India’s Struggle for Independence in the Classroom

When I think about my English lessons back at school, I remember that we talked about India, Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violent Indian Independence Movement but in these days I rather felt like the teacher was giving a history lesson, telling us stories from far off countries: I could not see what his aim was or what this had to do with me or our Western society.

As a future teacher I am always looking for topics for English lessons that not only discuss historical events but that are still relevant and that can be linked to the world of experience (Erfahrungswelt) of pupils. While searching on the internet I found an interesting article about an award-winning novel called “Climbing the Stairs” by Padma Venkatraman. This novel is a story of “personal and political turmoil” in an Indian family during the Indian Independence Movement.

It is told through the eyes of 15-year old Vidya. Her father, a philosophical and broad-minded patriot gets heavily injured during an Indian Independence protest march. Vidya and her brother Kitta are now forced to move to her grandfather’s household where “ women are meant to be married, not educated” 2011: 13). Vidya now tries to fight the subservient role assigned to her.

The following quote is from the novel and describes Appa’s (Vidya’s father) non-violent behaviour during the protest march, after trying to protect a female protester.

“Appa was strong. He was tall. He could have pulled the officer down the horse, thrown him on the ground and kicked him. But he did not. I saw the officer’s arm, with its curly yellow hair, coming down, down, down on my father’s head, on his neck, on his back. Appa’s blood began to creep across his light Lucknow kurtha — bright, angry, fresh and red. Not the tired rusty stain of someone else’s blood.Then the lathi hit Appa’s skull again, with a sound like the priest cracking open a coconut at the temple– the sound of my father’s final sacrifice.”

Although the novel has several great topics to discuss — one of the main issues is the role of non-violence. Even though there still is violence in India and all over the world — it was India that “set an example to the world by uniting in the first ever nation-wide non-violent independence struggle” (2011: 13). The question of non-violence is a timeless question and has to be part of today’s curriculum. India and its struggle for independence is a relevant topic for discussing important historical developments and most importantly - social or individual moral values. As I already mentioned the question of non-violence is a timeless question and not only linked to faraway India.

Sources:

Venkatraman, Padma. Climbing the Stairs. New York, 2008.

Venkatraman, Padma. “Climbing the Stairs. Does struggle for peace justify violence?” Praxis Englisch 1 (2011): 13–17.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GXf0ftXhL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg