MEG-13

Writings From the Margins

Indira Gandhi
National Open University
School of Humanities

Block

2
FICTION AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING
UNIT 1
Balbir Madhopuri: Changia Rukh: Against the Night-I 5
UNIT 2
Balbir Madhopuri: Changia Rukh: Against the Night-II 17
UNIT 3
Bama: Sangati-I 30
UNIT 4
Bama: Sangati-II 44
EXPERT COMMITTEE
Prof. Shyamla Narayan (Retired) Prof. Satyakam
Jamia Millia Islamia Director (SOH).

Dr. Anand Prakash (Retired) English Faculty, SOH

Delhi University Prof. Anju Sahgal Gupta
Prof. Neera Singh
Dr. Payal Nagpal Prof. Malati Mathur
Janki Devi College Prof. Nandini Sahu
Delhi University Dr. Pema E Samdup
Dr. Ivy Hansdak Ms. Mridula Rashmi Kindo
Jamia Millia Islamia Dr. Parmod Kumar
Dr. Malthy A.
Dr. Richa Bajaj
Hindu College
Delhi University

COURSE COORDINATION AND EDITING

Ms. Mridula Rashmi Kindo Dr. Anand Prakash
IGNOU, New Delhi Ms. Mridula Rashmi Kindo

COURSE PREPARATION
Dr. Richa Bajaj (Unit 1 & 2) Dr. Pratibha (Unit 3 & 4)
Hindu College, Government College Rewari
Delhi University Haryana

PRINT PRODUCTION
C. N. Pandey
Section Officer (Publication)
SOH, IGNOU, New Delhi

January, 2019
 Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-56-2
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BLOCK INTRODUCTION

Dear Students,
This Block will introduce you to two Dalit autobiographies Changia Rukh: Against
the Night by Balbir Madhopuri and Sangati by Bama.
Unit 1 places the text Changia Rukh: Against the Night in context. The unit also
introduces us to the Author Balbir Madhopuri, the significance of the metaphor of
the tree, the historical and the geographical details.
The Unit 2 discusses the difference between mainstream autobiography and dalit
autobiography. It explains the centre and margin divide and the oppression of dalit
communities before analysing the text Changia Rukh :Against the Night in detail.
The Unit 3 will familiarize you with Sangati the autobiography written by Bama.
The unit introduces you to Bama the dalit author followed by discussing the text
Sangati as an Autobiography.
In Unit 4 you will study in detail the role and significance of the Narrator and why
it is important to understand, tradition and cultural values that keep the practice of
subordination of dalits in place.
Fiction and Autobiographical
Writing

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 Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
UNIT 1 BALBIR MADHOPURI: CHANGIA Rukh: Against the Night-I

RUKH: AGAINST THE NIGHT- I

Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction: A Note on the Author
1.2 Significance of the Title of the Text
1.2.1 Metaphor of the Tree
1.3 What is it like ‘Being’ a Dalit?
1.4 Life of the Community
1.4.1 Significance of Geographical Details
1.4.2 Significance of Historical Details
1.5 The Narrator-Character Blend
1.6 Bildungsroman
1.6.1 Kunstlerroman
1.7 Let Us Sum Up
1.8 Glossary
1.9 Questions
1.10 Suggested Readings

1.0 OBJECTIVES
The discussion in this unit is to make you aware of the conditions of Dalits in
Punjab and also present the vibrant community of Dalit ‘Chamars’ to which the
writer belongs. You should be able to see the young boy in the narrator when he was
nine years old and distinguish him from the adult voice of the writer. In addition,
the objective of this write-up is to familiarize you with certain aesthetics forms
used in the autobiography that makes it significant as a literary piece. In this way
images and metaphors used by the writer would be useful as also a study of
Bildungsroman and Kunstlerroman. To begin the account let us first know a few
important details about the author.

1.1 INTRODUCTION: A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

Balbir Madhopuri was born in 1955 in the small village of Madhopur (Jalandhar),
Punjab. As a child and an adolescent, he worked with his family as an agricultural
labourer. However Madhopuri soon moved out of it and acquired a post graduate
degree in Punjabi. Becoming a civil servant with the government of India, Madhopuri
fulfilled his childhood dream with a spirit of perseverance, as he claims: “I thought
of my Bua’s son who was a government officer in Delhi…and also my mother’s
brother who was a district collector… should I remain uneducated? Should I continue
to do what the rest of my community was doing? Should I work and slave for others
so that they could live in luxury? No!” (105). One can see a clear defiance here and
the will to change one’s fortune. Changiya Rukh ( the first Punjabi Dalit
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Fiction and Autobiographical Autobiography translated into English) is a story of standing against odds and
Writing
changing one’s course of life. Madhopuri has taken up such issues in the book from
a historico-political angle.

Apart from this under focus, Madhopuri has also penned many poems included in
the collections—Maroothal da Birkh (Tree of the Desert, 1998) and Bhakhda Pataal
(The Inferno, 1992) and Meri Chonvi Kavita (My Selected Poems, 2011). His writing
primarily deals with issues affecting the oppressed classes. He has written a biography
of Baba Mangu Ram (founder of Ad Dharma movement) under the title Ad-Dharam
de Bani Ghadri Baba Mangu Ram, (2010). He has also translated several works
from English into Punjabi including Taslima Nasreen’s Lajja and Catherine
Clement’s Edwina and Nehru among others. Apart from being a poet, biographer
and translator, Balbir Madhopuri is also the editor of a monthly Panjabi magazine—
Yojana.

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE OF THE TEXT

Reader, I ask from you this question: How should we interpret the title Changiya
Rukh? The Punjabi term refers to a tree shaved off, devoid of leaves. It means “a
tree lopped from the top, slashed and dwarfed” (Introduction, xiii). All these and
related meanings add to the understanding of the title. The translator of the text has
tried to convey the sense of the term in interpreting ‘Changiya Rukh’ as “Against
the Night” since according to her it conveys “the helplessness and pain the author
endured, and the resistance he in turn put up against the many forces of the ‘night’
that tried to suppress him” (xii).Would you entirely agree with such a translation?
“Against the night” may work as a metaphor but it clearly loses out on an important
facet of the term ‘changiya rukh’ that in fact may suggest a tree pruned and beautified.
Pruning at one level is also doing violence to nature but at another level it is bettering
oneself constantly that also suggests growth. This aspect of pruning runs deep in
Madhopuri’s sensibility as the writer/poet culls out the image yet again in his
collection of poems, Bhakhda Pataal (The Inferno):
Many a time
I’m dwarfed
Like a tree cut at the top
Over whom passes the power line
I get pruned out of season
When in passing
Someone is curious to know what my caste is. (qtd. in Introduction, xxviii)

As you can see, the poet views himself as a tree “cut at the top”. However, the poet
claims that once cut and dwarfed it actually makes him better equipped to deal with
problems he confronts. Pruning is a positive metaphor while dwarfed is negative.
In these paradox newer meanings get generated which are somehow lost in the
translation “Against the Night”.

1.2.1 Metaphor of the Tree

Certainly, Madhopuri deploys the image of the tree time and again in Changiya
Rukh, particularly so in the chapter “The Banyan Tree of the Chamars” where the
narrator’s father (Bhaia) comments: “Just look at the way these trees cling to each
other, it is even difficult for the air to pass through! ... These two have embraced
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without word or thought. And, here is a man, who doesn’t want even another man Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-I
to come near him” (Changia Rukh:Against The Night 131). The animosity between
human beings is juxtaposed here with the close bond shared by trees.

