Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com (Im)possible Worlds to Conquer A Critical Reading of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa Edited by Mrunal Chavda Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com (Im)possible Worlds to Conquer Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Mrunal Chavda Editor (Im)possible Worlds to Conquer A Critical Reading of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Editor Mrunal Chavda Indian Institute of Management Raipur Raipur, India ISBN 978-981-99-9679-7 ISBN 978-981-99-9680-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9680-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Paper in this product is recyclable. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Contents Introduction Mrunal Chavda 1 Locating “Selfhood” in Dalit Autobiographies Madhu 17 No More Worlds to Conquer: A Critical Reading of Ambedkar’s Waiting for a Visa Mrunal Chavda 39 Waiting for a Visa: Reminiscences or Remedy? Rucha Brahmbhatt 63 The Rhetoric of Ambedkar in Selected Works Vinu Chavda and Mrunal Chavda 77 Education, Exploitation and Empowerment of Dalits in Waiting for a Visa Nutan Kotak 111 Trajectory of Tolerance and Triumph: A Short Study of Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa Papiya Lahiri 121 Language and Indian Social Discourse in Waiting for a Visa by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Pratik Dalwadi 141 v Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com vi CONTENTS The Social and Political Aggressions of B. R. Ambedkar: Interrogating His Childhood Traumas and Denial of Childhood Chandrakant Langare The Dalit Autobiography as a Critical Genre: Situating Ambedkar’s Waiting for a Visa Among Marathi Dalit Autobiographical Writings Saket Moon 157 175 Conclusion for a Way Forward Mrunal Chavda 193 Index 207 Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com List of Contributors Rucha Brahmbhatt Department of English, Samarpan Arts & Commerce College, Samarpan Education and Research Campus, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India Mrunal Chavda Indian Institute of Management Raipur, Raipur, India Vinu Chavda University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa Pratik Dalwadi Mohanlal & Vijayaben Arts and Commerce College, Shri Govind Guru University, (Godhra), Halol (Panchmahal), India Nutan Kotak University School of Languages, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India; Department of English, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India Papiya Lahiri University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India Chandrakant Langare Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India Madhu Department of History, Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Saket Moon Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India vii Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com List of Tables Introduction Table 1 Number of Doctoral Thesis on Dalit as a keyword in Indian languages 4 The Rhetoric of Ambedkar in Selected Works Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 Table 7 Works included in the analysis Overall scores across five master variables Activity Optimism Certainty Realism Commonality 82 87 88 92 95 99 102 ix Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Introduction Mrunal Chavda Why Waiting for a Visa? From derogatory comments about the intellect of oppressed caste students to proudly narrating their activism against affirmative action in India prior to their admission into Harvard to a complete cultural monopoly of South Asian/India celebrations, the deep sense of alienation, humiliation, and social exclusion I experienced made me constantly vigilant and worried about the consequences of being outed as a Dalit in Harvard’s South Asian circles. a Dalit alumnus of Harvard University (Outlook Web Desk) These comments exemplify travels of Indian Caste Structure in different parts of the world and resonate with my personal experience when I pursued my doctorate at the University of Exeter in the Department of Drama. During my graduation years, between 2011 and 2016, I met South Asian communities in Devon, Leicester, Corby, and London and interacted with many non-Dalits (including ‘Westerners’). The almost third or fourth question would be directed toward my caste in the Indian M. Chavda (B) Indian Institute of Management Raipur, Rajpur, India e-mail: mchavda@iimraipur.ac.in © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024 M. Chavda (ed.), (Im)possible Worlds to Conquer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9680-3_1 1 Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 2 M. CHAVDA social structure, and I would experience what is expressed above. This book examines Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s autobiographical memoir Waiting for Visa. There is a dearth of research on Waiting for a Visa in general and Indian Literature in English, including Dalit Studies, despite Ambedkar’s significant contributions to India’s political, social, and economic landscapes. Hence, there are key reasons for choosing to examine Waiting for Visa. First, a focus on one of the most authoritative figures in Indian polity can benefit not only Dalit writers and activists, policymakers, and scholars but also Dalits in India and marginalized oppressed classes elsewhere, all of which are central to bringing a nuanced understanding of the Waiting for Visa, as well as being the topic of this work. This book lays the foundation for a critical study of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s autobiographical memoir. Dalit autobiographies have been well-studied as a genre in Indian English Literature. With strong creative and literary expression, Dalit Studies have been a strong contender in terms of output in different Indian languages (Satyanarayana and Tharu, o Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South Asia, Dossier 1: Tamil and Malayalam; Satyanarayana and Tharu, From those Stubs Steel Nibs are Sprouting: New Dalit Writing from South Asia, Dossier 2: Kannada and Telugu). The social impact of such writings appears at a minimum as we look at National Crime Bureau statistics, especially crime against SCs and STs from 2018 to 2020 (National Crime Records Bureau). These numbers mandate creating a rigorous drive to spread awareness about Dalit experiences. Unfortunately, such incidents are only shared in the confines of Dalit Studies or a prescribed textbook or even journalistic reports in the Indian society or even limited to conferences at the national and international level, which are in the ambit of Arts and Humanities branches of knowledge. It is fortunate to see a few universities prescribing Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa. Additionally, it is important to note that Dr. Ambedkar’s writing and speeches have been well-researched (Zelliot, From untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement; Zelliot, Ambedkar’s World: The Making of Babasaheb and the Dalit Movement; Omvedt, Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India; Omvedt, Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India); however, this undisputed leader’s autobiographical memoir has been ignored. This book will address this absence of scholarship for Waiting for Visa in Dalit Studies. However, the more significant challenge of filling Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 3 this gap in literariness, Dalit voices, and experiences in Waiting for Visa needs to be addressed. Literariness about the Dalit voice and Dalit experience and surviving documents of social and human suffering needs to be examined. For nonDalit autobiographies, this might not be a major challenge because the social and literary structure scheme plays an important role. Dalit Studies programs are available at universities across India; however, little attention has been paid to Waiting for Visa. We envisage that this book exemplifies an approach that will encourage others to take Waiting for Visa research forward in this rapidly growing field of South Asian Studies. It is vital to create an all-inclusive environment that can co-exist among researchers. One of the challenges confronting Dalit research practitioners is the immediate compartmentalization of Dalit scholars due to the Indian social structure, at least in India. Some researchers are hesitant to research Dalit Studies due to a lack of first-hand experiences and exposure to the rigid Indian caste structure. Others examine their research following the academic fruits of serious publications or political motivations. A simple search with the keyword ‘Dalit’ on Shodhganga reveals 79 studies conducted during 1920–1999 and 1844 between 2000–2022 (Shodhganga Inflibnet). Table 1 below lists many doctoral theses in Indian languages at universities in India. A higher number of studies exist on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (i.e., 13,472, and this excludes research articles published in different national and academic journals); however, none on the autobiographical memoir Waiting for Visa (Shodhganga Inflibnet). Therefore, for budding researchers with a broad goal to achieve social equality, equity, and inclusivity for India’s tomorrow to choose Dalit Literature as a pathway for India’s social dream crafted by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the Indian Constitution, it is essential that the Waiting for Visa should be explored thoughtfully. Additionally, many Dalit and Indian scholars have expressed an experiential understanding of how Dalit experiences life and what challenges they face in their everyday life (Channa and Mencher; Maurya; Rao; Singh). This expression results in secondary experience and research and higher research articles exhibiting no social, political, or cultural impact wherein readers identify how to avert Dalit risk, challenges, and threats to the Dalits community in their everyday lives, which can gradually improve the social life experiences of Dalits. Training existing and aspiring citizens in the formal procedure of raising socially inclusive and Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 4 M. CHAVDA Table 1 Number of Doctoral Thesis on Dalit as a keyword in Indian languages Language Number of Studies on Dalit as a keyword English (including in the USA) Hindi Marathi Punjabi Tamil Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Bengali Telugu Urdu Dogri Konkani Odia Others 1943 + 68 325 59 12 19 20 10 10 5 2 2 1 1 1 243 equitable approaches will help pursue a constitutional perspective and coagulate Indian society to practice values expressed in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Through this memoir, policymakers and administrators might also be trained about the details of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s early life experiences. So, they are better prepared to mitigate risk and appreciate social growth leading to the harmonious construction of Indian society. Initiation has been ignited, requiring further fuel in the form of momentum. Secondly, there is a need to assess the direction and scope of Dalit Literature, as many critical matters remain confrontational, like the research outputs. Most researched-based books and articles focus on marginalization, oppression, and de-brahminization through Dalit consciousness. This book goes beyond the Dalit panther movement to examine life experiences in the Waiting for Visa, mostly overlooked but central to the Dalit movement in India (and now abroad through the Indian diaspora). The goal is to share insights into the Waiting for Visa to stimulate interest relevant to policymakers, research scholars, and creative writers and critics, including general readership across all genders and beyond all kinds of stratification. This book aims to provide a new direction, agenda, and visibility to Waiting for Visa by examining it through Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 5 various approaches such as genre studies, autobiographical studies, trauma studies, and socio-linguistic discourse. Third, Indian Dalit Studies are widely popular worldwide, especially among South Asian studies or South Asian diaspora studies at