Voices from the D

Margins UNIT 15 DALIT LIFE WRITINGS

Structure

15.1 Introduction
15.2 Learning Outcomes
15.3 Background: Dalit Literature
15.4 The Central Place of Life Writings in Dalit Literature
15.5 Women’s Perspectives
15.6 Dalit Women’s Life Writings in Marathi
15.6.1 Baby Kamble: The Prisons we Broke
15.6.2 Urmila Pawar: The Weave of my Life
15.7 Life Writing in Tamil: Bama’s Karruku
15.8 Let Us Sum Up
15.9 Unit End Questions
15.10 References
15.11 Suggested Readings

15.1 INTRODUCTION
In the preceding two units you have already been introduced to life writings
by women from marginalised spaces, such as slave narratives, as well as
postcolonial writing. In this unit we will focus exclusively on dalit life
writings from the Indian subcontinent. For illustration, elucidation and
analysis, we have selected writings by dalit women. Since the social
construction of womanhood exposes the gender biases of a society, life
writings by dalit women assume special importance. They have provided a
space to these women to ‘tell their own story’ from their own point of view.
Reading their life narratives contributes towards an expansion in our
understanding about various aspects concerning the lives of dalit women and
their communities. What is the meaning of the word ‘dalit’? What is the
status of life writings by dalit women among the broad category of what may
be called ‘dalit literature’? What are the issues that dalit women engage with
in their life writings? We will try to look for the answers to these and various
other related questions which would arise in the course of this unit.

15.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completion of this unit you will learn about:

• Dalit life writings in the light of traditional autobiography.

• The centrality of the notion of collective identity in dalit life writings.
• How gender intersects with caste and class in the oppression of dalit
women.
• The formulation of a dalit feminist perspective in life writings.
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 Dalit Life Writings
15.3 BACKGROUND: DALIT LITERATURE
Let us begin by examining the term ‘dalit’ in the context of literature. The
meaning of the word ‘dalit’ in Hindi and Marathi is ‘ground down, depressed’.
It was first used by Ambedkar to mean a life condition which characterizes
the exploitation, suppression and marginalization of the lower castes by the
upper caste brahminical order. The word found a ready acceptance among all
the formerly untouchable communities in India and began to replace all
earlier terms such as ‘harijan’, depressed classes, etc because ‘dalit’ means
being oppressed from above, and not a defect in the human being for being
polluted. It implies the need to revolt against oppression. Moreover, the
word ascribes a collective political identity to the various lower castes and
sub-castes spread across the regional and linguistic variations, within India.
It is a symbol of assertive pride, and of resistance to the linked oppressions
of caste and class.

Dalit literature is the outcome of the awareness of this oppression. It is based

on the real life experiences of the dalits as a community and expresses the
writer’s quest for social change, based on humanist, egalitarian and scientific
principles. In the modern era, it is related to the dalit liberation movement in
Maharashtra, started by the revolutionary leader, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891-
1956) and the dalit literature movement in the seventies. Starting initially
from Maharashtra in the late nineteen sixtees and seventees, dalit writings
followed from other regions and languages, in Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam,
Kannada, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi, among others. Dalit
literature is a part of the dalit struggle against injustices through political as
well as cultural means. Dalit women writers have been fewer in number than
the male writers but there is still a substantial output of life writings, poems,
novels and short fiction authored by them, deserving of critical attention. The
earlier unit on “Dalit and Black Feminism” that you read (MWG 001, Block
2, Unit 2) provided you with some necessary background information on
dalit feminism which will enrich your understanding of this unit. Here,
we will critically engage with life writings by selected dalit women writers.

The meaning of the word ‘dalit’ in Hindi and Marathi is ‘ground down,
depressed’. It was first used by Ambedkar to mean a life condition which
characterizes the exploitation, suppression and marginalization of the lower
castes by the upper caste brahminical order. The word found a ready
acceptance among all the formerly untouchable communities in India and
began to replace all earlier terms such as ‘harijan’, depressed classes, etc
because ‘dalit’ means being oppressed from above, and not a defect in the
human being for being polluted. It implies the need to revolt against
oppression. Moreover, the word ascribes a collective political identity to the
various lower castes and sub-castes spread across the regional and linguistic
variations, within India. It is a symbol of assertive pride and resistance to the
linked oppressions of caste and class.

Dalit literature is the outcome of the awareness of this oppression. It is based

on the real life experiences of the dalits as a community and expresses the
writer’s quest for social change, based on humanist, egalitarian and scientific
principles. In the modern era, it is related to the dalit liberation movement in 237
Voices from the Maharashtra, started by the revolutionary leader, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891- D
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1956) and the dalit literature movement in the seventies. Starting initially
from Maharashtra in the late nineteen sixtees and seventees, dalit writings
followed from other regions, in Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada,
Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, etc. Dalit literature is a part of the
dalit struggle against injustices through political as well as cultural means.
Dalit women writers have been fewer in number than the male writers but
there is still a substantial output of life writings, poems, novels and short
fiction authored by them, deserving of critical attention. The earlier unit on
“Dalit and Black Feminism” that you read (MWG 001, Block 2, Unit 2)
provided you with some necessary background information on dalit
feminism which will enrich your understanding of this unit. Here, we will
critically engage with life writings by selected dalit women writers.

15.4 THE CENTRAL PLACE OF LIFE

WRITINGS IN DALIT LITERATURE
Dalit literature is primarily based on the lived and real life experiences of
dalit writers. That is why autobiography has become somewhat of a favourite
genre for them. In her “Introduction” to her English translation of Valmiki’s
Joothan, Arun Prabha Mukherjee (2003) has rightly remarked that this is
because of the emphasis that dalit writers place on “authenticity of
experience” (Mukherjee, 2003, p.xxxv). In her “Foreword” to this translation,
she has pointed out that although high caste Indian writers have written
about the dalits out of sympathy, it is mostly as pathetic characters or as
objects of pity, who are unable to speak about their oppression or feel
enraged (Mukherjee, 2003, p.x ). Since dalits were earlier denied even the
right to education, the life narratives written by those who are literate,
assume a special significance. They provide a voice to the members of the
community to give a self-representation about their experience, which is
actually a shared experience of the entire community.

Sharmila Rege (2006) has asserted that dalit life narratives are one of the
most direct ways of countering the silence and misrepresentation of the
community. Their main intention is not to gain literary merit but to
communicate the lived reality of a group’s oppression and struggle. Rege has
convincingly argued that dalit life narratives are different from traditional
autobiography because in them the individual self “seeks affirmation in the
collective mode” of the community. That is why, they should be considered
as testimonios (Rege, 2006, p.13-14). It is a Spanish term meaning testimony,
although testimonio is not concerned with legal testimony but is a literary
genre, popular in Latin America. It may be narrated in the first person but is
generally about a community. Rege has rightly emphasized that dalit life
narratives “violate the parameters set by bourgeois autobiography and create
testimonios of caste based oppression, anti caste struggles and resistance”
(Rege, 2006, p.14). As you read the analysis of the selected life narratives in
the following sections of this unit, do judge for yourself the appropriateness of
viewing them in this light.

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The box below will give you an idea of some of the prominent dalit life Dalit Life Writings

narratives written in various regional languages of India:

Box No.3.1

Dalit life narratives have been predominantly written in the regional

languages. Those in Marathi have provided the lead and also outnumbered the
others. Some of these by male authors include Daya Pawar’s Baluta (1978),
Laxman Mane’s Upara (1980), Sharan Kumar Limbale’s Akkarmashi (1984),
Laxman Gaikwad’s Uchalya 1987), Vasant Moon’s Vasti (1985), among
others. Life narratives in Marathi by dalit women writers are the pride of
dalit literature. These include Shantabai Dani’s Ratrandin Amha (1990),
Mukta Sarvagod’s Mitleli Kavaade (1983), Baby Kamble’s Jina Amucha
(1982), Kumud Pawade’s Antapshot (1981), Shantabai Kamble’s Majya
Jalmachi Chittarkatha (1990), Urmila Pawar’s Aaydan (2003), Janabai
Girhe’s Marankala (1992) and Vimal More’s Teen Dagdachi Chul (2000).
Some of these Marathi texts are also available in English translation. Dalit life
narratives written in Kannada include Siddalingaiah’s Ooru Keri in English
translation (2003), English translation of Aravind Malagatti’s Kannada
autobiography entitled Government Brahmana (2007), Ramayya’s MaNegara
(n.d.), and Govindaraju’s Manavilladavare Madhye (n.d.). Some well-
known Tamil dalit life narratives are Bama’s Karruku (1992) which is
available in English translation (2000) and the English translation of K.A.
Gunasekararan’s Tamil autobiography entitled The Scar (2009).
B.Kesharshivam’s Purnasatya (2002) is written in Gujarati. Some of the
dalit autobiographies written in Hindi are Om Prakash Valmiki’s Joothan
(1997) available in English translation as Joothan: An Untouchable’s Life
(2003), Jai Prakash Kardam’s Jhappar, Mohandas Namishray’s Apne Apne
Pinjare (1995) & Sheoraj Singh Bechain’s Mera Bachpan Mere Kandhon Par
(2009). Among those written in Hindi by women writers are Kausalya
Baisantri’s Dohra Abhishaap (1999) and Sushila Takbhaure’s Shikanje Ka
Dard (2011). In Punjabi, there is Prem Gorkhi’s Gair Hazir Aadmi (1994)
and Balbir Madhopuri’s Changya Rukh (2003), the first Punjabi dalit
autobiography to be available in English translation as Changya Rukh
Against the Night An Autobiography (2010).

Depending on your mother tongue and your interest, it might be rewarding

for you to read at least one of the texts mentioned in above, in the original. It
is a continuing debate that translation has some limitations in conveying the
flavour of the original, particularly in the case of dalit texts which are rich in
using local dialects and speech variations, with a purpose. Yet, translation is
so important in enriching literature in English by creating space for these
voices from the margins which powerfully convey a firsthand expression of
the dalit experience and ideology.

15.5 WOMEN’S PERSPECTIVES

As compared to the male writers who mostly voice their protest against the
caste and class inequities suffered by the dalit community, some of the
writing by dalit women also offers a gendered perspective on the specific
socio-cultural situation of dalit women, who are subjected to triple
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Voices from the exploitation, due to the intersection of gender with caste and class. You have D
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learnt about the history and rationale of the dalit women’s movement in the
unit on ‘Dalit and Black Feminism’ in MWG 001. Taking a dalit feminist
viewpoint, dalit women activists have argued that the dalit movement has
been silent about the brutal patriarchy within the dalit communities and the
feminist movement has not laid the requisite focus on the issue of caste,
which determines the kind of violence which only dalit women are subjected
to. Many of the dalit women writers are activists within the movement. Their
literary texts express a dalit feminist perspective by revealing and critiquing
the caste, class and gender nexus, contributing to the harsh reality of dalit
women’s lives, and through their vision for social and political change.

Dalit women’s life narratives are written from within their own lived situation.
These testimonios serve as a protest against their exploitation at the hands of
the state, the market, social patriarchy, dalit patriarchy and religion. We will
examine how they also provide an insight into the creativity and resilience
which dalit women display, in their daily lives. As compared to the writing by
men, dalit women’s life writings are much more conscious about collective
experiences. Many of the Marathi dalit women’s narratives recreate history
by bringing to light the submerged aspects about dalit women’s contribution
as active agents for change, within the Ambedkarite movement.

In the upcoming sections, we will examine two well known life writings in
Marathi and one in Tamil in their English translations. The specific texts
have been selected because they are representative, well-known, and also
easily available, in translation. You are advised to read the texts to enhance
your understanding of the points raised in the following analysis.

15.6 DALIT WOMEN’S LIFE WRITINGS IN

MARATHI
Let us begin this section by examining two works, authored by Baby Kamble
and Urmila Pawar, as representative dalit life narratives in Marathi.

15.6.1 Baby Kamble: The Prisons We Broke

Baby Kamble has been involved from her early years in the Dalit movement
in Maharashtra which was started under the leadership of Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar, in the first half of the twentieth century. Her original life narrative in
Marathi, called Jina Amucha was first serialised in the Pune women’s
magazine, Stree, in 1982, before it was published as a book, in 1986. Its
English translation by Maya Pandit, entitled as The Prisons We Broke, was
first published in 2008. Kamble has revealed in an interview that it was
published almost twenty years after she completed writing it. It has been
acknowledged as the first autobiography by a dalit woman, written in
Marathi or in any Indian language.

