Gandhi

In the 1700's Britain gained control over India. This was devastating to the people due to the fact that they were forced to work low paying jobs and do unnecessary things, further degrading and humiliating them. In addition to the British battering the people, poverty and discrepancies between religions infected the bodies and minds of the Indians like a virus killing and inducing hatred. Later, a man by the name of Gandhi stepped into the picture, and tried to reverse the hate and push Britain out of India using "nonviolent civil disobedience." Furthermore, some of the issues that arose for Gandhi can be analyzed using Maslow's theories of personality. Throughout Gandhi's life he was relentless in attempting to liberate the people of India, however several conditions conflicted his mission.

During the period of British rule over India, the Indians were considered to be the lowliest of any group at that time. They were required to carry "ID" passes and could only work low-level jobs. At the same time the people of India were unbelievably poor. With one half of the population living below the poverty line, families struggled to survive on only a couple rupees a month. Many Indians worked small plots of land distributed by a landlord in order to survive. They would toil under the hot sun growing rice or indigo, barely putting enough food on the table while paying their landlord a hefty sum for rent. This is well illustrated in the film "Gandhi" when Gandhi himself comes across an old man that grew and sold indigo, however after the purchase of British cloth went up the Ð''under-dogs' like this man were left behind with no buyers. When something like this happened, a man could not put food on the table for his family nor pay the growing rent expenses. Then in most cases the family would be evicted with nowhere to go. Other examples of this occur in the book "nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya. The couple Nathan and Ruku lived a life of troubles beginning with the monsoons that came every year. "That year the monsoons broke early with evil intensity such as none could remember before." (Nectar in a Sieve pg.43) Here Ruku is talking about the rains of the monsoon and how it would be absolutely devastating to their crop and home. Throughout this book, there is continual talk of the coming harvest emphasizing the importance of a good crop. The reason for so much talk and worry was due to the fact that a good harvest guaranteed survival, and a bad one left a hungry family with not a single grain of rice to be eaten.

The two main religious groups Hindu and Muslim were constantly at each other's throats during that time. The two groups were not separated due to what their religious beliefs were, but more so the guidelines laid by that particular religion. It is similar to Christianity in the sense that this rule was like one of the Ten Commandments. These were rules to live by and in India, were followed. In the film "Gandhi" brawls broke out everywhere between the two religious groups like during the process of the Hindu's all moving to India and the Muslims moving to Pakistan.

In the history of man there have been only several men who have reached self-actualization. Gandhi many argue, was one of those few. A self-actualized person is someone that accepts himself or herself, other people and the natural world for what they are. (Maslow Packet) Gandhi expressed this through his claim to be both a Hindu and Muslim proving that he accepted all things for if he could accept two of he most different religions than he could accept some of the many vile and horrid things in the world as well. In addition, this kind of person transcends the environment rather than just coping with it. (Maslow Packet) When Gandhi realized something needed to be done about the people he first acted on the required "ID" cards Indians needed to have. He tried to change it, not just sucking it up and showing a soldier an "ID" at any moment. These are only two of the many characteristics of a "self-actualized" person however these are both examples in which Gandhi had stressed and lived by.

Next, while trying to liberate the people of India he faced several difficulties. First, the people of India lived in ruins. Food was scarce and good shelter was hard to come by. People struggled in every way, from not being able to grow crops to not being able to sell them. The main reasons for his troubles were that the people were so focused on where their next meal was coming from that being liberated seemed relatively insignificant when their stomachs were in pain.

In addition,