universities in the USA, UK, and Australia. Global citizens are well aware of this Indian caste structure, though they may lack an in-depth understanding of the complex social, cultural, and geopolitical equations within this Studies. Previously, the concept of Dalit was associated with impurity due to associations with professional and occupational identities (Joshi and Minority Rights Group; Rajshekar). These aspects of South Asian history have merged (or rather forcibly and conveniently) with global issues of racism and social exclusion. Dalit scholars now should aim to uncover those historical biases that occurred due to Islamic invasions or British imperialism. Many Hindu-sacred texts have been translated with an overarching aim to control or facilitate the power dynamics and equations in South Asia. We need to identify those gaps by reinterpreting such texts to develop a fresh perspective to validate claims (perhaps illogical according to the contemporary discoveries of science) and refute those claims made in Indian history, literature, and cultural texts. This book aims to steer such discussions or pave the way for a new direction and agenda to operate on the global stage within Dalit Studies. Dalit autobiographies have a legacy in Waiting for Vis. Waiting for a Visa is an indispensable part of Dalit Literature and Dalit Studies. Dalit Studies is a well-established area of research worldwide with a high concentration of research outputs from the South Asian subcontinent. Dalit Panthers and Dalit Movement discourse in India generally aims at religious identity—Hindu, Christian, and Buddhism, Dalit rights, and politics. The movement rose to prominence in the 1970s. Earlier research on Dalits focused on advocacy for Dalit Cause (Kamble 1979), regional development on the Ad Dharm movement (Juergensmeyer, 1982), and Dalits participating in political inclusion either the Gandhian way or Ambedkarite way (Gupta 1985; Pradhan 1986; Nath 1987). Some scholars also discussed the movement from the Mahar community’s class and caste structure (Gokhale 1993; Zelliot 1996). R. Kothari (1994) highlighted inadequacies in prevailing models for Dalit movements (Kothari 1994, p. 1594). Gail Omvedt (1994), with Marxist and Phule-Ambedkarite framework, advances Dalit Studies with comparative regional histories in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh from 1920 to 1956 (Omvedt 1994). Webster (1996) examined the modern Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 6 M. CHAVDA Dalit movement from historical perspectives with no proper beginning in the post-independence era. (Webster 1996) Webster explained five major milestones in Dalit Studies. They are (1) who are Dalits, (2) Dalit Movement or Dalit Movements, (3) issues on origins and background of the movement, (4) movement toward the center and movement at the regional, local, and peripheral level, and (5) concerns over the understanding post-independent history of Dalit movement. R. S. Rawat (2013), in an excellent review of Dalit Studies since the 1990s, identified occupation, dignity, and space related to discourse in Dalit Studies, where space as a living habitat shapes the lived experiences of caste. Surprisingly the scholarly literature on Dalit Studies has inadequately addressed these five key features in Waiting for Visa. In their introduction, they observed that “Since the 1990s, Ambedkar has attracted considerable academic attention, but his theoretical contributions have not yet been sufficiently appreciated in the mainstream social science disciplines (Rawat and Satyanarayana 2016, p. 27).” Dutta (2018) examined English syllabi in Indian universities and concluded that the English literature syllabi represent a blend of canonical and local literary pieces allowing empowerment. Dalit Movement often cited and challenged the Hindu text Manusmriti, and caste structure has been the subject of many scholars such as Ankur Barua. Barua asserted that “Ambedkar was a ‘steadfast constitutionalist’ who sought solutions to social problems through the intervention of the state” (Barua 2018, p. 37). Queen (2021) examined through a survey how Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa emulated Dalit writers’ scope and impact not only in Marathi Literature but also in Indian Literature in English Translation. Rathore (2021) compared Gandhi’s train experience and Ambedkar’s travel denial. While Rathore has examined Ambedkar’s autobiographical experiences, he evaluates how these experiences aid Ambedkar in framing ‘dignity’ for others in the Indian constitution. Umesh Kumar (2021) observed that Waiting for Visa is a history of the community rather than an individual. Except for these recent articles, Waiting for Visa has not been the subject of critical examination. This edited volume aims to fill this gap by contributing to the discourse on Waiting for Visa. Unfortunately, Waiting for Visa has not been translated into many Indian languages though it is freely available in English. I have come across two translations. Gujarati translation by Vikalp Kotwal and Hindi translation by Savita Pathak. Though Waiting for a Visa has been claimed to be translated into Gujarati and Hindi, a close reading of this text has yet to Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 7 appear. Though both these translations are substandard and need a critical introduction to the work, they potentially expose regional readers to this memoir and could reach masses who could not read and access the English version. Recently, Dalits have started networking 1 and mentoring, and the government’s preferential purchase policy from the SC and ST businesses exemplifies a change in societal perception (Karunakaran; Sengupta; Deeksha; Khare; Andharia and the ANANDI Collective). DICCI illustrates the importance of mentoring led by Dalits for Dalits. Such practices, of course, are welcome to empower Dalits. They may restrict the Dalit community to themselves as they can neither expand their activities nor create scope for non-Dalits to participate actively to bring a wave of changing the fundamental issues such as social exclusion and racial and ethnic discrimination. Fortunately, Indian Dalit scholars have always actively valued progressive thinking that focuses on exchanging ideas among academia. Though there is a general difference in opinion, be it political, religious, or even historical, they are valued as a part of evolving Dalit Studies. Their impact is visible in shaping the policies. Therefore, these scholars can use their credibility and clout to ensure that the everyday experiences of Dalits refine for an all-inclusive society that Dr. B. R Ambedkar envisages in the Indian Constitution. The focus of this book This book is based on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s autobiographical memoir entitled Waiting for Visa, an examination primarily neglected. It has three essential dimensions. First, the historical dimension in which the caste structure of Dalit autobiographies and its importance to Dalit studies is seen to change over some time. If we scrutinize the last eight decades of Dalit writings, it has grown aggressively, not only in terms of institutes in India and research departments on Dalit Studies worldwide (R. Rawat; Kunhaman). This rise is of paramount importance to the nation and the socio-economic growth of SCs and STs in every sector, though it is slower compared to other constitutional categories such as Other Backward Class and General Category (Mahambare, Dhanraj and Sharma; Bhagat). Such 1 See, DICCI. It stands for Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. https:// dicci.in/about-dicci/ Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 8 M. CHAVDA socio-economic development of Dalits contributes to the empowerment of Indian society at large. Second, there is an increasing focus on equity and equality in Indian society (Tiwari, Singh, and Manar; Rahman and Rao; Srivastava; Oza); as Indian society takes advantage of economic and educational growth, policymakers and administrators, and various stakeholders need more opportunities to create a socially inclusive and equal opportunity provider society not just to the Dalit community but to each stratum of the society (Kapoor; Special Correspondent, the Hindu). Further, Dalit autobiographies have a wider reach which attracts attention from this perspective and is frequently discussed in the Dalit discourse. In Dalit Studies, critical interpretations of Ambedkar’s writings have expanded the debate on Dalit identity in modern times. Still, the impact of these works on Indian society has been overlooked, especially his memoir Waiting forVisa. Previous studies on Ambedkar and Dalits have focused on social, political, and cultural aspects rather than early life experiences shaping their life and writings. The cluster of themes centered around Dalit consciousness alone is higher than the impact of everyday life experiences on non-Dalits. The Dalit literature, with Dalit autobiographies, is well-known internationally and academically successful in attracting national and international research scholars. However, sporadic references to Waiting for Visa and a roadmap for bringing equity and equality, beyond the Constitution of India, through literary discourse suggest a collective failure in the Dalit autobiographical discourse. Third, Dalit literature embraces Dalit aesthetics (Kumari and Kapoor; Limbāl.e and Mukherjee) and Dalit consciousness as an art form. A great deal of research output is available on these concepts and Dalit autobiographies. Nonetheless, most research has been undertaken on Dalit studies in the South Asian subcontinent, followed by the USA, Europe (including the UK), Australia, and Africa. These scholarships focus on oppression, discrimination, historical prejudices, and narratives of Dalit lives (for a complete understanding of this, please refer to journals such as Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Caste, and Journal of Dalit Studies). This research relies on the problems of oppressed, marginalized groups and the nature and forms of social exclusion and discrimination—broader objectives of Dalit Literature—but now in an environment of change with socio-economic demands pushing boundaries of the twentieth century (R. Rawat; Lerche). Interdisciplinary insights into Dalit studies as a key component of Indian Literature may expand our understanding of Dalit Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 9 writers’ everyday experiences of Indian society in developing a mindset for the twenty-first century leading to contribute lessons for an all-inclusive society not only for India but for other countries, where discriminatory racial practices do exist. Hence, this book focuses on Waiting for Visa and Ambedkar’s journey, which includes the role of education, exploitation, empowerment, trauma, tolerance and triumph, Dalit ‘Self,’ Genre, and socio-linguistic discourse. This endeavor demonstrates the role of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s life experiences in shaping powerful, influential Indian Dalit thought. Evidence and Structure of this edited volume This book is developed by a literature review, both academic and popular, despite the deficiency of material regarding Waiting for Visa. The book is a result of a National Conference held in 2019 in which scholarly papers were presented on the autobiographical writings of Dr. B. R Ambedkar. These formal intellectuals and academic exchanges create an opportunity to address questions relevant to Waiting for Visa; however, some of the scholarly presentations were inadequate and irrelevant to the Waiting for Visa. Therefore, an additional call for chapters was circulated on an international platform that engaged a more comprehensive National scholarship. The credibility of the authors is supported by the fact that some of the others are experienced Dalit academicians, which enriches their understanding of contemporary Dalit writings, having been Dalit writers, activities, and research scholars. The authors possess wide-ranging experiences in Dalit studies, giving them authenticity to their examination of Waiting for Visa in this edited volume. Their teaching and research