In this narrative, Kamble has provided an insider’s account of the the socio-
cultural conditions and the historical and political scenario in which the
Mahar community lived, in the pre- Independence time. Although she has
also written about herself, but it is essentially as an integral part of the
240 Mahar community in Maharashtra, to which she belongs. In her interview
with Maya Pandit, which has been included after the translated life narrative, Dalit Life Writings

Kamble has claimed that the suffering of her community has always been
more important for her than her own individual suffering. She says that since
she has identified herself completely with her people, Jina Amucha is the
autobiography of her entire community (Kamble, 2008, p.157). It has often
been remarked that her life narrative reads more like a socio-biography, rather
than an autobiography. As she was growing up, the movement of the
formerly untouchable Mang and Mahar castes, started by B. R. Ambedkar
(1891-1956) was at its height. In her narrative, Kamble has provided graphic
details of the inhuman life conditions to which the dalit community has been
subjected, due to the atrocities perpetuated by the Hindu caste system, for
thousands of years. Alongside, she has also given a profile of the
transformation of this society, due to the attitudinal changes and the
education and conversion of the people, brought about by the revolutionary
activities of the Ambedkarite movement, in the 1950s.

A distinctive aspect of Kamble’s life narrative is that even as she describes

the abject poverty, humiliation and deprivation of the dalit community, she
also emphasizes the “iron in their souls” (Kamble, 2008, p.11) and tries to
inculcate a sense of self-respect among them for belonging to this very
community. She gives her lived experience of the miseries and hope, the
ignorance, illiteracy, superstitions, rituals, fairs, festivals, food habits and
clothing of her community, who lived on the fringes of society, ruthlessly
exploited, subjugated and discriminated against, by the upper castes. Against a
realistic sketch of the ordeals that they suffered, Kamble tries to instil a
sense of pride and the spirit of resistance among the present and future
generations of her people. In her “Introduction” to The Prisons We Broke,
Maya Pandit (2008) has included her translation of what Kamble has asserted
in her foreword to the original Marathi Jina Amucha. To quote: “Today, our
young educated people are ashamed of being called a Mahar. But what is
there to be ashamed of? We are the great race of the Mahars of Maharashtra.
We are its original inhabitants, the sons of the soil. I love our caste name,
Mahar- it... reminds me of our terrible struggle for truth” (Kamble, 2008,
p.ix).

As you read Kamble’s narrative in the original Marathi version or in its

English translation, you will notice how she has particularly brought to light
the private and public dimensions of the lives of the Mahar women. She has
shown how they not only shared the brunt of the caste and class inequalities
alongwith the rest of the community but also suffered physical and psychic
violence within their families, due to the operation of patriarchy within the
dalit community. Kamble herself had to hide her writing for twenty years.
Her narrative introduces a dalit feminist perspective in exposing and critiquing
the power play and cruelty suffered by the women of the community. As
Kamble reveals, the daughters –in –law usually suffered the worst fate after
being married off at the age of under ten and being subjected to near slavery
and inhuman practices, at the hands of their husbands, in-laws and relatives.
Extreme economic hardship and ignorance determined how the women
suffered during and after childbirth from near starvation, unhygienic labour
conditions, illness and calamity. Alongside, Kamble has also brought out the
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Voices from the grit and perseverance of the Mahar women as survivors, the dignity of their D
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labour, and the potential and strength through which they are able to take an
active role towards the reform of their community, under Ambedkar’s
leadership. The conflict within the community as some show resistance to
the modern ideas of Ambedkar and the contribution of the women in
showing staunch loyalty to his call for educating their children as a first
step towards liberation, is highlighted. The text also shows how they act as
agents in stopping practices such as eating the meat of dead animals, age-old
superstitions, and participate in the political gatherings.

Kamble has called herself a “product of the Ambedkar movement” (Kamble,

2008 , p.125). Towards this end, her narrative takes up the threads of her
present life by highlighting it as an outcome of her role within the community.
She admits that it is due to the movement that she got an opportunity to go
to school, educate her children, participate in political meetings, start a
business of her own alongwith her husband, and establish a residential
school for socially backward children, in Nimbure, near Phaltan. Kamble has
been honoured with awards for her social work as well as her literary work.
Like many dalit women writers today, her life and her literary work are
integrally related and are a part of her ongoing struggle for the upliftment of
her community.

As you know, dalit literature is an expression of protest against the caste

system. As you read Kamble’s text, try to find out and understand how her
life narrative is a part of this tradition of dalit writing as well as how it goes
beyond it by extending the dimensions of autobiographical and protest
writing, in various ways.

Activity:
Find out more about the Mahar community and describe how this
information helps you to deepen your understanding of Baby Kamble’s
work.

