Eight books that put caste under scanner

Eight books that put caste under scanner

On September 14, Thakur men allegedly gang raped a 19-year-old Dalit woman in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. The incident brought to light several hard-to-stomach realities. Key point being the inability to accept the intertwined nature of caste-based atrocities and gendered violence.

In order to understand the realities of lower caste women, one must understand their history and lived experiences. Here are a few books to add to your reading list:

'The Untouchables: Who were They and Why They became Untouchables?'
While B R Ambedkar's 'Annihilation of Caste' is touted as the seminal work on untouchability, this 1948 work is a great starting point for those who wish to understand the origin point of the issue. A sequel to his treatise called 'The Shudras-Who they were and How they came to be the Fourth Varna of the Indo-Aryan Society', the book discusses fundemental questions, answers and assumptions about untouchability through an anthropological study.

'The Prisons We Broke'

This 2009 memoir by Baby Kamble portrays the socio-economical, cultural and political conditions of Dalit community as a whole, and that of Dalit women in particular. Written in Marati as 'Jina Amucha', the book is considered to be the first autobiography by a Dalit woman, not only in Marathi but in any other Indian language.

'Coming Out As A Dalit'

Yashica Dutt's memoir steps away from the violence and humiliation of caste oppression and shows us there are more insidious ways in which caste can tear you up. Journalist Yashica Dutt’s book documents how she pretended to be a Brahmin and the journey which led her to embrace her identity as a Dalit. The book opens with an account of what prompted Dutt to come out as a Dalit —Rohit Vemula's suicide and a friend request on Facebook that she rejected two weeks before the incident.

'Why I Am Not A Hindu'

Kancha Illaiah's passion and anger, laced with sarcasm drips freely while he writes about the caste system. He looks at the socioeconomic and cultural differences between the Dalit-Bahujans and Hindus against the context of childhood, family life, market relations, power relations, religion, death and, the idea of Hindutva.

'Gendering Caste: Through A Feminist's Lens'

Uma Chakravarti takes a look at the intricate relationship between caste and gender. The book also reiterates Ambedkar’s argument that endogamy is critical to maintain and perpetuate the caste system. Through the text, she looks at the various ways in which subordination of women and control of female sexuality are used to create brahmanical patriarchy.

'When I Hid My Caste'

The Marati book written by Baburao Bagul has been translated to English by Jerry Pinto. The book features a collection of ten short stories that explores the question of what it means to be an outsider in a rigid society.

'Ants Among Elephants'

“My stories, my family’s stories, were not stories in India. They were just life," writes Sujatha Gidla in her memoir. Her account begins from the pre-independence India in coastal Andhra, charting the family's conversion to Christianity, all the way to her present. Her story of a family seeking education and employment in post-independent India is the story of every Dalit family that tries to rise above their socio-economic status.

'The Weave of My Life'

Urmila Pawar recounts the lives of three generations of Dalit women who struggled to overcome the burden of their caste. The author links her mother's act of weaving baskets, 'aaydans', to her own act of writing charting a journey from a Konkan village to Mumbai.