experiences and exposure to Dalit experiences, in general, provide a rich texture for the book. This edited volume on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa is focused on a deeper analysis of this memoir. Each contributor uses a different micro-scoping lens to understand what it means to be Dalit in Ambedkar’s time, how it relates to lived experiences, and what these experiences tell the readers. These efforts aim to discover Ambedkar and find information, perspectives, and discussion about Waiting for Visa. The book was conceived to present a comprehensive study on Waiting for Visa and provide a historical context to detail the current debates to which Dalit Literature has evolved. This chapter necessitates education Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 10 M. CHAVDA for Dalits and calls for the sensitization of non-Dalits to create a fundamental change in Indian society. Chapter “Dalit Autobiographies as A Way of Knowing the Dalit ‘Self’” highlights how agents of social change dedicate their lives to society’s betterment and provides key learnings from Waiting for Visa. Chapter “No More Worlds to Conquer: a critical reading of Ambedkar’s Waiting for a Visa” explores how Ambedkar engages with his readers and what Waiting for Visa accomplishes for Indian readers of Indian English Literature, including the Dalit community. Chapter “Waiting for a Visa: Reminiscences or Remedy?” details the trauma narrative to seek answers and solutions to the questions in Waiting for Visa. Chapter “The Rhetoric of Ambedkar in Selected Works” studies between the lines employing social discourse through language employed by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Chapter “Education, Exploitation and Empowerment of Dalits in Waiting for a Visa” contextualizes Waiting for Visa in the Dalit movement in India and provides a detailed critique of social and economic structures of exploitation through the articulation of lived experience. Chapter “Trajectory of Tolerance and Triumph: A Short Study of Ambedkar’s Waiting for Visa” examines the formation of Dalit identities through ‘Self’ narratives and as an alternative model of ‘History.’ Chapter “Language and Indian Social Discourse in Waiting for a Visa by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar” deals with Ambedkar’s traumatic childhood and youth as sites of caste and class oppression and discusses how these revived and reconstructed subversive communities’ dignity and self-respect, including Dalits in India. Chapter “The Social and Political Aggressions of B. R. Ambedkar: Interrogating his Childhood Traumas and Denial of Childhood” investigates the language aspect of Waiting for Visa by employing the verbal content analysis method to suggest that Ambedkar’s writing reflects an authority on the subject with an effect on people’s lives; however, to bring positive change in the society, the language to be employed need to be on the higher scales of commonality and optimization. Studies on Dalit and Ambedkar largely focused on Dalit Activism, Dalit movements, agencies involved in the rise of this discipline, and even the issues related to caste, with social, religious, and political inquiries. Undoubtedly, these critical engagements advance our understanding of complex socio-political and economic impacts, individually and collectively. Though a very thin autobiographical writing, Waiting for a Visa offers a complex phenomenon of lived experiences of a Dalit who eventually became the first Minister of Justice in independent India. This edited Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 11 volume aims to examine this Dalit lived experiences as narrated in the text. The text, composed and later compiled in less than thirty pages, needs to be more adequately pursued scholarly as compared to his other writings and as compared to his contemporary autobiographies. One of the reasons to pursue this close reading of this text is to expose this work by examining the lived experience of the Dalit. After reading it several times, I assert that Ambedkar’s language with sharp tones and subtle observations could impact readers of this book to re-examine Waiting for Visa as a torchbearer in the twenty-first century for practices leading to a sustainable society. Therefore, this edited volume has a narrow focus on Waiting for Visa, as his other writings have more elaborate and extensive scholarly evidence; nevertheless, there are some references to this work to capture the ‘gist’ of Ambedkar’s life. This collection of essays overcomes this shortcoming of existing studies on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and contributes to the studies on Ambedkar. Hence, this edited volume intervenes in the current Ambedkar and Dalit Studies scholarship. With a detailed synthesis of the book, the concluding chapter locates the place of Dalit literature in world literature. It raises some important questions for Dalit and non-Dalit scholars with broader implications for Dalit studies and Indian English literature. References Andharia, Jahnvi and the ANANDI Collective. “The Dalit Women’s Movement in India: Dalit Mahila Samiti.” (2008). www.awid.org. Online. 1 March 2022. https://www.awid.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/cha nging_their_world_-_dalit_womens_movement_in_india.pdf. Barua, A. (2018). Revisiting the Gandhi–Ambedkar debates over ‘caste’: The multiple resonances of varņa. Journal of Human Values, 25(1), 25–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971685818805328 Bhagat, R. B. (2013). “Conditions of SC/ST Households: A story of unequal improvement.” Economic and Political Weekly 48.41: 62–65. Online. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23528440?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_ contents. Beth, S. (2007). Hindi Dalit autobiography: An exploration of identity. Modern Asian Studies, 41(3), 545–574. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0026749x060 0240x Channa, Subhadra Mitra and Joan P Mencher. (2013). Life as a Dalit: Views from the bottom on caste in India. New Delhi: SAGE India. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 12 M. CHAVDA Deeksha, Johanna. A new wave of Bahujan solidarity seeks to break down barriers in India. 29 September 2021. Online. 19 March 2022. https://scroll.in/article/1006472/a-new-wave-of-bahujan-solidarityseeks-to-break-down-barriers-in-india. Dutta, N. (2018). View from here—English in India: The rise of Dalit and NE literature. English: Journal of the English Association, 67(258), 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1093/english/efy025 Gokhale, J. (1993). From concessions to confrontation: The politics of an Indian untouchable community. South Asia Books. Gupta, S. K. (1985). The scheduled castes in modem Indian politics: Their emergence as a political power. Munshiram Manoharlal. Hunt, S. B. (2014). Hindi Dalit literature and the politics of representation. Routledge. Joshi, Barbara R and Minority Rights Group. (1986). Untouchable! : voices of the Dalit liberation movement. London: Minority Rights Group. Juergensmeyer, M. (1982). Religion as social vision: The movement against untouchability in 20th-century Punjab. Kamble, J. R. (1979). Rise & awakening of depressed classes in India. New Delhi Nationa Kapoor, Aekta. ‘Economic empowerment is the answer to caste discrimination,’ says Saka Shailaja. 28 December 2021. Online. 1 March 2022. https://www. moneycontrol.com/news/trends/features/economic-empowerment-is-theanswer-to-caste-discrimination-saka-shailaja-7744111.html. Karunakaran, Naren. Dalits gain traction; govt plans preferential purchases from SC, ST businesses. 26 July 2011. Online. 15 March 2022. https://econom ictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/dalits-gain-traction-govtplans-preferential-purchases-from-sc-st-businesses/articleshow/9264028.cms? from=mdr. Khare, R.S. (2005). “Dalits’ changing challenges: Progressive social discourses and new communication strategies.” Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies Paper No.49: PDF version 2010. Online. http://www.rgics.org/wpcontent/uploads/wpn-49.pdf. Kothari, R. (1994). Rise of the Dalits and the renewed debate on caste. Economic and Political Weekly, 29(26), 1589–1594. https://doi.org/10. 2307/4401398 Kothari, R., and Maru, R. (1965). Caste and secularism in India case study of a caste federation. The Journal of Asian Studies, 25(1), 33–50. https://doi. org/10.2307/2051039 Kotwal, V. (2020). Waiting for a Visa by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (translated in Gujarati by dr.Vikalp R. Kotwal)—Dr. Vikalp Kotwal. https://Vikalpkotwal. Org/. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 13 Kumar, U. (2021). Reconsidering the everyday Ambedkar: Notes towards an alternative hero worship. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 13(2), 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328x211032458 Kumari, Priyanka and Maninder Kapoor. (2021). “Understanding Dalit Literature: A Critical Perspective Towards Dalit Aesthetics.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities: 1–8. Online. https://rupkatha.com/ V13/n4/v13n406.pdf. Kunhaman, M. (2018). “Dalit development in India: A political economy perspective.” Global Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology 7.2: 23–28. Lerche, Jens. (2008). “Transnational advocacy networks and affirmative action for Dalits in India.” Development and Change 39.2: 239–261. Print. Limbāl.e, Śaran.akumāra and Alok Mukherjee. (2014). Towards an aesthetic of Dalit literature: history, controversies and considerations. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2014. Mahambare, Vidya, S Dhanraj and S Sharma. Education levels of SC, ST, OBC rising. A new study looks at caste gap in jobs, income too. 17 February 2021. Online. 1 March 2020. https://theprint.in/opinion/education-levels-of-scst-obc-rising-a-new-study-looks-at-caste-gap-in-jobs-income-too/606200/. Mani, Braj Ranjan. (2015). Debrahmanising history: Dominance and resistance in Indian society. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors. Maurya, Rakesh Kumar. (2018). “In their own voices: Experiences of Dalit Students in Higher Education Institutions.” International Journal of Multicultural Education: 17–38. Moon, V., Omvedt, G., and Zelliot, E. (2002). Growing up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Nath, T. (1987). Politics of the depressed classes. Deputy Publications. National Crime Records Bureau. Crime Against Persons Belonging to SCs/ STs. 12 September 2021. Online. 15 March 2022. https://ncrb.gov.in/en/ crime-in-india-table-addtional-table-and-chapter-contents?field_date_value% 5Bvalue%5D%5Byear%5D=2020&field_select_table_title_of_crim_value=8& items_per_page=50. Omvedt, G. (1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in colonial India. Sage Publications (CA). Omvedt, Gail. (2017). Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. Omvedt, Gail. (1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement in Colonial India. New Delhi: SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 14 M. CHAVDA Outlook Web Desk. Harvard’s biggest dalit voice unhappy after its new caste sensitive policy, here’s why. 04 December 2021. Online. 15 March 2022. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/harvards-biggest-dalit-voiceunhappy-after-new-caste-sensitive-policy-heres-why-suraj-yengde-instagram/ 403707. Oza, Preeti. (2019). “Equity and Equality in Higher Education—India Calling….” International Journal of Interreligious and Intercultural Studies 2.2: 18–24. e i я . Retrieved December 26, 2022, from Pathak, S. (n.d.). я https://www.hindisamay.com/ Poitevin , G. (2002). Dalit autobiographical narratives: Figures of Subaltern Consciousness, Assertion and Identity. https://ccrss.org/dalitautobio.htm Pradhan, A. C. (1986). The emergence of the depressed classes. Bhubaneswar: Bookland International. Queen, C. (2021). Reading Dalit Autobiographies in English: A top ten list. Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, 2(2), 281–294. https://doi. org/10.2307/48645682 Ram, N. (2009). Beyond Ambedkar: Essays on Dalits in India. Har Anand Publications. Rathore, A. S. (2021). Ambedkar’s autobiography and the emergence of a discourse of dignity. In B. R. Ambedkar and social transformation: Revisiting the philosophy and reclaiming social justice. Taylor & Francis. Rawat, R. S., and Satyanarayana, K. (2016). Dalit studies. Duke University Press. Rahman, Lupin and Vijayendra Rao. (2004). “The determinants of gender equity in India: Examining Dyson and Moore’s Thesis with new data.” Population and Development Review 30.2: 239–268. Rajshekar, V. T. (2015). Dalit the black untouchables of India. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House. Rao, V Venkateswara. (2020). Life As A Dalit - A Curse In Casteist India, October 6. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/life-as-a-dalit-acurse-in-casteist-india/361613. Rawat, Ramanarayn. (2016). The rise of Dalit Studies and its impact on the study of India: An Interview with Historian Ramanarayn Rawat Kritika Agarwal, June 6. Online. https://www.historians.org/publications-and-direct ories/perspectives-on-history/summer-2016/the-rise-of-dalit-studies-and-itsimpact-on-the-study-of-india-an-interview-with-historian-ramnarayan-rawat. Rawat, Ramnarayan. (2013). “Occupation, dignity, and space: The rise of Dalit Studies.” History Compass 11.12: 1059–1067. Rege, S. (2019). Dalit women’s autobiographies 1. In Dalit feminist theory: A reader. Taylor & Francis. Rudolph, L. I., and Rudolph, S. H. (1984). The modernity of tradition: Political development in India. University of Chicago Press. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com INTRODUCTION 15 Satyanarayana, K. and Susie Tharu. (2011). o Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South Asia, Dossier 1: Tamil and Malayalam. New Delhi: Penguin India. Satyanarayana, K. and Susie Tharu. (2013). From those Stubs Steel Nibs are Sprouting: New Dalit Writing from South Asia, Dossier 2: Kannada and Telugu. New Delhi: Penguin India. Savyasaachi. (2004). “Dalit studies: Exploring criteria for a new discipline.” Economic and Political Weekly 39.17: 1658–1660. Print. https://www.jstor. org/stable/4414922?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents. Sengupta, Devina. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation enters startup to mentor budding Dalit entrepreneurs. 25 September 2015. 21 December 2022. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/entrepreneurship/hindus tan-petroleum-corporation-enters-startup-to-mentor-budding-dalit-entrepren eurs/articleshow/49097599.cms. Shodhganga Inflibnet. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/simple-search?query= Dalit&go=. 15 March 2022. Online. Singh, Yasna. (2013). “Satnami self-assertion and Dalit activism: Everyday life and caste in rural Chhattisgarh (central India).” Ph.D. thesis. London School of Economics and Political Science. Special Correspondent, the Hindu. CII to promote women, Dalit entrepreneurs. 29 March 2016. Online. 1 March 2022. https://www.thehindu.com/news/ cities/Thiruvananthapuram/cii-to-promote-women-dalit-entrepreneurs/articl e7514905.ece. Srivastava, Gouri. (2012). “Equity and equality in schooling processes.” https:// www.india-seminar.com/2012/638.htm. 15 March 2022. Tiwari, Abhishek, et al. (2020). “Gender equity and equality in Indian Healthcare.” Galore International Journal of Health Sciences and Research: 26–34. Upadhyay, S. B. (2010). Meaning of work in Dalit autobiographies. Studies in History, 26(1), 31–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/025764301002600102 Waghorne, J. P. (1981). The case of the missing autobiography. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 49(4), 589–603. https://doi.org/10.2307/ 1462451 Webster, J. C. B. (1996). Understanding the Modern Dalit Movement. Sociological Bulletin, 45(2), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.2307/23620218 Zelliot, E. (1996). From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar movement. South Asia Books. Zelliot, Eleanor. ( 2012). Ambedkar’s World: The making of Babasaheb and the Dalit movement. New Delhi: Navayana. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Locating “Selfhood” in Dalit Autobiographies Madhu Introduction Autobiographies are not often found within the classic literary canon of Indian culture. From the nineteenth century forward, a notable emergence of literary works can be seen, which focus on the narration of individual human experiences. Banarasidas’ Ardhakathanaka (1641) is a seventeenth-century text written in Hindi verse meaning, “Half of the story.” The work comprises 675 couplets, mostly “doha” and “chaupai” and contains numerous historical interest references. In his youth, a “Vaisya,” by caste, Banarasidas spent much of his time reading love tales written by the Sufis in Hindi, neglecting his business. His seven children died, leaving him lonely and in deep anguish. He penned down Ardhakathanaka. Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, published in 1935, attempted to represent the Dalit experience by an upper caste. The novel tried to hone in on the Dalit psyche to expose the state’s failures. However, in the nineteenth century, few Indian autobiographies received much attention. The works under consideration are M. K. Gandhi’s “An Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth” Madhu (B) Department of History, Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi, India e-mail: madhu@mirandahouse.ac.in © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024 M. Chavda (ed.), (Im)possible Worlds to Conquer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9680-3_2 17 Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 18 MADHU (1927), Jawaharlal Nehru’s “An Autobiography” (1936), and Nirad C. Chaudhuri’s “An Autobiography of an Unknown Indian” (1951). The authors’ life-long struggles with the self were public knowledge in these works. The boundaries between private conscience and public life were blurred. Be it mysteries of the body, as with Gandhi or Nehru‘s idea of authentic India presented the self as an artefact that was constantly made and unmade. Ambedkar also wrote about his experiences of exclusion and the ferocity of caste Hindu discrimination, but what emerges here is a collective self as a source of literary expression that is denied social recognition. The personal encounters with social exclusion, ongoing prejudice, and persistent humiliation inflicted by the caste Hindus not only contribute to the development of Ambedkar’s own identity but also facilitate a significant societal shift aimed at combating the caste system. Dalit autobiographies were written in the early 1990s, i.e. Vasti (1995) by Vasant Moon Amchi Baap Ani Amhi (1994) by Narendra Jadhav represent social and political upheavals the 1920s–1950s. In Jadhav’s account, his father is closely tied to the Ambedkar Movement, and the self and community come across as one as Ambedkar stands out as the man, the movement, and Dalit future itself (Rao 2006). Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, published in 1935, attempted to represent the Dalit experience by an upper caste. The novel tried to hone in on the Dalit psyche to expose the state’s failures. The act of recounting their life experiences by several Dalits began subsequent to India’s attainment of Independence, mostly due to their prolonged deprivation of educational opportunities (Gajarawala 1). The lower castes were denied access to material resources like land and dignity, and self-respect. The upper castes branded Dalits as polluted and untouchable by exercising hegemony over culture and language (ibid., 1–2). Through the cultural representations, the upper castes tried to reproduce the ideology of caste and constructed stereotypical images of the Dalits. After the adoption of the Constitution of India, which provided for positive discrimination for the Dalits, and after the Government of India made provisions for free and compulsory education, Dalits started to articulate themselves and challenged the hegemony of the upper castes, which paved the way for the assertion of the marginal self. Dalits describe in their autobiographies the brutality, oppression, and structural inequalities that are products of casteism by recounting the challenges they have endured throughout their lives. They also emphasise that in order to have the sensitivity and experience necessary to be a true Dalit Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 19 writer, one must be born within the Dalit caste (Kumar 147). This line of reasoning does, in fact, bring up the issue of representation. Even the highly praised book The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is now under to scrutiny because of this issue since the character Velutha, who is Dalit, is written in an acceptable voice that conceals rather than conveys the Dalit experience (Mukherjee x). It is comparable to what Mohanty says about not “using the universal to erase the particular” in her criticism of “Eurocentric analytic paradigms” and white feminism for their “discursive colonisation of Third World Women’s lives and struggles” (Mohanty 501–509). Mohanty writes these things in her critique of “Eurocentric analytic paradigms” and white feminism. The theory may be directly applied to the handling of voices of Dalit women by elite Indian women via a sort of “Brahmanical feminism,” which has been largely focused solely with concerns affecting upper-caste, upper-class women (Kumar 216). This kind of “Brahmanical feminism” Autobiographies written by Dalit women are a form of resistance against caste, class, and patriarchy since they express the Dalit women’s voices and lay claim to their own experiences of living. Dalit writers question how Dalit identities are constructed in uppercaste representations and provide alternate ways to interpret these. In Dalit writings in general and in autobiographies in particular, the Dalits articulate and reflect on their experiences of discrimination and their struggle against oppression to forge a distinctive Dalit consciousness. Dalit narratives mention a repeated experience of exclusion from public space, right from Ambedkar‘s writings, whereas as a young child, he faces repulsion of the station master who happens to assume him as an uppercaste child initially (Ambedkar 4074). Ambedkar compares the feeling of repulsion of the caste Hindus with disgust and fear felt by the coloniser at the sight of a black body. Public spaces became the sites that made untouchables aware of the discriminatory grid of life (Rao 2006). Most Dalit texts address the politics of location in one way or another. The marginalisation of caste is portrayed as an issue stemming from birth, social subjugation, and the partitioning of space. On the other, Dalits struggle for control over resources and struggle over socially constructed definitions, meanings, and identities. The Dalit writers aim to achieve this central goal through the autobiographical narrative. In the Dalit autobiographical narratives, the Dalit selfsymbolises the psychological and spiritual trauma of humiliation faced by them, whereas the non-Dalit autobiographical narratives reinforce the Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 20 MADHU upper-caste self through his/her thoughts, preoccupations, and personal achievements. However, post-modern theorists question this view of the self as a rational entity capable of knowing itself and knowing the world as, in their view, the self is perceived as a disunified, fragmented, and vulnerable space (Anderson 80). The stories “Outcaste” by Limbale, “Joothan” by Valmiki, and “Karukku” by Bama all display a painstaking investigation of village geography, the delineation of space, its connection to power dynamics, and the repercussions of breaking from traditional standards. Caste and Untouchability There is not a single theory that can explain how the caste system and the practice of untouchability originated in India. In his seminal work Homo Hierarchicus (1980), Louis Dumont provides a comprehensive definition of the caste system as a societal structure that is characterised by rigidly established social positions and occupational roles, whereby social mobility is severely restricted due to the strict enforcement of endogamous practices. In this definition, the caste system is also described as a societal structure that is characterised by rigidly established social positions and occupational roles. Religious principles that are based on the ideas of “purity” and “pollution” provide the foundation for the aforementioned qualities, which in turn build a social framework that is stratified. The viewpoint of Western historians on caste has mostly centred on the concept of the Aryan invasion. This theory proposes that the indigenous people became the target of social oppression and slavery as a direct result of the Aryan invasion. The Purusha Sukta is the primary text upon which the Brahmanical viewpoint draws (Griffith 10). This perspective proposes a mythological-religious framework that traces the beginning of the caste system to heavenly punishments. However, it is essential to keep in mind that the two schools of thought largely support their arguments with internal evidence that is obtained from the Vedas and other literature that was written after the Vedas. According to Manusmriti, the Hindu law codebook, inter-dining and inter-marriage between different Varnas was strictly prohibited (Wolpert 281). Mixing of Varnas endangered society, giving rise to new birth groups (jatis) with their names and occupations, which may not fit into four folds of the Varna system, thus making endogamy the hallmark of preserving caste (Buhler 58–59). Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 21 There are only four Varnas in the varna plan that is described in the Vedas; the fifth varna, which traditionally encompassed the social category known as the untouchables, is not explicitly included in this model. Nevertheless, the Vedic literature includes references to a number of other social formations, such as the ayogava, chandala, nishadha, and paulkasa, which exist outside of the varna structure and seem to be susceptible to scorn (Gupta 1991). The Untouchables lived in the regions around the hamlet. They survived on the scraps left behind by people from higher castes and performed menial chores like as scavenging, skinning dead animals, butchering, washing clothes, and tending to cremation sites for a living. They were known as the “untouchables.” It was believed that having any kind of physical contact with members of lower castes, sometimes known as “untouchables,” would taint or defile one’s purity. The simple fact that their shadows were there was considered to be a contamination. Sanskrit education was often denied to members of historically oppressed social classes in India, such as the untouchables, the shudras, and women. This practice persisted throughout the ancient Indian civilisation. During that whole period, this language functioned as an important repository for a considerable body of knowledge. The Brahmins were notorious for their unwillingness to give up the advantages that came with their level of education and insight. Dalits were raised to believe, in accordance with the karma theory, that if they performed the prescribed obligations allotted to them by Divine Providence in their current life with diligence, joy, and obedience, there was a possibility that they might be reincarnated into a higher caste group in their following existence. This was the belief that was passed down from generation to generation. The giving of religious help was a successful means of discouraging and exploiting the untouchables and other social strata, which ultimately prevented the untouchables and other social strata from participating in acts of revolt against their masters (ibid.). In the sixth century B.C., Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, critically interacted with the Vedanta philosophy and questioned the validity of the Vedas, finally rejecting the authority of this philosophical system. When it came to inviting people into his community of followers, Buddha did not make any distinctions based on caste or social status. Individuals who were a member of the untouchable caste were given the chance to achieve a position of dignity within society as a direct result of the embrace of Buddhism. This was a substantial break from their traditionally subordinate position in society. Ambedkar’s theoretical Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 22 MADHU framework suggests that the origin of the practice of untouchability may be traced back to a battle for power that occurred in the past between communities with a Brahminical and Buddhist tradition. According to his contention, Brahmins instituted the practice of untouchability against individuals who consumed beef after they stopped cow sacrifice and beef eating in order to assure a victory in their ideological war with Buddhists. This was done as a strategy to ensure that they would be victorious in their ideological conflict. Those who continued to eat beef were made untouchables by the Brahmins (Ambedkar 1946, 40). In the colonial period, the British recorded their first India census and tried to place different castes and tribes within the four Varna framework but were soon flooded with petitions from castes and groups claiming higher status than that ascribed to them in the census. For example, the Shanars (a polluting caste of toddy tappers from Kerala) claimed to be Nadars of the Kshatriya Varna, and the authorities rejected their claim. However, the British identified various disadvantaged groups to relieve long-standing historical disabilities through various government programmes. J.H. Hutton, a distinguished anthropologist, assumed the role of census commissioner in the year 1931. In addition, the author penned the publication titled “Castes in India” (1963), wherein he advances the argument that the origins of the caste system may be linked to the pre-Aryan tribes of India, namely their adherence to taboos and occupational divides, as well as their endeavours to safeguard their autonomy against external invasions. Nicholas Dirk conducted an analysis of the comprehensive compilation of indigenous writings, customs, and histories by Colin McKenzie, a colonial cartographer active in southern India from 1784 to 1821. Published in 1989, Dirk’s book, titled “The Original Caste,” explores the limited presence of information regarding the notion of “caste” within McKenzie’s extensive collection. Nevertheless, the author emphasises that the term “Caste” has evolved into a comprehensive concept that effectively expresses, arranges, and categorises the many forms of social identity, community, and structure prevalent in India. Dirks suggests that the British were responsible for the conceptualisation of the Caste system. The aforementioned invention was advantageous to the objectives of the British Indian administration, as it aligned with their aim to foster a unified society governed by a simplified legal framework, as noted by Dirks (59–77). The British Indian administration likewise shared the notion that the caste system served as a cohesive force in Hindu society, and that its absence may Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 23 potentially lead to societal disintegration, hence causing damage to the empire. The British Indian government identified many justifications for refraining from intervention in the caste system, characterising it as an ancient societal structure rooted in discriminatory practices and inequity. The inflexibility of the category system increased in subsequent periods due to the association of created categories with fundamental rights. The implementation of caste-based reservations in independent India and the establishment of electorates based on religion in British India served to solidify previously ambiguous divides within society. Chakravorty’s (2019) study revealed that some groups, such as the Jain or Scheduled Caste, were more prone to experiencing discernible and concrete consequences. Caste had been much fuzzier in the past, a much more fungible identity. According to the results of India’s Census in 2011, the Dalit group currently accounts for 25% of the country’s total population. Within this percentage, 16.6% of Dalits belong to the category of Scheduled Caste, and 8.6% of Dalits belong to the category of Scheduled Tribe. People who belong to the lowest rung of India’s social hierarchy have been subjected to extreme marginalisation for an extended period of time, during which they have been denied basic human rights. These privileges include the opportunity to access Hindu places of worship, the freedom to travel on public thoroughfares, and the right to employ communal water sources such as public ponds and wells as sources of water for personal use. In addition, their potential careers have been decided for them from the moment they were born, depriving them of the flexibility to choose or change the line of work they want to pursue. The formerly untouchable caste is now known by its historically appropriate name, the Dalit caste. The word “Dal” comes from the Sanskrit language, and it refers to the process of cracking open, slicing, crushing, or grinding the root of a plant. The process of cooking several kinds of grains and lentils for ingestion has often been denoted by this phrase in common use. After its acceptance by Ambedkar, a major person representing the untouchable group, who used it both as a noun and an adjective, the usage of this phrase in a metaphorical sense became more commonplace. After the founding of the Dalit Panthers, an activist group that serves as a representative for the untouchable population in Maharashtra, the usage of the word “Dalit” began to acquire more traction in the public sphere. The Dalit Panthers chose to use this name because they felt it had a natural connection to honour and concepts of respect for one’s self. According to Zelliot (269– 290), the fundamental denial of pollution and karma provides support for Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 24 MADHU the rationale of caste system. The nomenclature “Dalit Panthers” represented a feeling of unity and affinity with the Black Panthers, a group that was actively engaged in a violent campaign pushing for the civil rights of African Americans in the United States. The name “Dalit Panthers” also symbolised a spirit of unity and affinity with the Black Panthers. The term “Dalit” gained widespread support from those on the margins of society all throughout India. Dalits could choose their identity collectively for the first time rather than be named by others. Names such as Achut, Panchammas, Atishudras, Avarnas, Asprishyas, Pariahs were given by upper-caste Hindus described their untouchable status and were dehumanising. Dalit Literature and the Narration of “Self” A large body of work has been produced since India’s Independence by the Dalit writers. The persistent subjugation of Dalit individuals inside the varna system by dominant castes is a recurring motif in Dalit literary works. The main cause of tension in this scenario is from cultural differences. Dalit writers lament that the established canonical literature of India has almost no place for their writings, which the Dalits call “Hindu literature” and challenge its hegemony. As a result, the core idea that underpins Dalit writing strives to catalyse a fundamental shift in the way society functions as a whole. The classification of some people as Dalit authors is a topic that has been the subject of on-going discussion. A person who self-identifies as a member of the Dalit community and participates in literary activities is what’s known as a Dalit writer. Or those who are involved in the process of documenting the events and conditions that shape the life of Dalits. Dalit writers have been vocal in their condemnation of caste Hindu literature on Dalits, arguing that these works provide an inaccurate representation of the sentiments, experiences, and pursuits that are associated with the Dalit group. Even well-known writers like Premchand, Mulk Raj Anand, T. S. Pillai, and V. S. Khandekar, as well as a number of others, who have made an effort to convey the feelings and experiences of Dalits, are finding that their work is not accepted. It is believed that a person who is born into the Dalit community has the needed sensitivity and experiential awareness necessary