Gandhi's End

I told my students there were a number of things I hoped they took from Gandhi, among them:

• The vastness of the British Empire
• How India gained its independence, and how it was different from other movements
• Civil disobedience
• The Hindu/Muslim rift
• Outlawing the caste system
• Social studies is about understanding people and seeing multiple sides of an issue
• India's independence movement was also Pakistan's independence movement
• ...which means it was also tied to the Bangladeshi independence. (Though that's a story for another day)

Again, there's a lot we could discuss.  We could compare independence movements - Gandhi's nonviolence to the American Revolution, for instance.  Or Gandhi to Martin Luther King.

Today though, I'll ask you to discuss two questions.  The end of the movie claims Gandhi believed he was a failure.  Why?  Do you think he was a failure?

Second, why did Nathuram Godse assassinate Gandhi?  If you don't know, discuss some possible answers.

If you read and discussed the blog today, you can get some extra credit.  When you're done discussing, write down this quote given by Gandhi 2 days before he was assassinated: "If I am to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling. There must be no anger within me. God must be in my heart and on my lips."  Then, have an adult sign the paper.  Only have them sign it if you really did read and discuss the blog with them.

Also, and this has no lasting value for class...  I just thought you might be interested in learning that Ben Kingsley - the man who played Gandhi - will be playing Mandarin in Iron Man 3.  Crazy.