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Mahatma Gandhi/Mohandas K. Gandhi
R. N. Bashir is a British-educated, Muslim Indian man, who enters the narrative when Bakha overhears him loudly critiquing Gandhi’s speech. Bashir, who has been heavily inspired by western theorists of democracy like Rousseau and Hobbes, believes that Gandhi must renounce Hinduism entirely in order to truly reform the caste system. But even as Bashir criticizes Gandhi for his hypocrisy, he treats Bakha with little respect, engaging in classist and colorist behavior as he orders Bakha to get him a drink. Unlike Bashir’s friend Iqbal Nath Sarshar, Bakha is mostly annoyed by Bashir, faulting him for his arrogance and even failing to be impressed by his fancy English clothes.
R. N. Bashir Quotes in Untouchable
The Untouchable quotes below are all either spoken by R. N. Bashir or refer to R. N. Bashir. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Pages 105–139
Quotes
‘It is India's genius to accept all things,’ said the poet fiercely. ‘We have, throughout our long history, been realists believing in the stuff of this world, in the here and the now, in the flesh and the blood. […] We can see through the idiocy of these Europeans who defied money. They were barbarians and lost their heads in the worship of gold. We know life. We know it's secret flow. We have danced to its rhythms. […] We can learn to be aware with a new awareness. We are still eager to learn. We cannot go wrong. Our enslavers muddle through things. We can see things clearly.’
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
‘When the sweepers changed their profession, they will no longer remain Untouchables. And they can do that soon, for the first thing we will do when we accept the machine, will be to introduce the machine which clears dung without anyone having to handle it - the flush system. Then the sweepers can be free from the stigma of untouchability and assume the dignity of status that is their right as useful members of a casteless and classless society.’
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R. N. Bashir Quotes in Untouchable
The Untouchable quotes below are all either spoken by R. N. Bashir or refer to R. N. Bashir. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Pages 105–139
Quotes
‘It is India's genius to accept all things,’ said the poet fiercely. ‘We have, throughout our long history, been realists believing in the stuff of this world, in the here and the now, in the flesh and the blood. […] We can see through the idiocy of these Europeans who defied money. They were barbarians and lost their heads in the worship of gold. We know life. We know it's secret flow. We have danced to its rhythms. […] We can learn to be aware with a new awareness. We are still eager to learn. We cannot go wrong. Our enslavers muddle through things. We can see things clearly.’
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
‘When the sweepers changed their profession, they will no longer remain Untouchables. And they can do that soon, for the first thing we will do when we accept the machine, will be to introduce the machine which clears dung without anyone having to handle it - the flush system. Then the sweepers can be free from the stigma of untouchability and assume the dignity of status that is their right as useful members of a casteless and classless society.’
