Untouchable

Bakha's understanding of freedom and his desire to obtain freedom reaches a pinnacle when he listens to and begins to understand Gandhi's speech. It seems as if Bakha's understanding of freedom occurs simultaneously to the masses understanding of what it means to be free. However, unlike many other countries or social classes fights for freedom, Gandhi preaches for a peaceful revolution. This seems to mean that a revolution must come from within the people that wish to see changes, before any changes will begin to occur to the nation as a whole. By stating this, Anand uses Gandhi to represent his message that in order for a class such as the untouchables to obtain emancipation, they must first clean up their own images and stop acting like untouchables.

At first, it appears as if Anand is blaming the untouchables for their own poor conditions of life. However, he is not actually blaming the untouchables, rather he is requesting that the masses lead the way for their own freedom. If the untouchables want to be free and treated equally, they must show the upper classes that they are indeed equal humans, not inferiors.