We find that the Bargad tree in the text is an important reference point for the
narrator. It is situated on a land bought by the Dalits of the region. Thus it is a place
they can claim and call their own. As we are told in the text—”‘the sixteen marla
(484 square yards) of land under the bargad was bought by our community from
Kartar Singh of Neevan Vehra. The whole transaction was by word of mouth, and
no document was signed…Those days the law did not permit Churas and Chamars
to own land, or build houses, let alone for cultivation, even if they could pay’”
(Changia Rukh: Against The Night 134). This place in a way becomes a signifier of
Dalit identity—”members of other castes, such as Jats, Brahmins, carpenters, barbers,
kahars referred to the tree as the Bargad of the Chamars”. People from other castes
do not approve of the presence of the Bargad—”Many Jats would use expletives for
the tree” (Changia Rukh:Against The Night 134)—as it challenges their authority.
You may ask how that may be possible. The fact is that the Bargad is situated on a
land that belongs to the Dalits. This gives them freedom from the Jats who otherwise
exploit the dalits in every sphere of life. That the Dalits may roam about freely and
make use of the Bargad tree for livelihood as also relax under its shade and hold
festivities even as it may not go well with the Jats. The tree in this sense becomes
a threat to latter’s caste position. It is for this reason that the Bargad tree is hacked
to the ground. The narrator expresses his shock at the event—

And then came the day I had not even dreamed about. It was in February
1972, an unforgettable day. An unforgettable experience. My last term in
the tenth class was almost over. When I came home from school, I saw
that our banyan peepal trees had been cut down. The bruised and
massacred twin trees were an unbearable sight. Their long, thick branches
lay scattered on the ground. Jagar the chowkidar and his sons were cruelly
hacking and sawing away at the vast tree trunks. (Changia Rukh:Against
The Night p.146)

The “unbearable sight” of the “massacred” tree leaves a lasting impact on the narrator
and creates an emotional void in him. Clearly the resonance of this painful incident
can be found in the use the image of a hewn tree for the title of the book.

Look how Madhopuri uses the image of the bare tree cut from the top as a metaphor
for his community and self. Seen from this point of view, the tree could refer to the
Dalit or untouchable Indian who has been deprived of a healthy and fulfilling life—
it could refer to the Dalit whose potential for growth has been stubbed by entrenched
caste hierarchies of the Hindu order.
At the same time, ‘changiya rukh’ could suggest the sheer resilience of the tree and
its ability to come to life again by bringing forth fresh shoots of branches. From this
point of view, we see the injustice done to the tree or the dalits but primarily what
gets highlighted here is not the extent of violence but the ability of the people to
keep asserting themselves and fighting injustice.

1.3 WHAT IS IT LIKE ‘BEING’ A DALIT?

Let us try and understand the predicament of ‘being’ a Dalit in India. Why is the
term ‘being’ emphasized? Can you guess? ‘Being’ refers to the actual lived 7
Fiction and Autobiographical experience of an untouchable who suffers humiliation and social prejudice day in
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and out. In this situation, the peculiar sensibility of the subaltern (see glossary)
subject that is formed is his ‘being’. Madhopuri explains the phenomenon thus:
“There are nearly 170 million dalits in India. This means that one in every six
Indians is a dalit.” (xv). In theory, ‘untouchability’ was abolished at the time of
India’s Independence, and its practice in any form became a criminal offence—
”All such caste communities, numbering more than 750 at present, according to the
Anthropological Survey of India (ASI), came to be termed as ‘Scheduled Castes’
for the purpose of a variety of constitutional and legal protections and affirmative
action by the state”(xv). What was meant to be “protection” and “affirmative action”
turned into its opposite in social life as gradually the term ‘schedule caste’ became
in common speech of ordinary men and women a term of abuse. Thus:
Despite the abolition of untouchability six decades ago, the imposition of
a variety of social disabilities on persons, for reasons of their birth into
particular castes, remains a part of social reality in rural India. This social
exclusion affects not only their outward lives but also their inner worlds.
The practice of caste-based exclusion and discrimination was a plan to
block access not only to economic but also to civil, cultural, and political
rights, and has been rightly described as a ‘living mode exclusion’.”
(Changia Rukh:Against The Night p. xvi)
Interestingly, one finds that the economic sphere where the logic of the market
prevails provides job opportunities across varied castes: “A glance into an office, a
college, or a railway compartment will afford no signals about who belongs to what
caste, but within minutes of one’s arrival in an Indian village, the caste divisions
and labels will be quite stark”. This means that the cityscape where market forces
have taken over apparently blurs caste/provincial divisions as it provides a level
playing field to all who would not be distinguished from others in colleges and
offices on the basis of caste. But these differences become stark outside the economic
sphere. In the social world of the village, particularly the identities of people are
marked by their social position in the stratified system. Caste and provincial identities
define the area of work and influence. Extensive social and economic oppression
takes place at the broader level, we are told: “Four out of every five Dalits who live
in the villages of India are landless”. Agriculture has suffered in a big way in the
era of liberalization with deaths of farmers on the rise. It has been stated that “under
the impact of liberalization when there has been a retreat of the state from its
constitutional moral commitments, and when civil society, yielding to consumerism
and self-gratification, appears to make a mockery of public good, dalits continue to
feel deprived and apprehensive about the future” (xvi). Therefore, we find that
even as progress in industry and urbanization has provided the Dalits with an equal
opportunity to work with other castes and communities on an equal footing, the
liberalization of the economy has hit hard the deprived and marginalised sections
of the society as a whole.

1.4 LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY

Changiya Rukh is also a lively chronicle of people and events. We see the throbbing
life of the community in the pages where people participate in festivities as also
work collectively on fields and on looms. They hold opinions on things around
them and do not passively submit to fate. It is thus that the narrative is a living
account of the Dalit community in Punjab—their tradition and folklore as also the
8 common rhythms of daily life.
In this sense, you would find that it is not without reason that the text begins with a Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-I
local song sung in the community—”sim sim paniya/ qugi tihai aa… (Ooze o water,
ooze/the dove is thirsty)”. Indeed, the beginning also has several meanings. It
could well be seen as the urge in the writer to express as in “ooze” the story of his
life. To come back to the point of folklore and tradition you will note that there are
songs for each occasion in the text—on the onset of monsoon or digging a well or
on the occasion of marriage. The community thrives on such lyrics. Madhopuri
consciously deploys these in the text in the local dialect. The feel of the community
is what seems to be at the centre of the author’s concerns. At the same time, these
songs create a sense of emotional attachment which the narrator/author has with
the land and its people. It also strikes a chord with the reader as it draws the reader
into the life of the community. Thus the entire community comes alive through
these songs.

