Short Story: The Story of Poor Boy (2024)

Stepping out of the 'Difference': Discerning the Dalit Female Standpoint in Bama's Sangati

Sage Publishers, 2020

The term Dalit carries, within itself, a structural negativity since its inception in every sphere of life be it political, social or economic. It encapsulates the trials and tribulations of a crushed and suppressed community, which is known as the 'Dalit community'. Dalit literature is a manifestation of the life of Dalit community, which is nothing but a painful saga of an endless suffering. Initially, it was viewed as an all-male affair, but in recent times we have seen the emergence of very powerful narratives by Dalit females. Thus, paving the way for Dalit feminist literature with a new perspective and new ideology which can be termed as 'Dalit female standpoint'. It unravels some hidden territories of Dalit females' lives and talks about their situation, location and experiences. Sangati, a very powerful novel written by Bama, a Dalit female writer, stands testimony to the things mentioned above as it presents the agency and audacity of the Dalit women who question their subjugation and raise a step against the biased society. Their knowledge towards the outer world gives them a new outlook and fresh perspective on life as they reexamine gender relations as fundamental to the broader ideologies of caste. The present article seeks to explore the life conditions of Dalit females as they are caught in the vortex of caste, gender and class and their grit and resolve to survive despite all odds by harping on their oppositional consciousness.

The Voice of Dalit Women in Bama’s Sangati

Abstract Dalit literature has emerged as an important area in the post-colonial India. The major focus of Dalit literature is on the community. Dalit writings are based on the sufferings of the oppressed class. They emphasize on the struggle that they undergo due to oppression and suppression by the upper class people. A dalit woman undergoes two types of suffering, one that she is a women and the other that she belongs to a lowest community. It is these sufferings that Bama focuses in Sangati. Sangati is a series of events that narrates the lives of Dalit women who face the double disadvantage of caste and gender discrimination. Dalit women are marginalised, discriminated, humiliated and harassed both by their men folk and by the society. Bama through meticulous narration, voices out how the way patriarchy works with Dalit women. Men in their community are free from all sorts of responsibilities whereas women are over-burdened with endless toil throughout the day. Bama portrays the realistic picture of dalit women who hardly retards irrespective of her being treated violently by their fathers, brothers or husbands. Key Words: Dalit, Patriarchy, Oppression, Paraiyas, Pey, Christianity

The Story of Poor Boy

Bama's Karruku and Sangathi: The True Reflections of Indian Dalit Women

Predicament against Dalit Women- Transgression of Gender, Caste and Class

Scholar's Paradise (ISBN: 9781980446330), 2017

The dilemma of Poverty is ecumenical and arduous altogether. It has become an indomitable concern at global platform. Generally Poverty is considered as a condition where a person standpoints his insufficiency to conform to his basic amenities of life like food, cloth and shelter. In today’s globalized world the ambit of poverty has aggrandized from inadequacy of basic needs to deficiency of human development aid facilities such as education, health and public security. The poverty is a backing feature of one’s class in society. The reactionary Varna and caste system has been a part of Indian Hindu Society from ancient times. Today only in India such a caste system prevails. The source of Ancient Hindu Law, Manusmriti, lays downtrodden existence of the out classes namely Shudras and women. The caste oppression and gender inequality has hounded India. The class exploitation comes as another hindrance towards the goals of equality. India has been an overly patriarchal and caste dominating society. The vulnerable people in India can be understood as the group of persons who are exposed to absence of decent livelihood on account of disability, ailment, age and so on. Women have to face the humiliation of three fold discrimination because they are hindered by their gender, class and caste. Dalits hold attention as the dejected rundle of the civil ladder. They have been incarcerated to debasement and coercion by the elevated classes in the caste biased Indian society for centuries. It is a blot on the landscape that this merciless practice still perseveres in various parts of India. The author has attempted an effort to make visible the hidden exploitation of Dalit women to the readers. Keywords: Dalit Women, Violence, Vulnerable People, Poverty

Classism, Casteism and Sexism a Curse in the Life of Dalit Women: A Social and Literary Analysis