to truly represent the role of a Dalit writer. This is based on the viewpoints of writers who identify as Dalits. The argument suggests that the literary works of the Dalits may be compared to letters that were written with their own life Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 25 force, and that these letters constitute an organic expression of the feelings and thoughts that have been repressed for a number of centuries. Dalit writers proudly embrace their Dalit identity, which stems from the major effort to dismantle the caste system that relegated them to the status of untouchables. Their objective is to reestablish society on the tenets that human dignity, equality, and respect are fundamental to all relationships. In contrast, high-caste Indian writers, regardless of their religious affiliations, who have gained recognition as prominent voices representing Indian society, have rarely addressed the issues of caste and caste-based oppression in their literary endeavours, both within India and internationally. Dalit authors have persistently prioritised the subject of caste in their literary works, whereas high-caste Indian writers from other castes have not done so. This is true both in India and internationally. In the traditionally caste-based Indian culture, members of the Dalit group have been routinely discriminated against in terms of their access to educational opportunities for a substantial amount of time. In the postcolonial period in India, members of the Dalit group have been very active in their pursuit of educational opportunities. As a direct result of this, the practice of writing autobiographies has developed into a particular effort among the members of this socioeconomic group. The employment of this specific literary form serves the objective of developing a unique sense of identity and helping the mobilisation of resistance against different manifestations of tyranny. The autobiography of a Dalit offers a complete depiction of the Dalit identity and the struggles that are associated with it. The main focus in a Dalit autobiography is not on “self,” but “Dalit community,” and the self emerges from the stigma and suffering of not an individual but the entire Dalit community. The process of memory involves more than mere recollection of previous events; it encompasses the shaping and organising of these memories to enhance understanding of one’s own experiences and the societal framework that has shaped them. The autobiographical narratives of mainstream Indian writers show the influence of European models because of the colonial legacy. The purpose of autobiography within the framework of Indian culture is to reinforce the notion of the self as a rational entity, which is in line with the Enlightenment viewpoint. This kind of writing places a focus on the achievements of the individual as well as their own unique ideals. For instance, M.K. Gandhi’s autobiography, titled My Experiments with Truth, and Jawaharlal Nehru’s autobiography, titled An Autobiography, Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 26 MADHU both investigate the subjective and personal elements of human experiences in the context of the quest for self-realisation. The usual idea of autobiography as a story that is exclusive to the intimate domain of an individual is challenged by the writings of Dalit writers. The idea of “self” is not confined to a single person’s viewpoint or to those that are purely subjective. The articulation of Dalit identity requires innovative forms of narrative and meaning since it struggles with a broken and fragmented sense of self, which is also known as a “non-self” in certain contexts. An example of this may be found in Hazari’s book, “Untouchable: The Autobiography of an Indian Outcast,” in which the author provides a narrative account of the experiences and identity of a person who belongs to the untouchable caste in India. This can serve as an example of how this concept can be observed in action. The fact that Hazari is considered to be a marginal member of the society in which he now inhabits forms the basis of his self-perception. The author feels like she is on the outside looking in during the whole story, and this feeling doesn’t go away until the story is over and the book is over. This persistent confrontation between the marginalised self of the author and the dominating forces of society continues to be a prominent topic. It is interesting to notice that Hazari does not openly reveal his given name within the framework of his autobiography. He also does not reveal the identity of his parents or any other relatives. Due to the fact that autobiographies written by nonDalit writers sometimes incorporate symbolic references to their family histories, the use of this specific style is not very prevalent. Individuals get a feeling of fulfilment and self-worth from their heritage when they engage in this practice. It is important to note that in Hazari’s academic work, the author has decided to publish under a pseudonym and not divulge his real name. Hazari is the name that he has used. It is possible to trace his choice to conceal his personal information to the fact that he was born into the untouchable caste. This would indicate that he made a conscious attempt to maintain his anonymity inside the public realm. Hazari was born in the city of Moradabad in the province of the United Provinces, which is now known as Uttar Pradesh. His family had a long history of working in the scavenging industry, which included responsibilities such as the upkeep of public thoroughfares and sanitary facilities as well as the disposal of dead animals. His choice to recount his life experiences in the form of an autobiography demonstrates that Hazari adopted the Islamic religion as a tool to transcend his marginalised existence as an untouchable. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 27 Nevertheless, whether he could achieve this is a matter of doubt. Hazari left for France at around thirty years of age for his higher studies after one Mr Newman, one of his English patrons, provided him financial support, and with this, his story ends. There is a lack of accessible information on the subsequent events involving him. Hazari’s autobiography got published in 1951 and 1969 in English in America. Hazari’s autobiography challenged the autobiographical tradition influenced by Western thought, which relied on narratives of personal self. Beatrice Pitney Lamb, who wrote the Introduction to both his publications, said that Hazari’s work broke the culture of silence. At times, he wrote that he had no identity and sometimes had to hide his identity if the situation demanded. Thus, he had to forgo his “real self” and travels through the spiritual realms of Christianity and Islam, which one does not find in the autobiographies of caste Hindus who can display their high-caste identity as a badge of honour. Even when Hazari talks of his hardships, he relates the suffering of his community. He recounts that doing menial jobs puts the health of his community at risk, which in turn leads to child mortality in large numbers. He laments that those children who survive had to shoulder the family responsibility. The author illustrates the idea of a deprived childhood by stating, “The offspring of an individual belonging to the lowest caste in the Indian social hierarchy assumes the responsibilities of a parent before experiencing the joys and freedoms that are typically associated with childhood.” This statement portrays the notion of a childhood that is devoid of typical childhood joys and freedoms (5:1 Hazari). The most notable quality of autobiographical stories written by Dalits is the intense seriousness with which they describe themselves. The disadvantaged group of people known as the Chuhra, also called Scavengers, are successfully portrayed in the piece of writing named “Joothan,” which was written by Om Prakash Valmiki. This piece does an excellent job of conveying the terrible mental anguish, social humiliation, and great poverty that this group is forced to face. The word “joothan” in Hindi refers to the uneaten portions of food that are often thrown away by middle-class urban homes. This is because the meal is typically left on the plate without being eaten, at which point it is intended for disposal. But in order for the food to be considered joothan, it has to be shared with another person and eaten by them. Due to the fact that it may also mean “polluted,” the term “jootha” carries with it both the sense of ceremonial purity and that of contamination. The words “leftover” and “joothan” Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 28 MADHU do not have the same meaning when used in context with one another. The term “leftover” refers to food that is fit for ingestion at a future meal despite having been untouched after the conclusion of the previous meal. In contrast to this, the remains, shards, and waste all exhibit a striking similarity to joothan. Valmiki paints a clear picture of the deep mental and physical misery he went through as a result of his untouchable status, which caused him to be considered a marginalised man. The person recalls situations in which Dalit children were exposed to verbal, physical, and public forms of harassment; nevertheless, spectators did not take any proactive actions to aid or support the children during these incidents. The person goes through the upsetting experience of having to sit on the floor away from their classmates, being told they cannot drink the water from the shared pitcher due to fears of contamination, and, most importantly, being told they cannot enter the laboratory, which leads to them failing the test without a doubt. Valmiki’s autobiography has a unique narrative structure. It is organised as a recollection of memories, not chronological order to deny any spatial and temporal fixity and narrative logic. He moves from one emotion to the other randomly, chaotically reflecting on them. The purpose behind this narrative strategy seems to universalise the conditions of Dalits by showing how the experience of the individual self can be a paradigm for the experience of the Dalit community itself. The fact that the storyteller is able to remember the experiences with such precision reveals how deeply these incidents are imbedded and inscribed in his or her mind. The procedures involved in the harvesting, conserving, and ultimately ingesting joothan are detailed in Valmiki’s description of the process. His memories of being entrusted with defending the joothan that was drying from crows and hens, as well as his pleasure of the joothan after it had been dried and reprocessed, continue to bring him tremendous discomfort and shame many years later. In addition, his memories of enjoying the joothan after it had been dried and reprocessed continue to provide him delight. He writes that the Chuhras would patiently remain outside, holding large receptacles filled with nourishment, while the guests and baratis, who were the male members accompanying the groom as part of his wedding entourage, partook in their meal. In order to avoid the adherence of joothan, the party of the bridegroom used pattals, or leaf plates, which were thereafter deposited into the baskets of the Chuhra community and transported to their respective residences. The individuals expressed satisfaction with the remnants of pooris, a kind Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 29 of puffed bread, confectionery, and veggies that were left behind. The individuals consumed the joothan with great enthusiasm. During the wedding season, any remaining joothan (leftover food) was traditionally sun-dried. The dried pooris proved to be useful throughout the challenging rainy season. The traditional method included the immersion of the legumes in water before to their cooking process. The pooris, when enhanced with a delicate blend of finely ground red chilli pepper and salt, exhibited an exceptional gustatory experience. The fondness for these items is evident as they have been transformed into a gruel-like substance and enhanced with jaggery (Valmiki 6–111). The metaphor of leftover food figures repeatedly in Dalit autobiographies. The