15.6.2 Urmila Pawar: The Weave of My Life

Urmila Pawar is well known as a dalit woman writer in Marathi as well as
an activist in the dalit and feminist struggles in Maharashtra. Her
autobiography, Aaydan (2003) has been translated as The Weave of My Life
(2008), by Maya Pandit. Pawar (2008) has clarified in her “Preface” to
Pandit’s translation of her autobiography that ‘aaydan’ is the generic term
used for all things made from bamboo and that its other meanings are
‘utensil’ and ‘weapon’ (Pawar, 2008, p.x ). In the Konkan region of
Maharashtra, it was the Mahar caste to which Pawar herself belongs, that
performed the traditional job of weaving aaydans. Pawar has claimed that
there is a link between the weaving of bamboo by her mother and the
weaving of words, in her own writing. To quote: “I find that her act of
weaving and my act of writing are organically linked. The weave is similar. It
is the weave of pain, suffering and agony that links us” (Pawar, 2008, p.x).
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Elsewhere, Pawar has acknowledged her longstanding debt to the women of Dalit Life Writings

her village, who indulged her and carried her in their arms despite their
arduous toil in climbing up and down the hills, with excessive loads on their
head, to make ends meet. Being educated, it is Pawar’s attempt to repay in
small measure the debt to these women and other people of her community
by using the “weave” she has inherited from her mother to spin her
autobiography in the words which communicate the conditions of her life as
a dalit woman, who grew up in the Ambedkarite & post- Ambedkarite
period.

As compared to Kamble who has written in her Jina Amucha about the life of
her community and minimum about her personal life, Pawar reveals
innumerable details of her own life from her childhood days up till the
present but still, the narrative about her individual experience is essentially
as a woman from a dalit community. She has stated within her memoir that
every person’s life is a “social document” (Pawar, 2008, p.320) and therefore
what the writer writes is not about an individual life but “social reality”
(Pawar, 2008, p.230). The period of time which the book covers is twenty
years later than Kamble’s. It is roughly the last five decades of the twentieth
century. Her honest and frank narration of her lived experiences gives ample
insight into her socio-cultural context and the life of the women, men and
children belonging to it.

As with most dalit life narratives, the memoir weaves a pattern of the
memories of how “caste” entered into the humiliation which the community
people were subjected to, time and again. Unlike in the other parts of
Maharashtra where the Mahars lived in the borders of the village (as Kamble
mentions), in the Konkan region on the West coast of India, the Mahar
community lived in its centre, so as to be within the easy beck and call of the
upper castes. As a child, Pawar remembers the caste and gender based
division of labour and the back- breaking work and poverty of the women
who sold their wares in the Ratnagiri market or went to the creek during low
tide, to collect oysters and clams. The baskets woven by women like her
mother would be purified with water before being accepted by the higher
castes. At school, the dalit children were constantly discriminated against.
During Holi, the Mahar boys were made to do all the work but forbidden to
join in the celebrations during which it was customary to pray that all the
misfortunes may leave the upper castes and be heaped on the Mahars. The
memoir captures the characteristic movement of some community people to
urban areas, at that time. Even in the city, where Pawar moved with her
husband Harishchandra, to join her government job, her narrative of her
own experience brings to light how it was difficult for the dalits to find
accommodation, the taboo on social intercourse with them and the abuses
and discrimination they were subjected to, because of the spreading
resentment against dalit men, for getting education and taking up salaried
jobs.

Pawar (2008) has stated in her “Preface” to the translated text that she
considers the conversion from Hinduism to Budhism as the most significant
part of her life (Pawar, 2008, p.x). Her recounting of the locally organised
Dharmantar programme in the grounds of Gogate College in Ratnagiri, in
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Voices from the her memoir, is representative of many other such programmes organised by D
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the dalits, after Ambedkar’s conversion. The gradual process through which
the community attempted to discard the age-old rituals and superstitions
and embrace this new way of life, based on humanitarian principles, to free
themselves from subjugation and move towards modernity based on the
Ambedkarite and Budhist philosophy, is an integral part of the narrative. In
her “Afterword” to Pandit’s translation of Pawar’s testimonio, Sharmila Rege
(2008) has pointed out its role as “a mapping of dalit modernity as a
social experience in process” (Rege, 2008, p. 344). She has stressed on the
importance of introducing the text in the classroom by emphasising its
contribution as a “historical narrative of experience” (Rege, 2008, p.328).

