Avantika Sunderlal- Week 12

The Power of Poor People’s Laughter (The Flaming Feet and Other Essays- D.R Nagraj)

D.r Nagraj begins the chapter by stating"To the adage that man does not live by bread alone, a counter-adage was created; no man who can live without bread has been yet born." 

He continues by saying that poor are condemned to eternal begging and this chapter is a mere historical survey of positions taken by the authors imagination with regard to the poor. He compares several autobiographies of Dalit authors in order to give his analysis of how caste, colony, village, and individual personality combine to produce these grand narratives.

He attempts to make his readers aware that autobiographies are ideological creations: for example, he discusses a book called Marali Mannige. The theme of this novel dealt with the impoverished life of his people, however the author highlights that they are more than accounts of his life they are creative and include imagination despite being auto-biographies as Dalit literary sensibilities has yet to accept that element of auto-biographies are themselves, “the material of fiction.”

He goes on to explain Siddalingaiah’s autobiography-Ooru Keri. He explains the elements of poverty, rage and exploitation with respect to a Dalits life and says that a Dalit story sans poverty and caste humiliation would be un-true, however, triumphing over them in his imagination is true. He says that this work is different in comparison to other Dalit auto-biographies due to its unique style, the reason this book stands out so much also has to do with the fact that Siddalingaiah is a poet. He finds it particularly interesting as Siddalingaiahs pen has the power and creativity to turn wrath into mischief and anger into sarcasm. He discusses childhood and how it is re-created in this auto-biography and briefly talks about his small role towards Oori Keri.