Ahimsa

Anjali and her mother prepare to go to the freedom fighters meeting. When they tell Chachaji that dinner is ready and that he can eat whenever he likes, Chachaji tells them a story about a farmer near him that killed male calves when they were born because they didn’t produce milk. As a boy, Chachaji stole one, and the farmer found him, slaughtering the calf right in front of him. He warns them that standing up for something can end badly.

As they ride in a buggy to the meeting, Anjali wonders whether her great-uncle is right. When they pass Captain Brent’s office, she yells, “Quit India!” and, though hesitant at first, Ma adds, ‘Jai Hind!’” (77). Anjali notices those who are unhoused and hungry and wonders whether she could perform the tasks they do to survive. She begins to think how unfair it is that Mohan will never be able to go to school and that he’ll continue to clean up other people’s waste.

They arrive at the meeting, where everyone is dressed in khadi. It’s a mix of people, Hindu and Muslim. Anjali realizes that the man already speaking is the announcer from the radio, whose name is Keshavji Parmar. He warns them that Captain Brent wants to close the clothing shop and encourages everyone to keep making khadi at home. Then, Shailaja stands up and announces that she and Anjali will go to the basti to educate Harijan children. Anjali feels proud.

Keshavji encourages everyone to work for equality among all Indians, saying that it must go together with civil disobedience. As they leave, Ma explains that he’s also Harijan.

It’s Diwali, which is one of Anjali’s favorite holidays. It has many meanings for Hindus, heralding the return of the god Ram or welcoming the goddess of wealth. Anjali thinks of it as a celebratory time away from school. Her parents gave her a teal ghagra from the Khadi Shop, and she proudly wears it for the last day of Diwali, which is meant to honor the relationship between brothers and sisters. Thinking of each other as siblings, she and Irfaan exchange gifts: He gives her crayons, and she gives him some badam barfi.

Anjali brings food to her father and Chachaji, but the latter refuses to eat, knowing that some of the food is going to the Harijan. She, Ma, and Irfaan leave, shocking one of their neighbors when they explain who will receive the sweets.

They arrive at the basti, where many Harijans live. Anjali and Irfaan are nervous, but Ma quickly gives her shawl to a woman whose baby is naked on the ground. They enter the basti, and suddenly everyone’s looking at them. Ma wishes them a happy Diwali, but no one responds. Anjali offers a piece of badam barfi to a girl named Paro. A woman steps between Anjali and Paro, and Ma asks why they don’t want change.

The woman responds that when she was a child, she used a well for the higher-caste people, and the villagers held her arm over coals, scarring her and forcing her to leave the village. She doesn’t think Harijans can make change without being punished. Ma tries to convince her otherwise, saying, “You’re a Harijan. A child of God. And you deserve to be able to eat the blessings from God too” (97), referring to the prasad (religious offerings in the form of sweets) that they’ve brought. The old woman agrees, taking two pieces of prasad and saying that her granddaughter shouldn’t have to go through what she did.

Anjali offers some of the treat to Mohan, but he walks away from her and goes into a hut. She talks more to Paro, who collects newspapers for Mohan. The girl tells her where his house is, and Anjali goes to talk to him. Mohan is inside carving beads and making necklaces. Anjali compliments them, suggesting that he should sell them at the fair in January. He doesn’t think that people would ever buy necklaces from him if they refuse to touch him when they pay him. Anjali explains that they’ll tell him that he’s Harijan, not an “Untouchable.” This makes Mohan mad, and he explains that Gandhi is wrong and that changing what someone is called won’t change the problems.

Anjali is still thinking about what Mohan said, wondering whether it’s wrong to call people “Harijan.” She mentions this to her mother, saying that Mohan thinks it’s insulting. Ma responds by saying how she doesn’t understand since “Gandhiji picked such a beautiful word. How could it be insulting to be called a child of God?” (104). Anjali isn’t sure what to do.

Later, she and her father go to buy paan, but Baba keeps allowing people to cut in front of them in line. When she mentions this, he reminds her of the story of Akbar the Muslim emperor and Birbal the Hindu minister. Akbar wanted to erect a new palace, but an old woman’s hut blocked it. Birbal began filling sacks with mud to clear the site, as a symbol of the sadness the woman likely felt about Akbar trying to destroy her home. He then explains that his father died right before he left for college, and he and his mother went to live with an uncle. The uncle and his wife took his mother’s stock in the family business and her gold jewelry, leaving them poor. Chachaji then took them in. Anjali understands that this is why he deals with his uncle.

Finally, they get some paan. They run into one of Baba’s old students, whose husband changed both her first and last names as part of the Marathi tradition. Anjali wonders whether she wanted them to change and then explains what Mohan said. Baba says that they should respect what Mohan said.

Anjali arrives at the basti to help teach. Her mother, Keshavji, Irfaan, and a couple other freedom fighters are there too. Keshavji is surprised to learn that they already visited the basti. Anjali is also shocked when her teacher is there to help.

The lessons begin, and the children join excitedly. They welcome the adults, though some women stand back fearfully. Anjali finds Mohan. He explains that he never wanted to clean toilets and, after his first day doing so, told his mother he’d never do it again. She hit him again and again because that’s how he’d be treated in life. She then told him about Dr. Ambedkar, who was an “Untouchable” and referred to them as “Dalits,” which means “oppressed.” He doesn’t see her god as his and prefers Dalit over Harijan. Anjali promises not to call him Harijan again and invites him to join the lesson. He retreats into his home. However, as Anjali helps Paro write numbers, Mohan reappears, taking a small chalkboard from Ma. He explains that he wants “to learn to write ‘Dalit’ so no one ever calls me a Harijan again” (121).

Later, Ma and Anjali visit Keshavji, and Ma explains that she didn’t know that taking prasad to the Dalits was a mistake. Keshavji notes that it’s difficult sometimes to understand what someone’s life is like when it’s not your experience, especially because Ma has more privileges. He also explains that Dr. Ambedkar disagreed with Gandhi when the latter fasted to stop a constitutional amendment that would ensure the Dalits had their own representation.

Anjali asks why he supports Gandhi when he’s wrong about how he views the Dalits, and Keshavji replies that he’s there to support freedom and equality in India. Gandhi cares, he says, but he can also do the wrong thing. Anjali and Ma must learn from their mistake. He thinks that they’re coming to understand that “it isn’t we Dalits who are backward. Who need to be saved, who need to change. But rather it is the rest of India” (126).

Ma decides that they’ll start cleaning their own outhouse. Anjali is nervous and throws up. She feels ashamed since Dalits have been forced to clean toilets for years. Her mother likewise vomits and mentions that she regrets burning their clothes when they should have given them away.

They tie old scarves over their noses and get to work. When they take the waste to the field, they encounter Mohan. Ma is surprised, but Mohan explains that their neighbors still expect him to clean and that he still needs money. Ma apologizes for not realizing. Anjali suggests giving him a different job at their home, and Mohan walks with them. When they pass Suman’s house, Mohan offers to take the wagon so that Suman doesn’t see her. Anjali is embarrassed that she doesn’t help more. On the way back from dumping the waste, she doesn’t let Mohan take the wagon handle; instead, she greets their neighbors proudly.