Madhopuri deploys the image of the Bargad tree as a symbol of the entire community
that was “full of life”. It is a place with “plenty of hustle and bustle.” The tree
becomes a seminal part of the community and helps in their sustenance—it is the
place of work where “families earned their livelihood through their looms” and
entire households were involved in the processs of weaving. Instantly you will find
that Bargad becomes a symbol of collectivity. This gets further corroborated in the
text when the narrator tells us that “Our Diwan (my uncle Diwan Chand) used to
recite Heer. He had a melodious voice. Half the village would assemble to hear
him”. You will note that the Bargad becomes a place of cultural activity for the
villagers as the narrator further says that “the blind sadhu Gharib Das, who used to
sing the ballads of Puran Bhagat, Kaulan,Tara Rani, and Dahood, under these trees
in summertime. He played the ektara with one hand and the Khartal with the other.
During the recitation, he would explain the story in great detail, and interpret it for
the audience”. (137)

The narrator remembers these details fondly and the impact it had on his growing
years. Consider that despite extreme situations of deprivation and humiliation, the
narrative is interspersed with moments of vital community life that give strength
and sustenance to its people. The narrator being one amongst them, he relishes
these moments as he states:

My young mind would immediately conjure up an image of the yellow

leaves of the bargad tree fluttering in the wind. I felt the warmth of
happiness engulfing me as I ran with the wind in my face. I could almost
hear the loudspeakers that were often hung on the branches of these twin
trees at weddings and various other celebrations. (Changia Rukh: Against
The Night p. 137)

1.4.1 Significance of Geographical Details

The geographical details provided by the narrator give authenticity to the narrative.
We are told that “actually Madhopur in district Jalandhar is one of the villages
located in the mand—the land where the river Beas once flowed” (1). It makes the
place described real and concrete. The details keep the reader close to the place and
events described—

This is what my birthplace is like… My village is not very big. It has a

population of about twelve hundred. Nor is it very old, only about 250
yeas old. According to records of 1914-15, its total area was 505 acres,
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Fiction and Autobiographical and it had twelve wells. The revenue paid was Rs. 885. At present its area
Writing
is more or less the same and the revenue is 1200 rupees. The common
land is 17 acres and this includes the lanes and ponds of the village.
(Changia Rukh: Against The Night p. 5)

Note how the past and present are interwoven in the narrative that we see how the
village looked like and the amount of revenue then and now. Madhopuri deliberates
on these details consciously.The reader never loses sight of a typical Indian village.
Imagination seldom takes over the real in Madhopuri’s fiction.

At the same time you will find that filth and squalor surround the locality that the
narrator terms ‘chamarli’ in the text. The two distinct living spaces of the village
(Pind) and the periphery inhabited by the untouchables (Chamarli) are sharply
marked in the narrative—the divided village has separate wells and cremation
grounds. Impoverished mud houses, filth-laden streets, lack of basic amenities in
the Chamarli delineate a grisly dark picture for the reader to see which often leaves
us shocked at the condition of the Dalits. The terrain itself signifies harsh
circumstances.

1.4.2 Significance of Historical Details

The text is replete with specific dates, constitutional Acts and historical instances
happening around the time the story unfolds. They do not have a direct connection
with the author’s world but become important indicators that remain somewhere
around the text. Note for instance:

During the hundred years of British rule in Punjab, the Punjab Land
revenue Act, 1887, remained in force, which prevented the untouchables
from buying land even when they had the money. And the common land,
the marusi, as it was called, which had been given to the low castes for
their hutments, could not be owned by them. (Changia Rukh: Against
The Night P.7)

Immediately the backdrop of injustice against the Dalit community gets built up at
the level of policy and decision-making in governance. Madhopuri dwells on the
issue further by charting a kind of history of such unjust policies. He laments:

Those enslaved by the British attained their freedom in 1947. They were
given many different rights, but Rajatnama ( Chaudharyhaqrajatnama),
the law under jagirdari settlement which maintained the system of sardars
and chaudharys, remained as it was, even though the Constitution of India
came into force on 26 January1950. After a long drawn out struggle to
create awareness, the right of marusi was abrogated in 1957. The Kameens
were granted the right to own their lands. The ‘haq rajatnama’ ultimately
came to an end, thus terminating the ancient right to force dalits to work
in return for this land. The Punjab Land Revenue Act (Intiqale Arazi Act),
1887, which prevented dalits from buying land had already lapsed, and
the scheduled castes now had the right to buy and sell land. (Changia
Rukh: Against The Night p. 9)

In this description, you will notice that constitutional rights attained by the Dalits in
the years following Independence became a source of empowerment. The important
turn of events stressed above by the author gave the community legal rights. However,
10 we note in the course of the narrative that legal political empowerment didn’t lead
to a social one as exclusion and injustice still prevailed against the Dalit community. Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-I
Madhopuri talks about both events—the revolutionary step of inclusion in the
Constitution and the prejudice running deep in the country’s social fabric. He refers
to an event and its symbolic significance—

A family from our community had bought land before 1947 in the name
of a Jat as they could not buy it in their name; the land was later transferred
to this dalit family by the Jat. This event became a symbol of change and
revolution in our society. An awareness for freedom was spreading. The
constitution gave equal rights to all citizens and the ‘untouchables’
traversed the road from Harijans to Scheduled Castes. But the attitude
and social behavior of the higher castes towards dalits have not changed
as much as they should have in this scientific age. Many laws were not
implemented properly and, thus, the purpose for which they were made
was not achieved. (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p .10)

Madhopuri has explained here the several problems involved in attaining equality.
He in fact offers measures and a way of life that could bring about the desired
change—”all sections of society need to make a concerted effort, courageously and
enthusiastically, to bring about social change. The need of the hour is a rational
philosophy” (Changia Rukh: Against The Night 10).

1.5 THE NARRATOR-CHARACTER BLEND

The second chapter titled “Inscriptions on a tender mind” captures the sensibility of
the young boy who would become the author. We constantly see flashes in the
mature writer who would write the narrative. From this chapter onwards the narrator
moves from general descriptions he gave in the first chapter to specific life details
of people. The chapter projects impressions created by events on the sensitive young
boy Gudd (the narrator) in his formative years. It is about experiences he cannot
analyse or understand but senses the hatred other sections of society particularly
the upper castes had for his community. A kind of trauma became a part of the early
period of the narrator where he could not rationalize nor accept injustice as a way
of life. As we see the author at the beginning of the chapter writes a kind of
disclaimer—” I should make it clear right at the beginning of my autobiography
that the community into which I was born, did not arrange to have their horoscopes
cast, nor believe that their lives would change for better by the giving of alms…And
I was the first in line of many generations who had the opportunity to learn how to
read and write” (11). The fact that the author is first in line to receive education
amongst the many older generations of Dalits shows the condition of Dalits in
India. This in itself point towards the responsibility he feels towards his community.
He takes upon himself to write about the pain they have been undergoing since
centuries.

The narrator shares a peculiar bond with his father he calls Bhaia. More often than
not he becomes the target of his anger and resentment. But he learns the never-say-
die spirit from his father. He doesn’t share the aggressiveness of his father nor the
habit of losing his temper but he is always moved by the suffering and struggle of
his father who wades through a sea of troubles to sustain his family. Take a look at
an instance from the text to understand the uneasiness of the narrator:

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Fiction and Autobiographical Whenever he lost his temper on such occasions, I bore the agony of his
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anger. His advice struck home, but I could not understand why I should be
the only one to be scolded. Whenever I listened to him, I felt that he and
all the low castes were one, and were bound to each other by a deep bond
of empathy, desperately trying to improve their lives. Wounded and
bleeding by the thorns that lifted the path they were travelling on, they
were yet determined to go on, though they did not know how long they
would have to travel and how far they might have to go. (Changia
Rukh:Against The Night p 68)

Do you not notice that the narrator here has created a relative distance between
himself and the people of his community? He is looking at them from an objective
view of an observer. His remarks— “[they] were bound to each other by a deep
bond of empathy” are product of a contemplative and evaluative mind. The narrator
also understands that this resentment directed at him is actually misplaced, for the
father is unable to change his circumstance and lashes out at his sons.

You should have also observed that the statement, “Wounded and bleeding by the
thorns that lifted the path they were travelling on, they were yet determined to go
on, though they did not know how long thy would have to travel and how far they
might have to go” are highly evocative and poetic in nature. What we read here are
expressions of a creative mind formulating life’s experiences.

