jhe TM.C.A. 
 
INDIA — Her Problems and People 
 
 “But there is neither East nor West , Border, nor Breed nor Birth 
 When tivo strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth.” 
 
 — Rudyard Kipling. 
 
 T IDES of new life and thought are 
 sweeping through India. Political dis- 
 content since the World War has been 
 widespread and open. The whole politi- 
 cal horizon is marked by a struggle for 
 democracy and self-determination in gov- 
 ernment. The remarkable developments 
 in art, literature, philosophy and religion 
 of India’s golden past inspire her to seek 
 a new and independent future. 
 
 “Self determination’’ and “India for the 
 Indians” are topics at the heart of all dis- 
 cussions. Political parties differ in de- 
 manding complete independence for India, 
 or its recognition as one of the Dominions 
 of the British Empire. 
 
 The unrest in India reached its culmina- 
 tion when Mohandas Ghandi proclaimed 
 his principles of non-cooperation with the 
 present government to bring it to an end. 
 After trial and imprisonment, Ghandi is 
 again free and his influence is still 
 powerful. 
 
 Meanwhile, India has great obstacles in 
 the way of her cherished development. 
 
 1 . The physical handicap of her people 
 is tremendous. Her death rate is 31 .8 per 
 1 ,000 as compared with 21 .9 in Japan and 
 14.1 in America. No fewer than 2,000,000 
 
 Indian babies die annually. Plague, chol- 
 era, famine and flood reap a large harvest. 
 
 2. India’s poverty is appalling. Dr. D. 
 J. Fleming says if per capita wealth of 
 India is taken as a unit, that of Japan 
 would be 3.7; Canada, 18.3; the United 
 Kingdom, 22.8 and the United States, 27.9. 
 
 3. Modern industry is rapidly replacing 
 handicraft in India. The new factory sys- 
 tem takes workers from the soil and cre- 
 ates a vicious system of low wages, speed- 
 ing up, long hours, child labor, and poor 
 housing conditions. 
 
 4. The social institution of caste is a 
 vital principle of Indian Hinduism. There 
 are 3,000 mutually exclusive castes, di- 
 vided into 19,000 sub-castes. Besides 
 these, 33,000,000 untouchables or out- 
 castes live in the outskirts of villages in ut- 
 most squalor. They frequently are for- 
 bidden to use the village well, or to send 
 their children to the regular schools. 
 
 3. Illiteracy is startling. 142,000.000 
 men and 1 53,000,000 women can neither 
 read nor write in English, or in any of the 
 Indian vernacular. Four out of five vil- 
 lages are without educational facilities. 
 Superstition thrives in the soil of illiteracy 
 and ignorance. 
 
The Y. M. C* A* in India, Burma and Ceylon 
 
 Nine years ago a Madras audience hissed the name of Christ. In the same hall last 
 year an audience listened six nights to the story of Christ — hundreds stayed 
 to pray. 
 
 Aid to the Depressed Classes : 
 
 The rural work of the Association gives 
 aid to villages of outcastes. The iniquitous 
 rates of the money lenders — from 50 to 
 1 50% per annum, keeps the people in 
 hopeless poverty and helpless ignorance. 
 Cooperative credit associations save these 
 people from the money lenders, assist them 
 in the sale of their products and in coop- 
 erative purchasing. Whole villages of 
 untouchables are thus transformed into 
 self-respecting communities. 
 
 Quiding Student Ideas: 
 
 The number of students in India steadily 
 grows larger. The Y. M. C. A. through 
 its institutional buildings and dormitories 
 provides a wholesome atmosphere of 
 Christian fellowship; it endeavors to in- 
 spire the future leaders with ideals of 
 service and brotherhood. 
 
 Play for Everybody : 
 
 The Y. M. C. A .’s in the United States 
 and Canada have furnished western trained 
 physical directors for seven larger cities, 
 and in other centers there are well trained 
 physical directors from the Y. M. C. A. 
 Training School in Madras. In addition 
 to their work in directing games and exer- 
 cises for the members, these directors de- 
 vote a large part of their energy to training 
 leaders and physical instructors for the 
 schools in the various provinces and states. 
 The World’s Olympic Committee has re- 
 quested the Y. M. C. A. physical depart- 
 ment to undertake the training of the 
 Indian Olympic team for the contests of 
 1 924. The team taking part in the Olym- 
 
 pics in Paris this year was chosen by 
 competition at Delhi early in February. 
 
 To Dispel Illiteracy: 
 
 The Madras and Calcutta Associations 
 have each appointed a fully qualified sec- 
 retary to undertake the building up of a 
 constructive program of adult education. 
 By experiment, the Association hopes to 
 find some satisfactory method which may 
 readily be applied by the regular agencies 
 of education in overcoming illiteracy. 
 
 Education Through Lectures: 
 
 To promote health education, as well as 
 to instruct adults, the Y. M. C. A. has 
 spent fifteen years in building up a well 
 equipped Lecture Department. Sets of 
 lantern slides numbering over 32,950, 
 many of them in color, are rented at a 
 very nominal fee to organizations. In 1923, 
 3,205 lectures heard by more than 501 ,000 
 people were given throughout India. Aside 
 from the health slides, which have been 
 proclaimed the best and most extensive 
 health propaganda in India, the subjects 
 include religion, sociology, fine arts, crafts, 
 literature, biography, history, geography 
 and travel. The Indian Economic Asso- 
 ciation, Epworth League, W. C. T. U., 
 missionary and church organizations and 
 government schools are turning over to 
 the Lecture Department material pertain- 
 ing to their work. 
 
 Indian Boys: 
 
 The most timely service to India’s young 
 manhood is best rendered to the growing 
 lad. The Indian boy, like his brothers in 
 
other lands, responds to the appeal of the 
 Scout Ideal. Scout leaders have been 
 loaned by the National Council to a few 
 of the local government and Indian States. 
 Negotiations are under way for enlarging 
 this type of work. 
 
 Welfare Work among Mill Hands: 
 
 An experiment is being carried on by 
 the Indian National Council in one of the 
 large industrial plants of India where over 
 8,000 mill operatives are given aid, by 
 invitation of the mill owners, in education, 
 physical training, health and sanitation. 
 Eight qualified men have been loaned to 
 this work and study. 
 
 Opening India’s Literary Treasures: 
 
 India has a treasure house of literature, 
 philosophy and art, but to many Indians 
 
 these have been a sealed book because of 
 the diversity of languages and location. 
 For the purpose of giving a sympathetic 
 interpretation of the very best that India 
 has produced and making these treasures 
 available to the Indian reading public, the 
 Y. M. C. A. has produced a series of in- 
 spiring books among which are the “Heri- 
 tage of India,” and the “Religious Quest 
 of India.” 
 
 Meeting the Religious Crises of India: 
 Three secretaries have been set apart to 
 carry on the work of deepening the reli- 
 gious spirit of the membership and to 
 enable them to put into effect a really vital 
 religious work program. The crises of 
 religious thought now swaying the hearts 
 of the Indian young men make this pro- 
 gram vital to the Indian work. 
 
 Setting-up Exercise, Lahore 
 
 Issued by the FOREIGN DIVISION 
 of the Young Men’s Christian Associations 
 of the United States and Canada 
 347 Madison Avenue, New York