Barefoot Mahatma followers undermining capitalism
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is better known as, The Mahatma or, Great Soul. He was an Indian lawyer who took on the British Raj…and won. A blend of spirituality and clever political strategy, Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence proved so powerful it brought down the largest empire the world had ever known.
![Indian salt farmer. Still taken from RTD documentary Gandhi's Footsteps.](/files/films/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers_5-br.jpg)
Gandhi is affectionately called Bapu, the Father of the Indian nation. His face adorns Indian banknotes and his birthday is a national holiday. However, just over seventy years after independence and Gandhi's assassination, India is experiencing an economic boom fuelled by consumption. The Mahatma’s philosophy espoused minimalism, self-sufficiency, the duty to share and the dignity of physical labour. It might seem irrelevant to millions of modern Indians distracted by consumerism.
![Indian man using a handspinning wheel. Still taken from RTD documentary Gandhi's Footsteps.](/files/films/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers_6-br.jpg)
Some Indians today feel that Gandhi’s teachings are needed now more than ever. RTD travels around India to meet Gandhi’s surprising cast of present-day disciples, often known as Gandhians. They include an alarmingly fit railway manager, an educator who takes the message to schools on a Harley Davidson, a university hand-spinning lecturer and V Kalyanam, Gandhi’s last surviving servant. Each one tries to honour, at least in a small way, the teachings of the Mahatma.
![V. Kalyanam, Gandhi's personal secretary. Still taken from RTD documentary Gandhi's Footsteps.](/files/films/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers_7-br.jpg)
As his followers put Gandhi’s philosophy into practice, they experience freedom from the servitude of consumerism, but can they convince the next generation to break free from the chains of 21st-century capitalism?
![Indian children in school uniform. Still taken from RTD documentary Gandhi's Footsteps.](/files/films/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers/gandhis-footsteps-gandhian-followers_8-br.jpg)