Reexamining Icons: The Critique of Gandhi and Mother Teresa
A 60-minute session on how we judge the people we were taught to look up to. Gandhi and Mother Teresa are the starting point: both admired by millions, both criticised by people who lived close to their work. The cards are not about settling a verdict on either of them. They are about how we judge heroes: by their time or ours, by their worst words or their later growth, by their public work or their private lives. Twelve independent cards; open three or four. (Held 1 September 2024; archived board.)
The opening question
Who was your hero when you were about ten years old?
Everyone in the room answers this in one line before any card is opened. Write the answers down; you will come back to them.
The cards
12 ways into the topic
Each card is independent. Your group votes on which to open, and four or five is plenty for an hour. Behind every card sit three prompts, one at a time, that only appear once it is opened on the board. Unopened cards keep for next time.
- 1
Learning Your Hero Was Flawed
In school, your hero was perfect. Years later, you read something about them that made your stomach drop. Now the old picture feels different.
- 2
Great In Public, Hard At Home
A man is loved by millions. Strangers cry when they hear his name. But his own son wishes he'd had a different father.
- 3
Judging The Past By Today
Your grandfather says something at dinner that makes everyone wince. Someone whispers, “He's from a different time.” Everyone moves on.
- 4
People Who Changed Their Views
You wrote something at twenty that embarrasses you now. You've grown since then. But someone digs it up and shares it anyway.
- 5
Charity Or Fixing The Problem
A child knocks on your car window at the signal. You could give ten rupees right now. Or you could give nothing, and support a school instead.
- 6
Outsiders Criticising Our Heroes
You complain about your family all the time. Then a friend says one bad word about them, and you're furious.
- 7
How Your City Is Seen
You tell someone abroad where you're from. They nod and mention one thing: the slums, the traffic, a famous film. It isn't wrong.
- 8
Heroes Who Secretly Struggled
Someone you admire always looked calm and certain. Years later, their private letters show they were struggling the whole time, and kept going anyway.
- 9
Taking Down Statues
Your college has a statue of a famous man. Some students say he said terrible things and it should go. Others say it's history and should stay.
- 10
Jokes About National Heroes
Someone in the family WhatsApp group shares a meme about a freedom fighter. Half the group sends laughing faces.
- 11
Loving The Work, Not The Person
Your favourite singer, cricketer or writer turns out to have behaved badly. Their work still moves you. Their name now makes you uneasy.
- 12
Why We Still Need Heroes
Every great person seems to have a dark side now. Online, someone is always pulling another hero down. Your nephew says nobody deserves to be admired.
The line to leave with
Someday someone will tell your story: which part would you want them to leave out, and would they be right to?
More boards,more ways in.
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