Aastha - Week 5


Aastha Bhardwaj
Reflection Paper 5
March 3rd 2020
A Brief History of the Dalit Memoir

The article begins with an introduction to the stark reality by stating out the names that Dalits are called by, names that are reduce them down to being the ‘others’, a class of unimportant dirty individuals who come from dirt and are considered to be nothing more. The article then talks about the autobiography ‘Balut’ which was written originally in Marathi by Maruti Pawar. The article explains how these autobiographies written by Dalit writers are not just accounts of their lives but a look into the injustice that has been and that still is to the day inflicted upon an entire section of the Indian society.
While most of them being general observations, one of the main points that stands out is that even though the stories are harrowing, it is possible for these accounts to be positive as well, this positive aspect is not meant to however, take away from the ground reality of their challenging life struggles. The other notable claim or rather observation of the article is how Dalit literature and poetry came about, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as a counter to the Brahmin occupation of the literary and intellectual spaces in the society as another way of systematic oppression.

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