1.6 BILDUNGSROMAN
The journey of the writer from childhood to maturity and his movement into a kind
of wisdom is what Changia Rukh charts. Madhopuri expresses the fear and
insecurities he faced as a child in his formative years. You will be able to see the
workings of a child’s mind in passages such as the following:

The silence of the early hours of the winter morning would be shattered
by the high tone of Gurudas Singh of the nambardars, who would go about
reciting ‘Jai Ali, Jai Ali’. Even in the cosy warmth of my bed, I would
shiver and cling to my elder brother, Birju, sleeping by my side, and send
up a prayer to the unseen god with fear in my heart. Many a time, sleep
would descend only at the break of dawn. (Changia Rukh: Against The
Night p 16)

As a young boy the narrator is full of curiosity and the spirit to question everything
around him as is suggested in –”If the pir’s grave does not exist anymore, then
where does he live, and how does he speak? The one who frightens people at night,
of whom is he frightened during the day? These thoughts assailed me.” (17). The
narrator understands little of his surroundings but observes the details. At the same
time we witness the desire he nurtures as a young boy—”My heart wilted like the
plant. A storm had blown away the flowers of my desire. Even so, I thought, we too
should have a tree in our courtyard, so that the sparrows, doves, and parrots may
come to perch and bicker on the branches”. (13) The innocent pleasures derived by
the young boy are peculiar to the early days of Madhopuri’s life in the village.
However these are often overshadowed by the agony and hardships he faced. We
find the young narrator always running errands for others. For instance:

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 I was taken aback by the word ‘enjoy’! A procession of the various chores Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-I
that were my daily lot passed before my eyes. I saw myself carrying buckets
of garbage to a corner of the village, collecting dry leaves, sugarcane
skins, and twigs to light fires, taking lassi or tea for my father and his
friends while they worked in the fields, feeding the animals. (Changia
Rukh: Against The Night p 47)

This is far from an enjoyable experience. Unlike boys from upper caste the young
boy Balbir has to work tirelessly for the subsistence of the family, as he claims in
the text:

The school vacations had come with a load of trouble for me. Troubles do come at
a strange time! A blistering sun over one’s head and feet immersed in warm water
the whole day long!

Many of my classmates were away visiting their uncles and aunts! But here was I
waging a continuous battle against deprivation and poverty! The thought brought
tears to my eyes. (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p 104)

We note that not only does the narrator help the family in its various chores but is
also made to work for others. Consider the instance when the narrator and his friend
are asked by their teacher in school to “go home and cut some fodder and chop it
up…Go quickly! The buffaloes must be hungry and bellowing away. Wash them
also” (Changia Rukh: Against The Night 69). At this point in the text the narrator is
almost nine years old. It is ironical that the teacher in the school, too, views the
young boys from the Dalit community not as students but as free labourers and
leaves no opportunity to exploit them. Again, there is a sense of irony and pathos in
the lines “handing our school bags to our classmates we set off for Master Sodhi’s
home”. Thus in school, too, they are denied education and are sent on frivolous
errands. The boys, young as they may be to understand the complexity of casteism,
are quick to observe, “He sends us every third day, but he never tells the Jat boys
that they should fetch and chop the fodder for his animals” (69). In their resentment
the young boys reveal: “I want to tell both Bhaiya and Taya that Sodhi should teach
us also. We are made to sweep the school in the morning and then we are sent to
tend animals!” (70). This explains how caste in India has left no area of life
untouched. Its tentacles cover every social institution and practice.

Further, the narrator shares in the text the embarrassment he feels as a child especially
vis-à-vis fellow classmates when he has to carry scum: “I was ashamed of being
seen carrying the scum, which was called maila or ‘sludge’. I would yearn to fly
home and not be seen by anyone as I trudged home. On the way, if I happened to
meet a classmate, I would turn my face the other way and move as fast as possible.”
(80). These moments remain rooted in his sensibility. At the same time the narrator
nurtures dreams of a better life—”watching all this I would decide that when I grew
up, I would buy land and have orchards of bananas, mangoes, and grow roses near
the well, the way many of the jats did” (34).

The reader observes that influences that shaped the writer’s mind leave him a more
confident person but before this stage the intermittent phase of leaving everything
behind all old acquaintances takes him to the turning point when “the love of my
companionships, their wise guidance and comradeship seemed to be slipping away
from me, and I felt bereft and crippled, the way a soldier is when he is injured and
stands disabled at his post” (188). This point of detachment from the familiar is
13
Fiction and Autobiographical important under the framework of bildungsroman where the writer leaves behind
Writing
the comfort zone of his friends and family to start a new life, so to speak, carrying
along the impact of past happenings and relationships. Under the framework of
Bildungsroman, the experience of breaking away from the past is tortuous for the
central characters. “I felt bereft” suggests that evolutionary framework is necessary
for the onward growth of the persona.

1.6.1 Kunstlerroman
At another level the text (if viewed as a literary narrative) can be interpreted as a
Kunstlerroman (see glossary) in the sense that it charts the journey of an artist. We
see how the young boy Gudd, whose “mind immediately started spinning a web”
about what he observed, turns him into a writer and poet. “Travelling on the bus to
my village,” writes Madhopuri, I decided to use my writing to fight all these elements,
which were subverting peace and the pluralist social fabric.” (188) We see him
being influenced by literature from across the world. For instance, he is greatly
moved by Maxim Gorky’s Mother and notes “Nikolai Ostrovsky’s novel, which
had been translated into Punjabi under the title Kabhu No Chaadon Khet (Never
Shall I Retreat) by Dr Karanjeet Singh. This autobiographical novel gave me
immense inspiration”(183). Writings such as these give the poet/writer hope to
realize his own dreams. These take him in the direction of rationality and awareness,
as Madhopuri states:

I thought of the superstitious restrictions on intellectual development and

freedom, justification of caste on the basis of rebirth and transmigration
of souls which prevailed in our society under the garb of religion and
spiritualism. I would wonder who would come forward to challenge it.
The train of my thought would finally focus on Dr. Ambedkar and
Ramaswami Naicker Periyar. (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p 182)

Such writers and thinkers leave an impact on Madhopuri and become a source of
inspiration. Writing in this sense becomes a form of self-expression as also a tool in
the hands of the writer that he would use against the undesirable and irrational
elements in society. Writing thus becomes a political act on the part of the writer as
he counters negative tendencies taking hold of society. Literature is certainly a
medium of expression of personal feelings as Madhopuri claims in the text—”After
months, my emotions and feelings took the form of poetry” (186) but these are not
separate from the feelings of the time (see glossary) in which the writer is placed.
Madhopuri in the above quote also suggests that a literary writer has a social function.
When he claims, “I decided to use my writing to fight all these elements,” he is
conscious of the role a writer must play in society—it is not limited to entertaining
people appealing to their aesthetic sensibility but to contribute to the process of
social advancement. Note how poetic sensibility and ideological commitment
combine in Madhopuri’s writing:

The pendulum of my thoughts at once began to swing to begaari,

untouchability, the question of high and low, and jammed there, precisely
in the manner the gramophone needle had on the record ‘lak hille mijazan
jaundi de’ (the beauty’s hips sway, as she passes by) at the words ‘lak
hille’ (hips sway)! As I came out of my thoughts, I felt that if the needle
could jam on a new record, then it was quite natural for me to think of
these things time and again. Daadi, Bhaiya, Taya, and the whole community
talks about them every day. It dawned on me that I also had to work hard
14
 to get rid of this invisible, yet heavy burden. I realized that one has to Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-I
push the needle forward to initiate new ideas and to inculcate a new
ideology. (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p 43)

As a writer with politics inherent in his attitude, Madhopuri takes upon himself to
intitiate new ideas through writing. The chapter titled ‘Literature and politics’ projects
the various influences on the writer’s life, which helped him shape his sensibility
and ideas.

