Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to write an introduction to this anthology

of Dalit literature, because I have been an active participant in all
the movements concerning the Dalits — literary as well as social,
cultural and political. I have witnessed the ups and downs in each of
these movements in the last two decades. I am proud to be one of
the voices raised on behalf of millions of exploited Dalits.
Dalit literature is marked by revolt and negativism, since it is
closely associated with the hopes for freedom of a group of people
who, as untouchables, are victims of social, economic and cultural
inequality.
There are numerous theories about the origin of Dalit literature.
Buddha (6th century BC), Chokhamela (14th century AD), Mahatma
Phule (1828-90) and Prof. S.M. Mate (1886-1957) are variously held
to be its originators. But these theories are too far-fetched. Although
it is true that these great men were deeply concerned about the plight
of the untouchables, history shows that it was Dr Ambedkar who was
the pioneer of Dalit literature.
It is no coincidence that the Dalit literary movement began in
Maharashtra, the birthplace of Dr Ambedkar’s movement. His
revolutionary ideas stirred into action all the Dalits of Maharashtra
and gave them a new self-respect. Dalit literature is nothing but the
literary expression of this awareness.
The term ‘Dalit literature’ can be traced to the first Dalit literary
conference in 1958, which passed a resolution defining the term.
However, this conference went almost unnoticed, thus proving
beyond doubt that the Dalit class was indeed neglected.
The sixties saw many new things happening in Marathi literature.
For the first time a poet — Narayan Surve — wrote about the
problems of workers. The Little Magazine movement also took root
and flourished in this decade. Marathi literature made its acquaintance
with the Angry Young Man.
In Dalit literature, Anna Bhau Sathe and Shankarrao Kharat were
xu Introduction

already established but the movement gained great momentum from

the short stories of Baburao Bagul. His collection of stories, JevhaMee
Jaat Chorli Hod (When I had Concealed my Caste) made such waves
in the Marathi literary world that some critics hailed it as the epic of
the Dalits while others compared it to the jazz music of the Blacks.
Bagul’s stories taught Dalit writers to give creative shape to their
experiences and feelings.
In the seventies, thinking Dalit critics began to theorize on Dalit
literature and its role. A number of young writers, full of a new
awareness, had started writing for periodicals like Asmitadarsha. The
poets Daya Pawar, Waman Nimbalkar, Tryambak Sapkale, Arjun
Dangle, Namdeo Dhasal, Umakant Randhir and J.V. Pawar and short
story writers Tarachandra Khandekar, Yogiraj Waghmare, Avinash
Dolas, Yogendra Meshram and Bhimrao Shirvale are a few who
developed during this period. For, on the one hand, Dr Ambedkar’s
vision of a Republican Party of India — which would represent his
political ideology — did not materialize. And, on the other hand, the
party by the name, which did exist, was fragmented and thus rendered
ineffectual.
But Dalit writers began to realize more and more that there was no
point in merely writing provocative poetry against injustice. The Dalit
writers had also become familiar with the Black movement and
literature in the USA. The result was that the youths Namdeo Dhasal,
Arjun Dangle and J.V. Pawar took the initiative and established the
political movement called the Dalit Panthers in Bombay in 1972. The
leaders of the Dalit Panthers were all writers. Thus a wave of writing
describing experience in provocative language swept Marathi
literature. This was probably the first time in India that creative
writers became politically active, and formed an organization.
Dalit literature is not simply literature. Although today, most Dalit
writers have forgotten its origins, Dalit literature is associated with a
movement to bring about change. It is a consciousness of these
beginnings that has guided me in the selection of the poems, short
stories, autobiographical extracts, essays and speeches included in this
anthology.
At the very first glance, it will be strongly evident that there is no
established critical theory or point of view behind them; instead, there
is new thinking and a new point of view. On reading the essays in the
collection it will be seen that even if Dalit and non-Dalit writers have
acknowledged the different nature of Dalit literature and justified it,
Introduction xtn

