Being an Untouchable

In Untouchable, Anand documents one day in the life of a sweeper by the name Bakha. In the first half of the work, readers can observe how Bakha starts his day to the verbal abuse of both his father and the people of higher status than him. Lakha seems proud of his status, yet is also tired of his work, and he pretends to feel unwell so that his children accommodate and perform the daily work for him. Lakha represents the traditional, unchanging mind of the elder generation, who finds fault in Bakha, who tries hard to be like the British- maybe because he is ashamed of the unfairness of his culture.
Readers can see that Bakha tries hard to be proud of himself as a sweeper. He does not seem acknowledge the fact that he is an Untouchable, dressing like the Tommies and 'forgetting' to announce his presence in the town. In the Indian caste system, Bakha himself is differentiated as an Untouchable, yet the character adds to this differentiation by dressing like the Europeans.
It is later in the evening, after Bakha has encountered numbers bouts of abuse where he begins to realize and acutally think about his status. It is with the epiphany where Bakha acknowledges himself as an Untouchable that he begins to dislike himself.
Bakha then distances himself from his family and even his friends, who had no qualms about his status. This turning point, where Bakha sees himself not as closer to the British or close to his own ethnicity, but far from both. He isolates himself, and it is here where he becomes enlightened to his status and the views of the society. He meets a missionary, who teaches him of Christianity- of the son of God, who died for the sins of the people; Bakha thinks of the equality of all men. After this he is caught up in a crowd which rushes to see Gandhi. Bakha feels he can relate to what Gandhi is saying, and his already troubled mind continues to toss the idea of being an Untouchable aroound in his mind.