1.7 LET US SUM UP

Changiya Rukh projects the humiliation and poverty of the Dalit community in the
Punjab region. It speaks of the injustices meted out to the people of the low-caste
who are unable to move out of the vicious circle of caste-bias and deprivation.
However the narrator is able to carve out a separate existence for himself. The
narrator’s growth and intellectual development constitute an important aspect of
the text. It is this twin aspect of suffering and heroism that gets reflected in the title
as well. We also see the progress graph of a sensitive poet who responds to society’s
ills through his writing. Writing for him is participating in the process of constructive
change.

1.8 GLOSSARY
Feelings of the Time : distinctly refers to the general mood of a set of people
at a given time in history. Raymond Williams has
coined the usage ‘structures of feeling’ that are specific
to an era and to a people.

Kunstlerroman : the German term refers to a novel that has an artist (in
any creative field) as the central character and shows
the development of that artist from childhood to
maturity. ‘Kunstler’ means artist in German and
‘roman,’ like in Bildungsroman, refers to novel. For
further reading refer to J.A. Cudden’s Dictionary of
Literary terms and Literary Theory.

Subaltern : the term has gained currency specifically in the last

few decades with journals such as Subaltern Studies.
Subaltern refers to marginalised groups in society.

1.9 QUESTIONS
1) How would you interpret the title Changiya Rukh? Do you agree with the
English translation of the title ‘Against the Night’? Give reasons.
2) What is the significance of folksongs in Changiya Rukh? What does it tell us
about the community of the writer?
3) Why does Madhopuri feel compelled in the text to give a sense of history of his
region and people?
4) Is the space occupied by the Dalits in the text equally important in the writer’s
scheme of things?
15
Fiction and Autobiographical 5) Chart the growth of the narrator from a young boy of nine to a gazetted officer.
Writing
6) How does the narrator view his own community? Is he passionate and
temperamental or distanced and objective in narrating events in the text? Give
reasons.
7) Make a note of instances in the text where you can trace a poet-in-the-making
in the narrator.
Notes: In Om Prakash Valmiki’s Jhoothan we find a resonance of the present
happenings. The narrator’s father in a rather climactic moment fights with
school authorities for making his son sweep the school. A passage from the
text would afford a better understanding, note:
I was hiccupping by now. In between my hiccups, I told the whole story to
my father: that the teachers had been making me sweep for the last three
days, that they did not let me enter the classroom at all. Pitaji snatched the
broom from my hand and threw it away. His eyes were blazing.

Pitaji who was always taut as a bowstring in front of others was so angry
that his dense moustache was fluttering. He began to scream, ‘Who is that
teacher, that progeny of Dronacharya, who forces my son to sweep?’(5-6)

1.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

Bhatti, Michon H. S., and Daniel M. “Folk Practices in Punjab” Journal of Punjab
Studies, vol.11, no.2, 2004.
Bhushan, Ravi. “Balbir Madhopuri’s Changiya Rukh: A Critique of Dalit Identity
and Politics”. Language in India, vol. 11, no.3, 2011.
Garg, Mridula. “In Search of Form”. The Hindu. July 31, 2010. http://
www.thehindu.com/books/In-search-of-form/article16217063.ece
Judge, Paramjit Singh, “Dalit Culture and Identity: Valorisation and Reconstruction
of Tradition among the Chamars in Punjab”, EPW, vol. 50, no. 34, Aug. 2015.
—”Recent Caste Clash in Talhan in Punjab”, Dalit International Newsletter, vol. 9,
no.1 Februrary 2004.
Panikkar, K.N. “Tradition, Innovation and Identity: Religion and Caste in Colonial
India”, History as a Site of Struggle. Gurgaon: Three Essays Collective, 2013.

16
 Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
UNIT 2 BALBIR MADHOPURI: CHANGIA Rukh: Against the Night-I

RUKH: AGAINST THE NIGHT-II

Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Dalit Autobiographies
2.1.1 Centre-Margin Divide
2.1.2 Writing an Alternative History
2.2 Oppression of Dalit Communities
2.3 State Hierarchy and Exploitation
2.4 The Question of land
2.5 Role of Religion
2.5.1 Dissociating Oneself from the Hindus
2.5.2 Establishing a New Religion of their Own—Ad Dharm
2.6 Education and Modernity
2.6.1 Importance of Education Among the Dalits
2.6.2 Caste Prejudice in Modern/Urban India
2.7 Women Characters in the Text
2.8 Let Us Sum Up
2.9 Glossary
2.10 Questions
2.11 Suggested Readings

2.0 OBJECTIVES
In this Unit you should be able to identify the difference between a mainstream
autobiography and a Dalit autobiography. By understanding the peripheral space
occupied by a Dalit writer and the purpose of writing you would be able to see that
polemics and Dalit narrative are inextricably linked. Changiya Rukh projects the
specific predicament of Dalits with Hindu religion working to their detriment;
landowning Jats pushing them into grinding poverty and filth-and-squalor-laden
surroundings jeopardizing dignity of life for them along with suffering caste-
branding. You will note in the discussion that Dalits earnestly yearn for economic
independence. Acquiring land thus remains a crucial aspect in Dalit imagination as
they dream of possessing land and leading a life of self-sufficiency.

2.1 DALIT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

2.1.1 Centre-margin Divide
How are Dalit autobiographies any different from other autobiographies that we
come across on bookshelves? To begin with let’s understand that mainstream
autobiographies are about eminent figures of national interest. As readers we wish
to know about lives of great people who made a distinct mark in their fields. We
wish to draw inspiration from their lives to achieve our goals. Dalit autobiographies
17
Fiction and Autobiographical are different. They in fact challenge mainstream politics of people considered
Writing
historically important. Thus, one may agree that Dalit autobiographers are no national
heroes; they are rather ordinary people who have suffered, failed only to rise again.
There is no romanticization of the self—the kind largely found in mainstream
autobiography—even as in highlighting the ordeals of the community the writer
might indulge in self-pity. In any case the language of Dalit autobiographies may
not be flowery and aesthetically appealing; it is often crude and abusive, for “it is
incongruous to expect from them even a semi-entertainment work because they
failed in every aspect of life. Valmiki says, ‘It is impossible to represent the never
ending torments of dalit life in mellifluous poetic stanzas’ (Valmiki, Saundarya
Shastra, 61)”. Thus the purpose of a Dalit autobiographer is not to delight or amuse
the reader rather to etch in words painful life experiences of a community.

2.1.2 Writing an Alternative History

In Changiya Rukh Madhopuri provides a sense of history of his region. In the author’s
note to the text he writes: “As I unraveled myself and held conversations with
myself I found I was writing the autobiography of my community. It was no longer
just my story” (ix). In fact Madhopuri seems to be writing a history of the times and
of his community one that works as an alternate history as against the mainstream
one. This act of documenting the lives of people who have miserably suffered at the
hands of caste bias is a part of the larger politics of a Dalit writer in contemporary
India. Note how in the text Madhopuri evokes the figure of “one such courageous
and valiant Punjabi” who has seldom been heard of as a fighter of the freedom
struggle and one who worked for Dalit liberation, “he was Ghadddari Baba alias
Babu Mangu Ram” (8). Such heroic figures find central place in the narrative of
Madhopuri as against those who talk of freedom from British but believe in keeping
an entire group enslaved to their needs. He calls it the hypocrisy of the freedom
movement.