Indian Journal of Language and Linguistics

Class, caste and, gender systems prevail since ancient times in society. Lot has been said and studied about it but yet society is not free from these stigmas. The division of society on the basis of class, caste, and gender has hindered the progress of society at the same time has treated the lowest castes also known as Dalits or former ‘Untouchables’ as underdogs and have tremendously ill-treated this section in the society. The mainstream has made them marginalized and unheard. Dalit women are triple victims and are the most sufferers in Indian community. Though the Indian Constitution talks about equality, freedom, and justice to all Indian Citizens, irrespective of caste, class, creed, religion, and sex there are many who are not privileged for the same. This research paper focuses on the understanding of class and caste system with addition to Dalit women as the triple victim of class, caste, and gender with the background of social structure in India and Dalit and Non-Dalit w...

UNHEARD VOICES AND GENDER CONSTRUCTION OF DALIT WOMEN IN BAMA FAUSTINA'S SANGATI

Despite civilization stepping in 21 st century, the caste discrimination as Dalit still prevails in the country like India. However, many movements came in the way to stop this age old-practice ultimately resulting in construction of strict laws against it. The term Dalit represents all the lower castes, tribal people, labor classes and women who have been broken and crushed down by the dominant classes as an intentional conduct. This paper aims to draw attention to the insensitive realism of the repression, struggle, torture and miserable lives of Dalit women. Dalit women are discriminated at three levels. Firstly they are treated as untouchables and as outcastes, due to their lower caste, secondly they have to face male chauvinism and thirdly they have to go through financial scarcity due to potholed salary inequality and poorly paid employment. Even though the Indian constitution has tried to wipe out untouchability but Dalit women are still marginalized suffering indescribable coercion at every level, their voices are still unheard and their feminine identities are still deconstructed. This paper attempts to put forward the harsh reality described by Bama Faustina, in her work Sangati, a saga of a young girl's individual struggle to the consciousness of a community of Paraiya women, a neighborhood group of friends and relations and further their joint struggle as Dalit women to construct their gender identity. The paper also explores how their unheard voices are brought together collectively by Bama Faustina narrating the issues and happenings of their real lives which are full of challenges, risks and struggle.

Impact of Casteism in Dalit Women: A Contextual Study of Jyoti Lanewar’s “Mother”

SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH, 2020

The intention of this article is to bring out the effect of casteism over dalit women who are suppressed as a dalit and also as women. This article shows light on the oppression imposed over the dalits in daily basis, which is prevailing even today in every possible forms. This article also deals with how “Mother”, as a woman was also gets affected by the patriarchy, which includes men of so called upper castes and lower caste and also how she was abused by her husband. The self-respect of the dalits and also the unnoticed hard work of them for the development of the country from healthcare to infrastructure is also discussed in this article. Education is the only way which helps dalits to rise their voice out of the oppression over them. This poem “Mother” deals with every aspect of dalit life and their constant struggle to come out of it.

Growing up Untouchable in India: A Dalit Autobiography

2000

THE REALM OF WOMEN IN THE INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM

The lives of women in India are shadowed by a very suffocating patriarchal domination. Women have always been the victim of the repressive controlling effects of class and caste distinctions. The Dalit or the Scheduled Caste known as Untouchables in lesser democratic liberal terms are the ones subjected to the heavy burden of discrimination. Though the name has been banned the prevalent negative attitude of mind has remained and so have the extreme level of injustice, enslavement and servitude. They are subjected to multiple levels of discrimination and exploitation, much of which is barbaric and, degrading, appallingly violent and totally inhumane. [1] This paper will explore the institution of caste and its operation in a micro level village setting in Bengal, an Indian state, and it power and dominion on women. For a critical study of this I will be closely referring to the novel Goynar Baksho by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay which portrays three generations of women and their changing social status in the society that is satiated with caste system and its restrictions and patriarchy. By the end of the paper I will have discussed, examined and critiqued the oppressive nature of the caste system on women in Bengal from a modern day context. The paradigm shift from oppression to liberation, if any has happened over the years and to what extent, will be the main focus of the paper.