You have already learnt about how Kamble has given special attention to the
role of women within the Ambedkarite movement within her life narrative.
Pawar is equally concerned about this aspect and has earlier co- authored the
Marathi book entitled Aamhihi Itihaas Ghadwala:Ambedkari Chalvalitil
Streeyancha Sahabhag (1989), alongwith Meenakshi Moon, in which she
has brought out the submerged contribution of dalit women in the
Ambedkarite movement, based on a series of interviews with those who were
active participants. In Weave, as Pawar narrates her life experiences of
childhood, getting educated, marriage with a person of her choice, job in a
Govt. Office in the metropolis, bringing up children and supporting her
daughters in marriages of their choice, receiving honours and awards for
her literary writing and her activism, she exposes and critiques caste and
the patriarchy both within and outside her community. She develops a dalit
feminist perspective as she offers her insights, in her narrative. As she
recounts about her life as a dalit woman activist, she has exposed the
contradictions, divisions and the omissions within the dalit and the feminist
movements. She has brought out how the specific issues concerning dalit
women did not find any place in the emerging dalit politics and how the
feminist movement ignored the important legacy of the Phule- Ambedkarite
philosophy, in the woman and caste question. The memoir documents her
participation in the formation of “Samvadini,” the literary platform for dalit
women and her organizing for dalit feminism in Maharashtra, which are
significant contributions to the dalit feminist movement, as it is emerging
today.

Activity:

Find out more about the following and jot down your comments:

i) Ambedkarite movement:

ii) The influence of the above movement on Dalit feminism:

iii) Samvadini:

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15.7 LIFE WRITING IN TAMIL: BAMA’S
KARRUKU
Writers such as Idayavendan, Abhimani, Unjairajan,Vidivelli, Marku,
Imayan, Arivazhagan, Sivakami and Bama, among others, are making their
contribution to dalit literature in Tamil. The context in Tamil Nadu was
provided by the rationalist thought propagated by E.V. Ramasamy Periyar
(1880-1974) and the literary output came as a part of the agitations, anti-
caste struggles and political protests (Gauthaman, 1995, p. 96). In
comparison with the large number of life writings or testimonios in Marathi,
there are fewer autobiographical writings in Tamil. Karruku (1992) by
Bama has been acclaimed to be the first autobiography of its kind to be
published in Tamil. It is available in an English translation by Lakshmi
Holmstrom (2000).

‘Karruku’ means palmyra leaves which have serrated edges on both sides and
appear to be like two edged swords. ‘Karu’ in Tamil means embryo or seed.
In her ‘Preface’ to the book, Bama has explained the significance of the
symbol by drawing attention to the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’ (New
Testament) which describes the Word of God as a two edged sword which no
longer pierces the hardened hearts of those who have exploited and
disempowered the dalits. We might say that Bama uses the word as a
metaphor for her writing and hopes that it would perform the dual purpose
of stirring the dalits to unite and battle for their rights as well as challenge
the oppressors by searing them out of complacency. She hopes to sow the
seeds of social change by sharing her vision of a new society based on justice,
equality and love.

Bama’s life narrative is based on her life as a dalit Christian belonging to the
Paraya community. This Tamil dalit community has converted to
Christianity but Bama’s narrative sheds light on how conversion did not help
them to be saved from caste discrimination which is practised as much in
Christianity as in Hinduism. The book is written at a point of crisis in Bama’s
life. She had joined the convent as a nun with the objective of serving the
poor dalit community but after discovering the impossibility of realising her
mission within an order which differs in practice from what it outwardly
professes, she decided to leave the nunnery and her secure job and join back
her community. She wrote the narrative at this juncture and in it she shares
the context of dalit life within the community in which she grew up. She has
written about their world of hard labour, food habits, games, inter-
community conflicts within her village, their exploitation at the hands of the
upper castes, state machinery, police etc, her determined efforts to get an
education, her realisation of the presence of casteism in all institutions, her
Christian upbringing, joining the Catholic order, disappointment with the
hypocrisies she encounters and her quest for living a meaningful life, by
working for the liberation of the dalits.

