Week 4 - Samyuktha Rao

First thoughts on the book Joothan


“Joothan” written by Om Prakash Valmiki, gives us insight into the Dalit rural lives in post colonial - independent India. The first quarter of the book was a painful experience to read. Almost every page had an instance of a cruel/oppressive act faced by him and his community.

The title “Joothan” means leftovers of the food. Leftovers of food were given to Dalits by the upper castes. The book also mentioned about the non payment of wages of any kind to Dalits. They labour was fully exploited by the upper castes and in return, they were given nothing. When the author’s mother worked hard for a day and asked for the leftovers at an upper castes house. However, she was insulted by asking her to eat from the garbage. She in response showed resistance & yelled back at the uppercase and stormed out of the place. I believe that this act of the author’s mother might have inspired him to never settle for insults and try to revolt.

The author’s childhood while schooling was filled with a lot of oppressive memories. Every time he showed interest or asked something genuine, he was yelled at by the teachers themselves and was repeatedly reminded of his caste. The author’s father however insists to continue his education in order to improve his caste. 


These repeated insults and non payment of wages shows that even in an independent India with all provisions for upliftment of Dalits, the upper castes in society were stubbornly sticking to the caste system and hence, continued to exploit Dalits in each and every way possible. This reminds us that no provisions or one man’s generosity ( the author’s headmaster) could erase the daily life oppression and violence faced by Dalit community.

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