Gandhi

Over Labor Day weekend, I came across Richard Grenier's excessively long review of Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley. I thought of it again because of my recent post on the connections between nationalism, democracy, and ethnic cleansing. Which is pretty much the price India and Pakistan paid for independence from Britain.

The review does a decent job of putting Gandhi in his own cultural context, instead of ours. It is also full of interesting tidbits. I had heard of Gandhi's proclivity for demonstrating his self-mastery by sleeping naked next to young girls, but I hadn't understood the hysterical popularity that practice had among the young girls. But then again, I come from a different place.