there is a minute but very sharp distinction between their two ways
of thinking. The agressiveness seen in the writing of Dr M.N.
Wankhade or Baburao Bagul is not to be seen in that of Prof. R.G.
Jadhav or Sharatchandra Muktibodh. Bagul and Wankhade make an
extremely frank analysis of society, religion and literature and throw
down a revolutionary gauntlet; Muktibodh and Prof. Jadhav
demonstrate that even while rebelling, one must not lose sight of
artistic awareness. Critical essays have been included which give a
clear idea of the theoretical base of Dalit literature, and the issues that
can arise out of it. Dr Janardan Waghmare’s essay has been included
to throw light on the similarity between the Black movement and
literature and the Dalit movement and its literature. All the essayists
have achieved recognition in Marathi society and literary criticism,
and are linked to the progressive movement.
All the stories and autobiographical extracts in this anthology have
been selected because they forcefully convey the ‘differentness’ of
Dalit literature. How deep a chasm there is between the prose of
mainstream Marathi literature and that of Dalit literature! We
immediately recognize that the language, experiences and heroes of
Dalit literature are totally different. In selecting stories, the quality of
writing has been the main criterion. Another has been the aim of
showing the material and psychological situation of the Dalits living
in urban slums, those living in rural areas, and those who have risen
to the middle class through special facilities for their caste. The heroes
of these stories are shown struggling for survival at their different
levels. They are shown confronting limitation, abject poverty, misery
and brutality. In the stories ‘Gold from the Grave’, ‘Mother’ and
‘Livelihood’ is depicted fierce battle for life in an urban slum, and a
world surviving beyond the pale of so-called ‘cultural values’. ‘The
Poisoned Bread’, ‘The Cull’, ‘The Refugee’, ‘Explosion’ and ‘The
Storeyed House’ demonstrate the position of the Dalits in rural
society, and their fight for existence. ‘The Storeyed House’ gives a
glimpse of how Dalits wishing to live honourably and with respect,
on terms of equality, are persecuted by higher castes. If this story
shows attitudes of caste superiority, then ‘Promotion’ reveals the
ambivalent crisis of identity in the Dalit middle class.
The Dalit autobiography is a literary form marked by a great
quantity of writing; however, its quality is equal to its quantity. The
journey from Shankarrao Kharat’s TaralAntaral (represented in this
anthology by ‘The Boneseller’ and ‘A Corpse in the Well’) to the
XIV Introduction

young writer Sharankumar Limbale’s ‘The Bastard’ is the whole saga

of Dalit social history. Taral Antaral is a narration dating from the
first generation of the Ambedkarite movement. Many references to
that movement are included in it.
In an autobiography like Athvaninche Pakshi (from which ‘This
Too shall Pass’ has been selected), we can see the wounded psyche of
a young boy from a backward area such as Marathwada; and in Baluta
(‘Son, Eat your Fill’ and ‘We are Kings!’ are the extracts selected) the
life-story of a young man from the village who has been brought to an
urban slum in the quest for employment. In Gabal (‘The Stragglers’
is the extract selected) we get a comprehensive idea of a traditional
occupation that has to be resorted to in the absence of any means of
making an honest living, and the treadmill of Dalit existence in the
present cultural, economic and social system is vividly conveyed.
Dalit women have participated actively in the Dalit movement.
Many autobiographies by Dalit women have been published.
Shantabai Ramble’s Majyajalmachi Chittarkatha (the extract here is
‘Naja goes to school — and Doesn’t’) and Kumud Pawde’s Antasphot
(extract here: ‘The Story of my Sanskrit’) are representative of these.
Shantabai Ramble’s is a struggle for identity and growth against a
rural background while that of Prof. Pawde is set in an urban,
educated ethos.
In The Bastard, a severe jolt is given to values concerning relations
between men and women, and the family structure.
In these autobiographies, relating to different periods of time and
set in different levels of society, we see varying facets of the Dalit
movement; the struggle for survival; the emotional universe of a
Dalit’s life; the man-woman relationship; an existence crushed under
the wheels of village life; the experiencing of humiliation and
atrocities; at times, abject submission, at other times, rebellion.
Dalit poetry is a flourishing form in Dalit literature. The entire
universe of Dalit feeling seems to have descended into poetic form.
Innumerable aspects of individual as well as social experience reveal
themselves. Although it is not possible to write about each individual
poem, if one decides to evaluate Dalit poetry in brief, one can say that
Dalit poetry is the impassioned voice of the third generation of the
Ambedkarite movement. It can be seen standing up against
subjugation, humiliation and atrocities; can be heard singing,
intoxicated, of the dawn of a new life.
There are hundreds of poets writing at present. Many poems are
Introduction xv

expressions of uncontrolled aggressiveness and breast-beating. Such

poems have been consciously excluded, and only those poems selected
which convey fundamental values and whose authors have been
consistently excellent. Although none of the poets is represented by
more than one poem, and hence the selection does not reveal each
poet’s full range, there is no doubt at all that it does display the entire
character of Dalit poetry.
I must thank all those who helped me in the preparation of this
anthology. I am also grateful to all the writers and their publishers for
their co-operation.

ARJUN DANGLE