4/27/17 Journal 6: Ghandi and Swaraj

Lina Osofsky

913603947

4/27/17

Swaraj

Swaraj is an idea that most of India lives by. It is an idea that states that you have complete control of your own body and mind. In the text they bring up the example of slavery. The people in India who live by the Swaraj idea believe that if they are personally enslaved, then all of India is enslaved. In my mind I see this as some sort of coping mechanism for unfortunate events.

Then the reader brings up the question if anyone else can become Indianized -- more specifically, can Englishmen become Indianized. The Editor says that the Indian people will stay the same and if the Englishmen actually want to join the Indian way of life and they fit the lifestyle then they will stay.

This answer gives me an idea of how the Indian people think. They are very familiar with their own way of life. They believe in their ideas, laws, standards, etc. They are so confident in how things are run in their land that they don’t really care if anyone different comes in because they know that nothing will change. Their way of life is so powerful that it cannot be influenced by an outside force. In fact the outside force will either leave, or be changed itself to the Indian way.

This comes into play when India is asked about machinery. It was unclear if this already happened (and this is why they briefly had slaves) or that India said a flat no to the mill industry. Either way they eventually say no and this solidifies the fact that India is confident in their strength. They know how India thrives (socially and economically) and they have no intention to change that. If every country was like this then America wouldn’t be able to take advantage of their “non-modern” ways.