REEP - Collective Worship

Gandhi

Key Stage

3 and 4

Theme

India

Preparation

Prepare a picture of Gandhi on OHT. There are images on the web, together with very interesting quotations and information that can be found easily by entering 'Gandhi' on a search engine. Some suitable sites include:
web.mahatma.org.in
www.engagedpage.com/gandhi.html

A map of India or pictures of India could also be displayed to put the talk in context. If you have a copy of the film Gandhi a short clip could be played.

Development

Display the image of Gandhi with the first reader standing beside it. The second reader should stand at a distance, for example on the other side of the leader.

READER ONE: 'If my faith burns bright, as I hope it will even if I stand alone, I shall be alive in the grave, and what is more, speaking from it.'

READER TWO: 'Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore Gandhi at our own risk.'

Two statements from two men. Gandhi and Martin Luther King. What do those men have in common? They both believed in non-violence. They both met violent deaths. They both believed that their actions were worth dying for. Neither of them set out to die. They are both remembered as inspirational figures today, in Gandhi's case half a century after his death.
Gandhi, who we are focusing on today, is one of the best recognized figures of India. He is seen as one of the greatest gurus. If you were to visit the official Gandhi website, you would find that literally hundreds of thousands of others have visited it this year. Why?
Let's think about it like this: have you ever been really, really hungry? Would you be prepared to go really hungry in order to protect someone else's rights? Would you be happy to get into trouble on someone else's behalf? Would you think it was worth going to prison more than once for what you believe in? If your answer is 'NO', what would you think of someone who was prepared to do all these things?

FIRST SPEAKER: Sounds a bit stupid to me! What's the point?

SECOND SPEAKER: Well, I'd like to be like that, but I'm not too sure I'd really manage when it came to it.

THIRD SPEAKER: Um... I don't know...

Whether it's from curiosity, like our first speaker, or admiration, like our second, people are often fascinated by those who make a big impact. And in India it is possible to have an enormous impact - it is such a big place, with so many people. In the first part of the twentieth century, too, there was plenty to take action about. Gandhi, like Martin Luther King years later, fought against apartheid (he had worked in South Africa as a lawyer and experienced it at first hand). In India, this was related to the caste system, where he championed the rights of the Untouchables - the lowest caste - by his hunger strike.
In some ways, Gandhi is linked in many people's minds with India itself. His gaunt figure is seen as both vulnerable and triumphant. On the one hand he seems to stand for non-violence, the sacred cows that wander unharmed in the streets, a general belief in the sanctity of life and a prayerful attitude to the world around, a recognition that man does not have to have many material things to live well. On the other hand, he is a reminder that grinding oppression, rivalry, war, unfairness and the other things that Gandhi tried to change are still with us.
But India is a long way away. Does all this have any relevance today? We live in a global village. India is about seven hours away by plane. So maybe it's worth repeating the words of Martin Luther King:

Prayer

The Indian tradition of prayer involves the use of meditation and quietness.

Ask the students to be quiet for a short time (gauge for yourself how long this can be), and to reflect on the world that Gandhi wanted to see. During this time, read the following quotations from Gandhi at intervals:

'Live simply, that others may simply live.'

'We must be the change we wish to see.'

End either with a piece of Indian music, or by repeating the Martin Luther King quotation for a third time.