserved adulation by the villagers. [topic sentence, tied to the thesis] He eventually reaches a state of sincere altruism, bringing “the hum of humanity”

Aroused by the massacre of Amritsar in 1919, Gandhi devoted his life to gaining India’s independence from Great Britain. As the dominant figure used his persuasive philosophy of non-violent confrontation, he inspired political activists with many persuasions throughout the world (Andrews 23). Not only was Mahatma Gandhi a great peacemaker, but also his work to achieve freedom and equality for all people was greatly acknowledged. Gandhi’s unconventional style of leadership gained him the love of a country and eventually enabled him to lead the independence movement in India.

Gandhi was really concerned about the increasing divisions between the Hindu and Muslim's. He tried as much he could to prevent the partition between the Hindu and Muslim's. However the amount of success he had been trough this was very different and he did not achieve what he wanted. He was very disappointed about the separation between the Hindu and Muslim's. To prevent the

In South Africa, he involved himself in an attempt to end discrimination against the minority Indians residing there. During this course, he developed “satyagarha”, which translates into “soul force”, or an approach of non-violence resistance, against the British governments in South Africa. In the years following the World War I, Gandhi became a leading figure in India for his struggle to achieve independent from the mighty British rule. His willingness to tolerate the punishments and the prison confinement earned him the title of “ Mahatama”, a “great soul” in India in 1914. (Mohandas Gandhi, 2015)