1. What did Gandhi do in India?
1) Built another ashram in India, where people of any caste, or none, were accepted and considered equal.
Abandoned ‘Western’ dress and chose to live simply among the poor.
Lived a self-sufficient lifestyle, making his own clothes etc.
Gandhi’s room at the Sabermati Ashram in India

2. Why did Gandhi do it?
Belief in ahimsa meant all action taken was non-violent
Hindu teaching encourages followers to detach themselves from material possessions
Believed that people could also learn from other religions and believed that people of any religion could live side by side without prejudice and discrimination.

3. The Result: did Gandhi achieve what he set out to do?
1947 – India was given full independence from the British Empire
1948 – a law was passed in India against ‘untouchability’, meaning that people could no longer be discriminated against because of their family or circumstances.

4. What is the caste system?
The concept developed in India over hundreds of years
Traditionally, society was divided into 4 varnas, with the priests at the top, and manual works at the bottom
Later, these 4 divisions were sub-divided into castes or jatis.
You belong to one of these groups by birth, and it is frowned upon to marry into a different caste
Later, a group called the ‘Untouchables’ emerged, who belong to no caste. They are the poorest in society.

5. Gandhi Questions
Why do you think it was so important for Gandhi to go and live with the poor?
What problems do you think he might have found?