At one level the text projects a history of Dalit life—their fears and aspirations—
and at another level it presents a view of life in the Punjab region—the turmoil
people faced at moments of natural hazards as also at a time of political crisis. In
this sense Madhopuri writes of the Dalit community but also brings forth the
problems faced by the people of Punjab as a collectivity. When presenting the case
of Punjab he is able to talk both as an insider and outsider. When I say ‘insider’ I
mean he belongs to the region and understands its pulse so to speak. It is the place
that has shaped his personality his way of thinking and is thus an integral part of his
being. As an ‘outsider’ Madhopuri is able to look at his people and their problems
from a distance. This happens only when Madopuri moves out of his village and
stays in Delhi to pursue further studies. In this period Madhopuri can see a sharp
difference between the Punjab he grew up in and the one he has returned to after
moving to Delhi. Chapter 17 ‘Departure for Delhi’ opens on this note—

In the last five or six years, the situation in this land of five rivers had
deteriorated sharply. It had changed its hues like the politicians of the
region. Men seemed to have turned into monsters and were doing their
best to control even nature (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p. 184)

Madhopuri continues to narrate the story of terror that had enveloped his village in
the 1980s when voices of unrest and separation where being heard for the creation
of Khalistan. Note for instance—

18
 This harvest of hate was nurtured and the waters of provocation flowed Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-II
powerfully. Those who had supported it were now confident of achieving
their goal. Those who killed and raped cruelly and with impunity, now
claimed to be pure and virtuous. Aliens seemed to be in control and voices
of alienation and separation were being heard. Missiles full of venom of
antipathy and enmity were fired from sacred places of worship. Walls of
differences were being raised within homes. (Changiya Rukh: Against
The Night 184)

There is a sense of loss experienced by the narrator who is trying to come to terms
with the new reality of his native place that is no more free and innocent. Comparing
the free simple ways of birds with the lives of human beings Madhopuri goes on to
compare his past—a free childhood unknown to external fears and terror—with the
present. He expresses it thus—”As I watched, birds flew freely in the open blue
skies in the moments of leisure.” The narrator bemoans the fact that human beings
create fissures in society while the natural world and birds “indifferent to boundaries
and borders, they treated the whole earth as one and claimed it as their own” (184).

2.2 OPPRESSION OF DALIT COMMUNITIES

Changiya Rukh charts out a gruesome history of Dalit oppression and humiliation
by the upper caste Jats. The author tells us:

If a low-caste boy were to come out on the lanes of the village, all bathed
and dressed in new clothes, his hair combed, one or the other of the Jats
sitting under the trees would get up and throw mud on him. If he protested,
he was sure to be beaten up. If an untouchable appeared in the village
dressed in new clothes, he was certain to be given a beating on the pretext
that the low castes were trying to become the equals of the higher castes;
no one knew or could predict when such an incident would occur and
where.(Changia Rukh p. 4)

You would have noticed how the upper caste Jats could not bear to see a low caste
dress up clean. They would not have an untouchable lead a life of dignity because
that would entail equality with the rest of them. This kind of social injustice is
starkly presented in Changia Rukh as the deep-rooted prejudice of the upper caste
and their fierce hatred of the low-caste becomes all too evident. Ironically the upper-
caste cannot do without the group they intensely hate, for this group does the menial
jobs for them—the Jhiwar (water carrier) caste people would bring pots full of
water for the upper caste household—”I would often go to Ratta Brahmin’s shop
which was in the central lane of the village, early in the morning and see Khichi and
Pashu, of the water-carrier caste, fetching water for the Jat and Brahmin families.
Each carried a large earthen pot on his right shoulders with a smaller pot on top,
very skillfully balanced on the neck. Though young, both were out of breath and
had backs bent like old men” (15). That children of the Jhiwar caste at a young age
should have their backs bent like old men is a form of acute cruelty. The question
you need to ask is—whether the upper caste Brahmins and Jats can do without the
services of such people who do their necessary menial work. Can they manage their
everyday life smoothly without them? If not, then they are dependent on this section
of society. In this case should they not feel obliged to this group? Contrarily we find
in the text that far from being appreciative of the work done by the low-caste people,
the upper caste group exploits and detests them.In fact they treat them like scum of
19
Fiction and Autobiographical the earth and wouldn’t come close to them because they are untouchables—”‘Give
Writing
these Chamar brats a shout and drive them off’ the Jat bhai of the gurudwara would
say to whosoever stood near him on the occasion of Sangrand… ‘You can’t control
this litter. I myself will drive them away, the mother’s—’and he would jump up
mouthing an obscenity, which we all completed in our minds” (11).The low caste
children are spoken of as “litter” by the Jat bhai at the gurudwara that tells us of the
status given to the Dalit community.

The narrator expresses his despair in the chapter ‘The tale of the Cracked Mirror’
thus:

Defilement—I had confronted this word time and again, the way the rope
in our well had frayed by constant rubbing against the wall. My thoughts
would suddenly grow wings like the ones insects sprouted during the rains.
I would think of the care the zamindars took of their animals—scrubbbing
and bathing, and tending them tenderly. Their dogs roamed freely in the
courtyard and even entered the kitchen. Their children petted the cat all
the time, feeding the kitten milk and…and… Bhaia and others like him
have to carry their own tumblers and bowls from home, work hard for
them the whole day, and still their animals are treated better than we human
beings! (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p. 33-34)

The sharp contrast between the haves and have-nots is blatant in the narrative. The
complete subjugation of the dalits and their dehumanization (see glossary) is all too
evident in the above quote. The word ‘defilement’ (see glossary) rings in a sharp
bell in the narrator’s mind. It fixes an identity on him of belonging to the caste of
the ‘polluted’ lot.

2.3 STATE HIERARCHY AND EXPLOITATION

Madhopuri in the text also brings to our notice the way state authorities misuse
their power and take full advantage of caste schisms in society. He narrates the kind
of oppression meted out to the Dalits by state dignitaries thus:

All the villagers were afraid of the zaildar, jagirdar, safedposh and
nambardar. A zaildar had many villages under him. He presided over a
court and passed judgements. He enjoyed judicial powers. One had to
comply with his decisions and pay fines etc. judgments were delivered
after considering all the circumstances. It was said that a zaildar was
forgiven five to seven murders by the government and people did not have
the courage to look him in the eye. The treatment meted out to the lower
caste specially untouchables was oppressive and terrifying. The zaildar
compelled them to do begaar in his field and on his construction sites. If
there was no such work available, then he got them to dig up the fields and
throw the mud excavated in this way outside the village. This meant that
he did not the days fixed for forced labour. One can still see small mounds
of earth outside the villages(Changia Rukht: Against The Night p. 4-5)

As witnessed above, unscruplous power in the hands of state officials becomes a

deadly form of oppression. In fact it mocks the democratic institutions that were
formed in India with the view of establishing equality and justice, that a “zailard
was forgiven five to seven murders by the government” is a case in point. Nobody
20
we are told had “the courage to look him in the eye” as the zaildar ruled the village Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-II
as a dictator. The treatment meted out the untouchables is “terrifying” in that Dalits
were forced to work on the zaildar’s field and construction sites as part of begaar(see
glossary). The upper class/caste could not see them idle or enjoying. They made
Dalits excavate mud outside the village unnecessarily when there was no other
work to be done.