leftover food becomes fragments from which the self has to be constructed. In the autobiography, Sharan Limbale’s Akkarmashi is astonished when his grandmother recalls the left-over food as “nectar.” In her autobiography Karukku, Bama narrates how she discovered that her grandmother was bringing home food, which was actually joothan of the Naikers, where she worked. When Bama protests, her grandmother tells her that Naikers were Maharajas who fed them the rice, without which they will not survive. The author of the autobiographical Baluta (1978), Daya Pawar, examines the deep symbol of Dalit degradation, which comprises participating in stigmatised job and getting leftover food as minimal remuneration. This is discussed in the book. The story of Baluta contradicts the presumed credibility because it presents his account as a hidden secret that should not be divulged, maybe because of the sentiments of shame, humiliation, and sorrow that are involved with confronting one’s own identity (Pinto 1, 116). This interpretation of Baluta’s story weakens the credibility of the story as a whole. In Pawar’s narrative, rather than elevating the autobiographical as a real embodiment of self-portrayal, the author vacillates between hiding information and revealing it. Rao contends that the problem of Dalit selfhood mandates a paradigm change in current concepts of the autobiographical subjectivity of individuals. In projecting the Dalit self, the Dalit writers question the stereotypical representations of Dalits and debunk popular myths about the glory of the Indian villages. The mainstream writers project a romantic view of rural India through their poetry and fiction. Rabindranath Tagore Subramaniyam Bharati Sumitranandan Pant paints a rosy picture of the villages. Contrary to this valorisation, Dalit writers render life in the village with all its inherent caste contradictions by showing how the village economy Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 30 MADHU thrives on exploiting subordinate castes. In the description of the Dalit writers, activities like reaping and harvesting are not painted in romantic colours of the writer’s imagination but depicted as tasks requiring hard work under the sun’s scorching heat. Valmiki describes how often he was forced to perform various tasks in the fields at the expense of neglecting his studies. He recalls an incident when he was forcibly carried away by Fauza (Tyagi’s muscleman) to work on the farm and was not allowed to study for his maths examination scheduled the following day. The construction of Dalit identity is also influenced by acts of violence and counter-violence. The book contains several references to episodes of humiliation and oppression experienced by the Dalits, as well as their efforts to reject such treatment. The primary focus of Sharan Kumar Limbale’s autobiography, titled The Outcaste, is on the exploration of identity experienced by a young man who is born out of wedlock to a Mahar mother and a Maratha father. Sharan was required to submit an application for a scholarship in order to enrol in the seventh grade in the next hamlet. The document required the endorsement of both his parents and the local Sarpanch, who serves as the headman. The Sarpanch declined to provide his signature, expressing his disapproval of Masami Hammanta Limbale due to concerns over Patil’s reputation. At this particular time, Sharan expresses a dual act of protest and lamentation, articulating, “I lacked both a paternal lineage and any religious or caste affiliation.” The individual in question lacked any inherited identity Limbale (59). In his tale, Limbale critically examines the basis of the Indian casteist society, delving into its religious order, while he constructs his own sense of self. The author critiques the hypocrisy shown by uppercaste males in India, who engaged in the practice of untouchability during daylight hours, while simultaneously abusing the dignity of lower-caste women via sexual means. The Dalit self emerges as a counterforce to the hierarchical structure of the caste system. More often than not, this self is constructed right from the childhood experiences of the Dalit children. In the autobiographical work of Professor Shyamlal named Untold Story of a Bhangi Vice-Chancellor, he recalls his student days at a local school where a Sanskrit teacher Magha Dutt Shrimali, a Brahmin by caste, hated the Bhangi students. Prof. Shyamlal writes, “He used to beat us daily with sticks during the classes… the teacher neither touched our notebooks nor did he ever asked us to recite poems or put questions to us for the fear of being polluted.” He further writes that the Bhangi students complained Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 31 against the Sanskrit teacher to the Inspector of Schools, who acted on their complaint, making the Sanskrit teacher behave better. Through narration concerning one’s community identity, the construction of self is a unique feature of Dalit autobiographies. While articulating the concerns of the self, the narration does not become “self-centric,” as in the case with upper-caste biographical narratives. The conflicts of the self-become a paradigm for representing the community’s conflicts as an expansion of self. Prof. Shyamlal occupies a top position in Pune University, but his social position in the academic circles ironically remains the same. The treatment of Shyamlal discussed here is not an isolated incident, but rather a recurring phenomenon seen among other Dalit autobiographers. This pattern is evident in the literary works of persons such as Valmiki and Vasant Moon. An further crucial characteristic of Dalit autobiography is its inclination towards highlighting collective hardships rather than individual accomplishments. This characteristic stands in stark contrast to the autobiographical works of upper-class Indian individuals, who consistently document their accomplishments across all domains and publicly extol their successes and influence. However, Dalit autobiographers continue to experience uncertainty over their social situations, especially in the face of political and economic achievements. Their writings talk of that social insecurity till the very end. The very fact that all of them are referred to as social categories, their social identities taking precedence over themselves, invariably makes them fall back upon their communities for solidarity and self-assertion. These types of writings transform the autobiographies of Dalits into an anthropological description of the community rather than a narrative account of the author’s individualised life experiences. The book “Vasti” by Vasant Moon is an autobiographical tale that tells the story of an untouchable kid who grows up in a slum among poverty and becomes a person who makes his own way in the world. The government of Maharashtra approached Moon with the request to edit B. R. Ambedkar’s works and speeches in English due to Moon’s activity and knowledge. Moon is an excellent editor and has admitted that he has been drawing from Babasaheb for his activism. Moon’s autobiography does not celebrate his progress from a poor Dalit boy to a civil servant. An ardent follower of Ambedkar’s philosophy, he has organised Dalits to demand their rights and prepare them to participate in civil society. While the Dalit writers have expressed their reliance on the community support during times of distress, Moon is nostalgic about the community life but Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 32 MADHU is frustrated to see the present state of the Dalit Movement, which has not only lost its radical posture but has also got divided into several factions (Moon 175–176). Baby Kamble’s autobiography, rather than adopting a personal narrative approach, assumes the form of a historical account of the Mahar culture in which she was raised (Pandit, ix). Similarly, Bama’s literary work, Karukku, documents the experiences of the Parayars as they faced caste-based discrimination perpetrated by the Catholic Church and its affiliated institutions. The findings illustrate the indistinguishability of individuals from the communities to which they belong. In his Afterword (2008) for The Prisons We Broke, Gopal Guru posited the notion that the individual’s sense of self is somewhat shaped by their life story and attains greater significance alone within the framework of the communal narrative. The book titled “The Prisons We Broke” was authored by Gopal Guru. Dr Narendra Jadhav’s Outcaste is a tribute to his father whose diary account is extensively used by Jadhav where he portrays his father as Damu, who, under the influence of the teachings of Ambedkar, fights the caste oppression in order to obtain social mobility for his son (Jadhav 2003). In Damu’s struggle, the History of the Dalit Movement gets authenticated as Damu is an eyewitness to various significant moments. Jadhav attempts to localise History instead of the nationalised version of History by doing this. By narrating the impact of historical events on individuals and local communities from the memory and recollection of those who participated, Jadhav can challenge the grand narrative of national historiography. Outcaste is a typical example of historicising the Dalit experience through narrative from the perspective of an individual (Damu) who is caught in the grip of the Temple-entry movement at Nashik. Through the representation of the Dalit Movement from an Insider’s Perspective, Jadhav counters the appropriated representations of Dalit consciousness in elite histories. A pivotal juncture in Damu’s transformation, catalysed by Ambedkar’s influence, challenges the prevailing elite narrative that portrays Dalits as inherently feeble individuals. The narrative effectively portrays the interconnectedness of Damu’s significant personal growth, as well as that of his family, and their increasing autonomy and development of self-esteem. This narration gives us a glimpse of History from the point of view of Dalits. As an insider, Damu’s reaction and responses authenticate the narrative. Here, the Dalit self is not perceived as a separate entity cut off from the public domain Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 33 but as an integral part of it that revolves around it. Here, the “public– private” domain is not strictly maintained to show the development of Dalit consciousness through Damu’s experiences. The word “post historicist” does not imply that Dalit literature is ahistorical or apolitical, according to Gajarwala, who contends that Dalit writing is an expression of “post historicist” realism (Gajarwala 170). The fundamental emphasis of Dalits in literature has been the historical resuscitation, representation, and rewriting of their experiences by persons who see themselves as being outside of history. The historiography of India has often downplayed the substantial contributions made by Ambedkar. The Dalit fight for liberation has mostly portrayed him as indispensable due to his role in drafting the Constitution of the country (ibid., 170–171). Arundhati Roy, in agreement with several scholars, asserts that Ambedkar has not received favourable treatment in historical accounts (Roy 43). In the novel Karukku, the central character, Bama, starts her story by reflecting upon the impact of her caste on her educational journey from the ages of 18 to 22. Subsequently, she proceeds to provide a critical analysis of the caste system, delving into its intricacies and implications, as shown in passages 27 and 28. Eventually, Bama reverts back to the chronological account of her early childhood experiences, specifically in section 29. The author, Gajarawala, characterises the literary style used in Dalit autobiographies as “Dalitization of narrative time.” In his analysis, he characterises the chronology of these autobiographies as “non-national, non-historical, event driven” (Gajarawala 173). The primary focus of their works is in the narratives of their adversities, including uncertainties about sustenance and education, with their fervent aspirations for improved circumstances. These personal tales assume more significance than the inclusion of historical details. The deliberate selection of language in Bama’s narrative is evident, as it incorporates colloquial expressions and local names, while also using Tamil slang terms like as “di” and “ei” (Bama 64). According to Lakshmi Holmström, Bama challenges the established norms of written language and spelling in her work. She intentionally omits certain words and rearranges their connections, thereby requiring a new approach to reading that disrupts the established decorum and aesthetics associated with the upper-caste Tamil community. This unconventional writing style symbolises the imperative for a fresh interpretation of history (Holmström 2000, xix). Bama uses these actions as symbolic representations of the need for a re-examination of History. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 34 MADHU Conclusion Autobiographical expression as a source of truth, a valuable historical source, and a source of historical investigations have been subjected to critical evaluation. The most important component of this genre is the purposeful act of self-documentation, aided by one’s memories. As a result of the inherent limitations of human memory, autobiographers often find it necessary to fabricate specific facts in order to address narrative gaps that were previously unaddressed. Consequently, the author is delineating the concept of the “self” as it manifests within the context of an autobiography. The author has the capacity to choose include or exclude certain information inside their work. The process of writing an autobiography may be considered a political endeavour due to its inherent nature of presenting a narrative representation of oneself. Valmiki, akin to several other writers belonging to the Dalit community, emphasised the need of veracity in his literary creations. The literary works produced by individuals belonging to the Dalit community are often seen as being characterised by stereotypes and a perceived lack of originality and creativity. Valmiki contends that imagination is only a manifestation of fictitious constructs and asserts his inclination to focus on the realm of tangible experiences, sometimes referred to as the “suffered real.” Valmiki counters the assertions made by postmodernist critics who argue that the authenticity of the autobiography was “constructed” to align with contemporary perspectives. Valmiki’s autobiography affirms the veracity of the names and localities mentioned therein, asserting their fidelity as authentic depictions of historical events and geographical settings. The author proceeds to assert that Joothan should be seen as a documented chronicle of Dalit history, since he meticulously identifies and portrays persons within the narrative. In the literary work titled Joothan, the protagonist Valmiki consistently challenges and dismantles the cultural beliefs and double standards upheld by his companions belonging to the higher caste. These individuals seem to be actively involved in the realm of literature, but they persist in practising untouchability in discreet manners, shown by their custom of using distinct teacups only for their untouchable visitors. Valmiki highlights the presence of a double standard among these pals. The author’s critique extends to some Dalit practices and the Dalit community itself. The author expresses a particular concern with Dalit individuals who have assimilated the Brahmanic ideologies of the upper castes. These individuals, having attained a middle-class status in terms of Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 35 economic prosperity, want to be seen as belonging to the higher castes while simultaneously disavowing their Dalit heritage. The autobiographical writings of the Dalit community demonstrate a harmonious interplay between the individual and the collective, as well as the incorporation of realism, historical context, and the “Dalitization of narrative time.” Additionally, these writings emphasise the significance of location politics and the utilisation of language, all of which serve to reflect the Dalit trauma and offer an alternative viewpoint on historical events (Gajarawala 112). Most Dalit literature is written in an autobiographical manner by Dalit writers. The prevailing consensus among established writers has been critical of it, characterising it as “reactive,” lacking in creativity, and propagandistic in nature. In light of these claims, writers who self-identify as Dalit contend that all literary works include an inherent propagandistic nature, since each author inevitably espouses a certain viewpoint or ideology when articulating their beliefs via written expression. Narayan and Mishra (2004) posits that non-Dalit writers prioritise the exploration of purported literary characteristics in their works, whereas Dalit authors centre their attention on the values inherent in everyday existence. This fundamental difference delineates the two categories of writers. According to the proponents of Dalit literature, a mere literary analysis or an academic perspective is insufficient to fully comprehend the true essence of Dalit writing. The writings of the Dalits have a theoretical and a sociological base that its upper-caste critics hardly understand. The argument is that “one does not have to be a horse to write about one.” While answering this, Valmiki claimed that how can the experience of Dalits dragging, cutting, skinning of a dead animal be written about with the power of imagination? (Valmiki xxxiv). Dalit writers have contested the portrayals of the Dalits by uppercaste writers. According to their perspective, it is believed that only a Dalit individual had the capability to produce literature that really represents the Dalit experience. A highly regarded Hindi author belonging to the high-caste, renowned for his critical analysis. In response to the viewpoint asserting the perceived creative inadequacy of Dalit literature, Limbale argues that the concepts of freedom, equality, justice, and love have immense significance as fundamental human emotions, surpassing mere notions of pleasure and beauty in terms of aesthetic value. Dalit literature fulfils two essential roles for its audience: deconstructing and constructing. One perspective is to deconstruct the declining elements Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 36 MADHU (such as caste) within the societal structure, while simultaneously endeavouring to reconstruct notions related to freedom, fairness, and the intrinsic worth of individuals. These two processes exhibit reciprocal exclusivity and lack the ability to interact in a meaningful manner. Dalit autobiographies present a twofold problem of political rights, social recognition and the language in which Dalit pain and suffering can be best approximated. Ambedkar, in his works, poses the problem of equality, which is embodied in his stigmatised selfhood, which questions the religious and political inclusion because emancipation could not be attained within existing social relations (Ambedkar suggests complete annihilation of caste for Dalit emancipation within Hinduism). This process renders Dalit inclusion problematic in History, politics and culture, if not impossible. There are those who maintain the perspective that the process of writing an autobiography is inherently privileged, since it always entails the author’s self-aggrandizement. It has been argued by some that the primary objective of writing an autobiography is to chronicle an individual’s achievements, since the genre of autobiographies gained prominence subsequent to the emergence of capitalism. This generalised statement does not fit most Dalit autobiographies where the narrator records the suffering and pain in their marginalised lives. Thus, Dalit autobiographical narratives are a symbolic re-enactment of the psychological, physical, mental, and spiritual trauma that has stood the test of time. References Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. Reprinted with Forward by E. M. Foster and Ramachandra Guha. New Delhi: Penguin Classics, 2014. Print. Anderson, W. T. The Truth About the Truth: De-confusing and Re-constructing the Postmodern World. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1995. Print. Ambedkar, B. R. The Untouchables: Who Are They? And Why They Became Untouchables. New Delhi: Amrit Book Co., 1948. Print. Ambedkar, B. R. What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables. Second Edition. Thacker & Co., 1946. Print. Ambedkar, B. R. Selected Works of Dr B. R. Ambedkar. WordPress. http://dra mbedkarbooks.wordpress.com. Buhler, George. The Laws of Manu. Trans. Vol. 25, Sacred Books of the East; reprint. New York: Dover, 1969. Print. Chakravorty, Sanjoy. Viewpoint: “How the British Reshaped India’s Caste System”. BBC News, 19 June 2019. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com LOCATING “SELFHOOD” IN DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 37 Dirks, Nicholas. B. “The Original Caste: Power, History and Hierarchy in South Asia.” Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1989): 59–77. Print. Dumont, Louis. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. Print. Freeman, James M. Untouchable: An Indian Life History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1979. Print. Gaikwad, Laxman. Uchalya. Translated as The Branded by P. A. Kolharkar. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1998. Print. Gajarawala, Toral Jatin. Untouchable Fictions: Literary Realism and the Crisis of Caste. Fordham University Press, 2012. Print. Gandhi, M. K. An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth. Ahmedabad: Navjeevan Publishing House, 1927. Print. Gupta, Dipankar (ed.). Social Stratification. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. Guru, Gopal. Afterword. In The Prisons We Broke. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2008. Print. Griffith, T. H. Ralph. The Rig Veda Translation, Book 10, 1896. https://sac red-texts.com, Web. 15 November 2021. Hazari. Untouchable: The Autobiography of an Indian Outcaste. New York: Prager Publishers, 1970. Print. Holmström, Lakshmi. Introduction. In Karukku. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Hutton, J. H. Castes in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963. Print. Illaiah, Kancha. Why I Am Not a Hindu. Delhi: Popular Prakashan, 2002. Print. Jadhav, Narendra. Outcaste: A Memoir. New Delhi: Viking, 2003. Print. Kumar, Raj. Dalit Personal Narratives: Reading Caste, Nation and Identity. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2010. Print. Limbale, Sharankumar. The Outcaste. Transl. Santosh Bhoomkar. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print. Mane, Laxman. Upara. Trans. A. K. Kamat. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1997. Print. Moon, Vasant. Vasti. Translated into English by Gail Omvedt as Growing up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography. Rowman and Littlefield, 1985. Print. ———. Dr, Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches. Vol. 9, Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, Bombay, 1990–2002. Print. Mukherjee, Arun Prabha. Introduction. In Joothan, by Omprakash Valmiki. Kolkata: Samaya Print, 2003. Print. Murthy, B. S. Depressed and Oppressed: Forever in Agony. New Delhi: S. Chand, 1971. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com 38 MADHU Narayan, Badri, and Mishra, A. R. Multiple Marginalities: An Anthology of Dalit Writings. Delhi: Manohar, 2004. Print. Omvedt, Gail. Dalits and the Democratic Revolution. Delhi: Sage, 1994. Print. Pandit, Maya. Introduction. In The Prisons We Broke. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2008. Print. Pinto, Jerry. Baluta (English translation), Speaking Tiger. New Delhi, 2015. Rao, Anupama. Representing Dalit Selfhood. Seminar 558 February (2006): n.pag. Web. 15 November 2021. Shyamlal. Untold Story of a Bhangi Vice-Chancellor. Jaipur: University Book House, 2001. Print. Valmiki, Omprakash. Dalita Sahitya Ka Saundaryashastra. New Delhi: Radhakrishna, 2001. Print. Wolpert, Stanley. Encyclopaedia of India. New York: Charles Scribners & Sons, 2005. Print. Zelliot, Eleanor. From Untouchable to Dalit. New Delhi: Manohar, 2001. Print. Get Complete eBook Download By email at student.support@hotmail.com