Unit 2 Destination Discussion - India
Advance reading: Members of the group should read chapters two and three of In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India. In preparation for your discussion, review in particular pp. 108-115.
Watch together this 20 minute documentary about B.R. Ambedkar, the great champion of equality and caste abolition in India.
Discussion:
- If you were speaking with someone who had never before heard of B.R. Ambedkar, how would you summarize the impact he had on India?
- What reasons can you think of for why Mohandas Gandhi is so much better known outside of India than is B.R. Ambedkar?
- From your reading so far, what do you understand about caste and its manifestations in present-day India? What seems to have changed since Ambedkar’s time, and what appears to be the same?
- What other questions have arisen for you in your study so far?