You will see that it isn’t just the zaildar who exhibits power and exploits the lot,
others too join in to exploit Dalit workers. Madhopuri tells us:

“A jagirdar maintained fifteen to thirty horses and was rewarded with

land by the British for his role in suppressing any attempt at rebellion by
the people. He also compelled the untouchables to work free of charge for
him, and often the only return they got were blows. He saw to it that they
did not rise against him”. (Changia Rukh:Against The Night p. 5)

The hierarchical order is shown to be on the whole oppressive for the Dalits. You
will thus find in the text that untouchables are at the receiving end of the system but
so are others fighting with poverty. In their struggle to survive the poor stand together
as a unit. However these groups often distrust one another. Thus the fight becomes
weak and the issue becomes complex. You’ll see that while the narrator is enamored
of the various movements working for creating conditions of equality, his father
whom he calls Bhaia in the text is suspicious of the people who lead it. There is
also an instance towards the end of the text when a poor man takes food from the
narrator owing to grave poverty but reacts sharply on learning he is a ‘chamar’.
Disgusted the man wishes to wash his mouth clean. The incident reflects the deeply
entrenched caste-biased society we live in as it negates essential humanism (see
glossary). The narrator witnessing this situation understands how the poor remain
divided owing to casteism even when they fight a common battle against injustice
and deprivation.

2.4 THE QUESTION OF LAND

Interestingly owning a piece of land is the deepest desire of Narrator’s father and
finally the narrator earnestly aspires to own a house in Delhi. Owning land in the
village is a mark of power and prestige as also a way gaining freedom from slavery
of the landowner who is also the upper caste. Both caste hierarchy and ownership
of resources coalesce in the text as the jats maintain supremacy over the Dalits on
both counts. What is the reaction of the Dalit community to this subjugation? You
will see that the narrator’s father constantly asserts had they a piece of land, they
would have nothing to do with the jats. But this would not go well with the upper
caste. The narrator tells us, untouchables in the pre-independence period were not
allowed to possess or buy land. In post- independence phase he claims even when
the law allows them to buy land they are unable to move out of the clutches of
poverty and can’t buy land. They remain dependent on the landlords, which
immensely suits the latter. They are given poor wages for working on the fields of
the Jats—”They all dole out a bare handful to you after you’ve worked hard the
whole day! It is not even sufficient to subsist on!” (68). Thus it is a vicious circle
the members of the Dalit community find themselves caught in. Let’s look at a
passage from the text to understand this predicament better:

21
Fiction and Autobiographical As I recalled the sarcastic comment, another thought occurred to me and
Writing
my father’s dark visage flashed before my eyes. It was not my imagination
but a reality. When I reached home, Bhaia tried to advise me, “The athletes
have twisted around and hurt themselves, but these zamindars have not
given them even a word of praise! They say that the low castes must
entertain and serve them! I say this stigma of low and high will never end
in this country without a violent struggle. If only we had a few acres of
land, then we would have not bothered about these mean zamindars! You
see for yourself how much they hate us! But one has to tolerate many
things to survive. What else can one do? We can only fret and fume about
all this! (Changia Rukh: Against The Night p 68)

It is clear that “if only” the Dalits “had a few acres of land” they “would not have
bothered about these mean zamindar”. They would have carried on with their lives
in self-sufficiency. The simmering anger of the father cannot find a way out of the
situation. There is a note of helplessness in the father’s statement—”What else can
one do? We can only fret and fume about all this”.

If you recall an incident in the text when the narrator is describing sharp turn of
events in Punjab with the call from certain extremist quarters for the creation of
Khalistan you will find how worryingly the upper caste is dependent on the Dalits.
Relating this incident, the narrator expresses his anguish thus:

…During this phase of terrorism in which brother was killing brother,

another incident disturbed me a great deal. One of our relatives informed
us, ‘The Sardarni I work for as a sweeper had one day happily told me,
“Sister, Khalistan is about to be created. That would be great. The Hindus
will all leave, and you people will live with us in Khalistan!” (Changia
Rukh: Against The Night)

Why would the Sardarni wish that low caste people stayed with them in the newly
created place when there is general animosity between the two groups? Opening up
the question of land again the narrator’s relative inquires “Sardarni it would be
great for you, but will we also get some land? Then again, why are you insisting
that we should stay here with you in Khalistan? For us Hindus and the Sikhs are the
same”. On hearing this the Sardarni replies and this is what reveals the true nature
of the relationship between the two groups. She claims “We like you, that is why I
am telling you! Who will clean and sweep for us in Khalistan?” Certainly to live in
a place without sweepers and cleaners would be nightmare for the upper caste.
Immediately the narrator here draws a parallel between the present call for Khalistan
and 1947, the emergence of Pakistan, by noting:

I thought of Jinnah and what he said at a meeting about this problem of

the untouchables at the time of Partition. He said that the untouchable
population should be divided into two. It was much later that I
comprehended the meaning of what he had said. (Changia Rukh: Against
The Night p 182)

The hypocrisy of the system and the leaders involved is exposed here. It is true that
for Dalits, Hindus and Sikhs are the same as they equally exploit them and wish
them to remain their slaves and serve them throughout their life.

22
 Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
2.5 ROLE OF RELIGION Rukh: Against the Night-II

2.5.1 Dissociating Oneself From the Hindus

There is a sense of skepticism vis-à-vis religion running through the text among the
Dalits as they realize how religion especially the Hindu religion is used by the
upper caste to keep them in poverty. As the narrator’s father claims in the text “‘No
one has the time to listen to our plea that this caste system was not ordained by god,
but has been made by man for his selfish motives’”(101) and later “‘They all say it
is the will of god…Saala…this God is a complete fraud! If he does exist then why
doesn’t he heed our prayers? We are better off without the help of this oppressor!’
Bhaiya stated his judgement clearly and passionately” (102).

In fact the narrator in the text too desperately wishes to abdicate his name as the
‘Chand’ in ‘Balbir Chand’ had Hindu resonance. He states:

The question of my name assumed great significance when the matter of

my poem being published in the college magazine cropped up. My heart
cried when I thought of not being able to change my name, the way a
peacock regrets its claws as it dances, its tail spread splendourously. The
contempt that I felt for my name increased and I tried to think of ways to
my Hindu name a different form. (Changia Rukh:Against The Night p
169)

As a consequence, Madhopuri dropped ‘Chand’ from his name and substituted it

with the name of his village Madhopur.

Religion as witnessed is a source of discrimination but paradoxically it is also an

important source of morality for people at large. To fill this void created by rejection
of the Hindu religion, the Dalits turn to a new locus of morality, which is called ‘Ad
Dharm’. Madhopuri particularly has been drawn towards it. In fact he has written a
book on the movement and the role played by Baba Mangu Ram (founder of Ad
dharm movement in Punjab) published under the title Ad-Dharam de Bani Ghadri
Baba Mangu Ramin 2010.

2.5.2 Establishing A New Religion of their Own—AD Dharm

‘Ad-Dharm’ refers to the native’s religion and Adi Dharmis to the natives of the
land. The movement stood as a rejection of the Hindu varna system and caste system.
It fostered a unique Dalit identity for the people of the community. Madhopuri in
Changiya Rukh culls out the figure of Baba Mangu Ram Mugowalia and his
contribution in fighting injustice as the leader “threw himself wholeheartedly into
the upliftment of untouchables, and also established contact with Dr. Ambedkar.
He convened a large assembly of over a lakh of people from different castes in his
village Mugowal, to set up an Adi Dharam Mandal, on 11-12 June 1926. It was, in
a way, the beginning of a cultural movement. He also started a newspaper under the
name, Adi Danka, to protest against social oppression and inequality” (8-9).
Historically the figure of Mangoo Ram is known to have mobilised”his people
against caste discrimination and untouchability. He tried working with the Arya
Samaj but soon realised that dalits had no future within Hinduism and demanded
from the colonial rulers that the ad-dharmis be listed as a separate religious
community and not be clubbed either with the Hindus or the Sikhs”. This was a
major step in the direction of emancipation of the Dalits. The cultural movement
23
Fiction and Autobiographical did not go unnoticed by the British as they”conceded their demand and they were
Writing
actually listed separately in the 1931 Census, the post-independence Indian state
once again put them in the list of Hindu scheduled castes”.

