Educational Media Reviews Online

Has India changed that much since the British colonials left some 66 years ago? Would Gandhi recognize his beloved land and people? Is India a place of equal treatment that Gandhi foresaw, or has a new form of discrimination engrafted the old caste system? In some ways, each question’s answer is both “yes” and “no”.

The viewer follows the journalist as he traces Gandhi’s footsteps on the Salt March. Although Gandhi has influenced many people such as Dr. Martin Luther King to use mass civil disobedience to break oppressive regimes we see that after seventy years, many of the old oppressions of India have returned in a new form. With the new Indian government’s attempt to modernize the economy and become a global competitor, it is apparent that the impoverished, almost two-thirds of the Indian population, are the ones excluded from the process of modernization. Both the poor of the cities and the rural country suffer the oppression of the new government’s project scheme. On the one hand, the poor of the cities, forced out of their abodes have nowhere to go. They see their shacks and shantytowns demolished and experience firsthand the confiscation of their land, which in turn the government uses to entice large transnational organizations to build on. In the rural areas, the vestige upper caste villagers often maintain the exclusionary practices of the caste system. Even there the government confiscates land for tourist resorts and hotels to build upon.

As we travel to the locations where Gandhi had some of his most intimate relationships we find his memory and what he stands for being forsaken. Museums and plaques to his teachings are locked and in disrepair.

Editing and photography are excellent. The story line is historical interspersed with current events and interviews. Excellent sound quality and music background effects. This is a quality presentation worthy of the philosophy of Gandhi and his achievements as compared to the modern civil state of India.

Of the many quotes of Gandhi presented in the film, one is particularly insightful. It appears at fifty minutes into the film. For purpose of effect, the quote is not given here. Rather, the viewer will have to see it and hear it firsthand. View and consider this most memorable and thought provoking film.