As we read Karruku, we notice that Bama has creatively and purposefully

transgressed the traditional expectations from autobiographical writing, as a
genre. In this context, M. S.S. Pandian has brought out the relevance of some
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name to herself as protagonist, or to her village and the institutions and
important people that figure in the narrative effectively serves to replace the
autobiographical ‘I’, a product of bourgeois individualism, with the
collectivity of the dalit community. It is not just her story but her
community’s story since her pain, strength, beliefs, religion, language,
culture, etc, are all what her community provided. Further, this strategy of
anonymity serves to shift the narrative from the local into a universal
indictment against oppression (Pandian, 1998, p.129-135). Another striking
feature of Karruku is that the story is not told in a linear narrative
traditionally associated with autobiographical writing. Events and incidents
are re-visited repeatedly, giving different perspectives on them which Bama
gains at different stages of her life. This mode also serves to deepen the
reader’s understanding of the dalit experience.

As you read the text, you will find it a refreshing change to take note of how
Bama has experimented with sequence and form as well as made a departure
from traditional literary norms, with respect to the language she has used in
Karruku. In an article by Bama, entitled as “Dalit Literature” (in its English
translation), available in the journal Indian Literature, she has clarified her
purpose by asserting that writing and reading are “political practice” and
since the dalits have a different vocabulary and speech, they should write as
dalits (Bama, 1999, p. 98). As appropriate to the context of her narrative,
Bama has deliberately used spoken dalit Tamil in Karruku, breaking the
rules of written grammar and spelling and creating space and validity for the
dalit way of life. She has also interspersed the narrative with a re-telling of
some characteristic stories, work-chants, songs, rituals, dances, etc
performed by them, as a successful device in communicating ‘dalit culture’.
It is the dalit women who seem to play an important role as the custodians
of Dalit culture.

As compared to the two Marathi life narratives by Kamble and Pawar,

Bama’s Karruku does not offer a detailed and focussed analysis of the life of
the women of her community. It is in her later publication, the novel Sangati
(1994) that Bama has dealt primarily with the lives of a community of dalit
women and their joint struggle and strengths. Yet, even in Karruku, the
narrative is interspersed with a gendered perspective as she points out the
anomaly about men being always paid more for the same labour (Bama,
1992, p.46), or when she states matter of factly that the community cannot
see the sense in sending girls to school since it is the girl child who bears the
burden of the dire poverty of the family by staying at home, collecting
firewood, looking after the chores, caring for the babies, etc (Bama, 1992,
p.68). When she narrates the incident about the inter-caste trouble which led
to most of the men of the community being taken into police custody, she
brings out a gendered perspective on how the women were subjected to
obscene comments and sexually charged suggestions from the policemen
who came to inspect the houses.

What animates the narrative is that Bama does not simply tell a tale of
women as helpless, passive victims but brings out their resilience, ingenuity
and strength, in the midst of their hard labour and multiple anxieties. She
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also narrates various instances to highlight the grit and creativity of the Dalit Life Writings

women who not only manage to look after themselves and the children
without the men but also employ strategies to protect some of the men to
escape arrest or how they cleverly help one of the men to attend his son’s
funeral inspite of the police vigil. In this way, Bama draws attention to the
fact that, despite the harsh realities of their lives, the women of her
community deserve admiration and not pity. By drawing attention to some
of the admirable qualities of the women of her community, Bama’s narrative
compels us to re-think and change our pre-set attitudes about dalit women.

As outlined earlier, Bama’s main concern in Karruku, appears to be her

attempt to bring about social change by bringing to the forefront and then
questioning the irrational casteism which dalits like herself are subjected to,
within all social structures and institutions, including within the Catholic
church. Her narration of her life experiences in the book is indeed a part
of her political struggle to incite the dalits about the injustice of the inhuman
discriminatory practices which she has observed and experienced and to
bring awareness within them about their strengths and the necessity to unite
and battle for their rights. She feels that the worst injustice is when the dalits
unquestioningly internalise their subjugation due to a handed down sense of
their inferiority, based on fate. Laying emphasis on the important role of
education, she has claimed that she could dare to speak up for herself and
hold her head high only because of the ability she acquired through her
education. The narrative communicates her continual questioning on behalf
of her community. “How did the upper castes become so elevated?” she asks.
She wants the dalits to “dare to stand up for change” and a “just society
where all are equal” (Bama, 1992, p.24). We notice that unlike Kamble and
Pawar who have prominently brought in the legacy of Ambedkar in the
liberation struggle of the dalits, Bama does not specifically mention either
Ambedkar or the Tamil leader, Periyar, although her views and her vision are
in consonance with them and a part of the larger dalit movement.

