Siddharth Damania won first place in Minnesota Junior Division for the Documentary Project in History. His project was on Gandhi and non-violence. He talked to us about the project.

1. WHY GANDHI?
I chose the great Mahatma because of several factors. The most prominent aspect that attracted me to this topic was his indigenousness to ancestral homeland: Gujarat India. This directly affects my parents’ and my life because he is the reason for India’s independence and democracy. I also chose this topic because it fit perfectly for the 2004 History Day theme of Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange. Gandhi explored several forms of nonviolent protest (fasting, striking, boycotting, civil disobedience); he encountered much resistance from all directions, including that from his fellow congressional leaders and from the mighty British Empire, itself. Then, Gandhi led India to a final exchange of power between the British colonizers and the Indian citizens. The third contributing factor to why I chose this topic was because of its impact on the rest of the world and its modernity. India’s recent independence has led India to be one of the most respected and powerful nations in the world.

2. IS HE RELEVANT TO THE WORLD TODAY?
Gandhi’s theories are profoundly relevant to the 21st century. In a time of warfare and dissension, peace can be a solution to some of the most rigorous problems in today’s society. We saw progress being made in the 1990s in Israel due to peace work and cooperation. Those means have been abandoned and now that nation is dying with conflict. The thing with peace is that it will require patience and time. Gandhi’s independence struggle took over thirty years. That is an impossible number in today’s go-go-go world. Even with patience, all will not be easy. Militia and guerrilla groups will do anything in their power to discourage peaceful cooperation. But when a plan is created and followed through with and enough time is given, Gandhi’s philosophies will work in several situations.

3. HOW CAN HIS PHILOSOPHIES BE USED TO SOLVE SOUTH ASIAN CONFLICTS?
Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophies will not vary based on the place: it simply can work anywhere. From South America to South Asia, if a plan is executed and patience and time are allotted, his ideas will prove worthwhile and successful.

4. WHAT DID YOU LEARN THROUGH THE PROCESS?
Through the process of researching, I not only learned about the intense issues of nonviolent protest, but also learned about the simple yet powerful man, himself. The half-naked man cleaned toilets and wiped the wounds of the dirtiest people in the world. This is real leadership and power, as Gandhi helped without a “savior mentality”. It was incredible to learn how he united millions of untouchables, businessmen, scientists, doctors, workers, merchants, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Indians into triumphantly protesting against the biggest empire in the world.