To best understand caste today in India, Roy insists the examination of the influence of Gandhi in shaping what India ultimately became: independent of British rule, globally powerful, and marked to this day by the caste system. In The Doctor and the Saint, Roy reveals some uncomfortable, even controversial, truths about the political thought and career of India’s most famous, and most revered figure. The book outlines the ideological differences between Gandhi and Ambedkar, and the actions they took to advance those principles. Ambedkar is portrayed as a principled leader with a vision of abolishing caste whereas, Gandhi is portrayed as a privileged-Hindu accepting of caste discrimination. At the same time, Roy makes clear that what millions of Indians today need is not merely formal democracy, but liberation from the oppression, shame, and poverty imposed on them by India’s archaic caste system.