Bama links her goal towards an equal and just society with her narrative
of her personal journey towards discovering the true meaning of God who
has “the greatest compassion for the oppressed” (Bama, 1992, p.90). Her
narration of her life as a Tamil dalit Christian who earlier adhered to the
prescribed religious rituals out of fear, her joining the convent and
understanding of the “lack of humanity” in the professed piety of the nuns
and priests who discriminated against and exploited rather than served the
poor and needy followed by her reading and interpretation of the Bible for
herself, mark the stages in her spiritual growth. She learns that God’s true
meaning is linked to the questioning of injustice which is indeed the purpose
of her own life as it ought to be for all dalits who should reclaim their
likeness to God and live with self-respect and a love towards all humankind
(Bama, 1992, p.94). Bama’s self-discovery of this truth is also on behalf of
her community.

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Voices from the D
Margins
Check Your Progress:

i) Read the ‘Preface’ to the book Karukku and explain the significance of the
title of the book.

ii) Read the book and list the ways in which Bama’s style diverges from
conventional narratives.

iii) Do you think that the absence of any reference to Ambedkar or Periyar
in Bama’s work is a deliberate device to lift the narrative from its
specific context and to share its aims with other oppressed communities
worldwide? Explain.

15.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit you have seen how life writings assume special significance
within dalit literature. They provide a voice to the writer to protest against
oppression by giving a self-representation about the lived reality of their
lives. The unit discussed the difference between traditional autobiography
and dalit life narratives which generate a sense of collective identity and the
relevance of considering them as testimonials was pointed out. Life
narratives by some women provide insight into the triple exploitation of dalit
women due to the intersection of gender with caste and class, within their
specific socio-cultural situation. They also provide a social critique from a
dalit feminist perspective. The analysis of three dalit women’s testimonials
discussed the points of similarity and difference between them. It brought out
that they do not show dalit women as just victims, but shed light on their
strength and survival techniques among the harsh realities of their lives,
alongside their role as agents for change. As you may have learned from your
reading, dalit women’s literary work and their lives as activists are integrally
related, since both are a part of their ongoing struggle for social reform,
and the upliftment of their communities.

15.9 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Why have life writings assumed a special significance in dalit literature?
Do they also serve a role within the wider dalit movement for social
reform? Explain how.

2) Discuss the importance of the collective identity of the community in

dalit life narratives by women.

3) Discuss Bama’s Karruku as a dalit testimonial narrative. Analyse how

and why Bama has subverted the norms of traditional autobiography.

4) What do you understand by a dalit feminist perspective? How is it

reflected in the life writings by the Marathi dalit women writers
introduced to you in this unit? Discuss.

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 Dalit Life Writings
15.10 REFERENCES
Bama (1992). Karruku. (Trans.) Lakshmi Holmstrom. 1999. Karruku.
Chennai: Macmillan India Ltd.

Bama (1999). Dalit Literature. (Trans.) M. Vijayalakshmi. Indian Literature

193, 97-98.

Gauthaman, R. (1995). We have no need for haloes. India Today Annual, pp.
96-98.

Kamble, B. (2008). (Originally published as Jina Amucha, 1982) (Trans.)

Maya Pandit. The Prisons We Broke. Chennai: Orient Longman.

Mukherjee, A. P. (2003). Introduction. In Valmiki, Omprakash, 1997. Joothan.

(Trans.) Arun Prabha Mukherjee, 2003. Joothan: An Untouchable’s Life. pp.
XVII- XLVIII. New York: Columbia University Press.

Pandian, M.S.S. (1998). On a Dalit Woman’s Testimonio. In Rao, Anupama

(2003). (Ed.), Gender and Caste, pp. 129-135. New Delhi: Kali for Women.

Pawar, U. (2008). (Originally published as Aaydan, 2003). (Trans.)

Maya Pandit. The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs. Kolkata:
Stree.

Rege, S. (2006). Writing Caste/ Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women’s

Testimonios. New Delhi: Zubaan.

15.11 SUGGESTED READINGS

Bama. (1992). Karruku. (Trans.) Lakshmi Holmstrom. 1999. Karruku.
Chennai: Macmillan India Ltd.

Kamble, B. (2008). (Originally published as Jina Amucha, 1982) . (Trans.)

Maya Pandit. The Prisons We Broke. Chennai: Orient Longman.

Pawar, U. (2008). (Originally published as Aaydan, 2003). (Trans.)

Maya Pandit. The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs. Kolkata:
Stree.

Takbhaure, S. (2011). Shikanje Ka Dard. New Delhi: Vani Prakashan.

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