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A review by curlyandcarbonated
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar
4.0
Supriya Kelkar’s Ahimsa, a word which embodies the concept of non-violence, tells the story of ten-year-old Anjali during the 1940s in India. In the opening scene, she paints a red “Q” on her mother’s British former employer’s workspace, a symbol telling him that he should “Quit India.” Anjali, though well-intentioned, doesn’t fully understand the possible consequences of her actions. When tensions rise and Anajli’s family feels the need to become more active in the Indian independence movement, her mother joins the cause, complicating her daughter’s once-perfect life in the process.
Each character in the book was able to add another lesson about social conflict in a new way. Mohan, an Untouchable, brings up the power of names. Rather than call this group of people “Untouchables,” Ghandi urges others to call them “Harijans” (Child of God), but Mohan, an actual member of the group, explains why he prefers the term “Dalit.” Anjali has to consider how she can help other people see Mohan as a person rather than simply a Dalit, but she learns that when it comes to social equality, sometimes the most well-meaning actions can have disastrous, or even deadly, consequences for those she feels she is fighting for. Irfaan, a Muslim friend of Anjali, exposes a hard truth that even children can start to show hate toward each other because of one part of someone’s identity when that’s what society does. Chachaji, Ahimsa’s uncle, doesn’t believe in the movement, and across time and culture, we can see there are still uncomfortable differences in opinion that always seem to surface during Thanksgiving …
Ahimsa is a book I originally gave 3-stars to because I wanted more complexity from Anjali, but for me, this is a book that takes a little processing. Although I don’t feel like Anjali was as complex as I wanted her to be, the situations in the book were. There are so many powerful lessons about the complexities of social justice and civil rights and how best to achieve those, but I love that this was a story about a privileged girl who finds her place in the movement and refuses to accept things the way they are—something that students, teachers, and parents always need to be reminded.
From a teaching standpoint, a lot of my students would struggle with reading this independently without some preview of the historical context and some strategies for names with which they might be unfamiliar. This would work BEAUTIFULLY in a Social Studies classroom after studying this period, and it would open up fantastic discussion about the complexities of any social justice movement.
Each character in the book was able to add another lesson about social conflict in a new way. Mohan, an Untouchable, brings up the power of names. Rather than call this group of people “Untouchables,” Ghandi urges others to call them “Harijans” (Child of God), but Mohan, an actual member of the group, explains why he prefers the term “Dalit.” Anjali has to consider how she can help other people see Mohan as a person rather than simply a Dalit, but she learns that when it comes to social equality, sometimes the most well-meaning actions can have disastrous, or even deadly, consequences for those she feels she is fighting for. Irfaan, a Muslim friend of Anjali, exposes a hard truth that even children can start to show hate toward each other because of one part of someone’s identity when that’s what society does. Chachaji, Ahimsa’s uncle, doesn’t believe in the movement, and across time and culture, we can see there are still uncomfortable differences in opinion that always seem to surface during Thanksgiving …
Ahimsa is a book I originally gave 3-stars to because I wanted more complexity from Anjali, but for me, this is a book that takes a little processing. Although I don’t feel like Anjali was as complex as I wanted her to be, the situations in the book were. There are so many powerful lessons about the complexities of social justice and civil rights and how best to achieve those, but I love that this was a story about a privileged girl who finds her place in the movement and refuses to accept things the way they are—something that students, teachers, and parents always need to be reminded.
From a teaching standpoint, a lot of my students would struggle with reading this independently without some preview of the historical context and some strategies for names with which they might be unfamiliar. This would work BEAUTIFULLY in a Social Studies classroom after studying this period, and it would open up fantastic discussion about the complexities of any social justice movement.