However it needs mention that “the everyday practices of the ad-dharmis are closer
to Sikhism. They worship Guru Granth (which also contains the writings of Guru
Ravidas who too was a chamar by caste). They also perform their weddings and
other rituals according to Sikh tradition. Very few among them however have long
hair or tie turbans. Their names too are like those of the Punjabi Hindus. In the local
traditions, they could easily be called sahijdhari Sikhs”. In a way you would have
noticed that culturally Dalit practices are very similar to those of the Jats. This
means, the Ad-dharam is a kind of assertion of the Dalit community particularly of
its independent religious-cultural identity.

2.6 EDUCATION AND MODERNITY

2.6.1 Importance of Education Among the Dalits
In the middle of leading a life of drudgery, it suddenly dawns upon the narrator in
Changiya Rukh that if he does not pursue his studies his future would be doomed
like the rest of the community working in intolerable conditions on the fields owned
by Jats and nambardars. Still, he becomes clearer unto himself and the path he must
take to reach the desired end. In taking this resolve he begins to view himself staunch
as a tree. Let’s look at a passage from the text that projects the narrator’s feelings:

Knotting my tumbler in the corner of the angocha, I carried, I flung it over my

shoulder and went off towards the nambardar’s fields to plant paddy saplings. My
limbs were stiff, my dark complexion had turned darker because of the hot sun, and
my skin was as coarse as a buffalo’s hide. I would see the young sons of landowners
strutting on the edges of the fields, scolding the labourers, showing no respect for
their age, and be upset that our men did not even protest! It occurred to me that if I
was unable to complete my education, I would have to face and bear all this all my
life! This thought troubled me, and it seemed to me that some weevil was eating
into my vitals. But simultaneously, and strangely, I felt like a log of the sheesham
tree and believed that no woodworm could harm me. (Changia Rukh: Against The
Night p 107)

Pursuing studies to get a respectable job becomes the only viable option for the
narrator in the face of such gruesome circumstances. It also suggests that education
may be the most important way to move out the caste created structures for the
Dalits else it appears like a never ending cycle of exploitation—”One day it occurred
to me” says the narrator “that though the seasons changed rapidly, our days would
never change. But at the height of winter, hopes ran high, and I felt happy” (Changia
Rukh: Against The Night p. 107).

It is for this reason that the narrator’s father keeps on emphasizing the importance
of education for the narrator. See the anger and desperation of the father in his
assertion, “‘Maama! You must study or else you too will have to endure this
enslavement’” (68). Thus, narrator’s father hopes his son’s education resulting in a
high rank job would alleviate the conditions of the family freeing them from
deprivation and humiliation.

24
You will note that attaining education for the narrator is no easy task. He has to Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-II
push the boundaries of persistence and physical tolerance in the attempt of attaining
it. The narrator tells us:

I thought of what my life had become. Walking 4-5 km to the middle

school in Geeganwal, and on my return, I would often carry two bundles
of fodder for the animals, and sometimes a load of millet or barley. I
would also help Bhaia and my elder brother scrape the sugarcane, and
also fetch twenty kilos of flour from the flour mill. What more could I do?
(Changia Rukh:Against The Night p 111)

At the same time,people from other communities view education of Dalits as a

threat to their supremacy and livelihood.Bhujjar, in Chapter 15, on seeing the narrator
and his friends going to college raises his voice and states:

‘All the Chamars have started studying and are growing swollen headed!
If they all get jobs, who will work in our fields?’…

This set me thinking. Our parents had worked hard on low wages or no wages at all;
they had borrowed to educate us; and we also worked for daily wages to pay for our
education. We did not cheat anyone, and yet these people always resented us and
were forever planning to get their sons appointed to high offices. (Changia Rukh:
Against The Night p 163)

Thus you must have noticed that Madhopuri and his friends worked hard to pay for
their fees—it is a hard won battle not an easy journey. In this sense, the urge to
study to “make some headway in life” (164) remains a constant force in the narrator
–the questions “should I remain uneducated? Should I continue to do what the rest
of my community was doing? Should I work and slave for others so that they could
live in luxury?” haunt the narrator’s mind who finally asserts himself taking to
reading and writing. However life on the other side is not rosy for the narrator. Even
after completing studies and becoming an officer he is unable to move out of the
caste structures that cause obstructions on the path.

2.6.2 Caste Prejudice in Modern/Urban India

In this context you will find that the last chapter particularly brings to the fore the
extent of caste-prejudice that runs through cities, becoming more sophisticated and
hidden in this case. Very soon the narrator realizes that education and modernization
has in no way freed people in the urban sphere from orthodox caste notions. The
narrator for instance observes with a sense of pathos, “The curse of caste had followed
us to the city—though it is said that people living in cities are educated and open-
minded” (205). Is it a paradox? There is a range of difference between what is
generally said or thought about metropolitan cities and what they in actuality are.
Principals of rationality and scientific temper should have erased caste boundaries
but as the narrator finds there is not much difference in the mental processes of
urban or rural dwellers. Harish K Puri in the present context notes:

Nearly 90 per cent of dalits (barring a section of the Valmikis) have moved out of
their heredity occupations; no more than 15 per cent work as agricultural labourers
any longer. Education, urbanization, modernization, and jobs in higher civil services
have given them a consciousness of self-respect and hope. Yet, a dalit, even after a
high level of achievement in secular and material terms, apprehends a subtle form
of caste prejudice. The emotional experience of insults in public spaces—the village, 25
Fiction and Autobiographical the school, the rented house—or in the company of colleagues in the higher civil
Writing
service, represents a kind of apprehension that non-dalits are generally unable to
understand. (Introduction. Changia Rukh: Against The Night p Xxviii)

Thus Madhopuri sensitively portrays his life in Delhi as a tenant and a family man
that is fret with testing instances. The question of caste leaves him uneasy often
shocked at the tricks played on him to inquire of his caste. Add to this the burden of
sustaining a family as also sending money to his parents in Madhopur. At such
moments he is reminded of his father and the grit and determination with which he
fought against odds. Expressing his anxiety Madhopuri notes:

My courage seemed to give way under these new developments. It was

perhaps, my fate to worry. I had just paid the children’s fees in their new
schools, and here I was again homeless only after three months. How
much could I go on borrowing? I would think of Bhaia, his determination
even in the face of adversities, the money he borrowed, and what he had
earned—whatever he had earned had been spent on paying off the loans!
It was his courage and grit that had enabled me to go on and I was now
earning a good salary (205).

2.7 WOMEN CHARACTERS IN THE TEXT

You will note that women projected in the text typically belong to rural Punjab.
Those bound by marriage are more passive in comparison to the male counterparts
who are aggressive and hit back at the caste system. There is of course the towering
figure of Daadi Haro in the text who through sharp tongued speaks with authority
and fearlessness.

“Daadi’s authority was unchallenged” even among the upper castes, thus “If a Jat
woman (or any other woman) passed near her without wishing her, she would say
loudly, ‘wonder which arrogant bitch just passed by!’” (Changia Rukh: Against
The Night 127-28).

Daadi certainly comes across as a symbol of resilient motherhood. The narrator

tells us “My mother would turn emotional whenever Daadi fell ill, saying, ‘There
are not many like her; a widow for over forty-five years; brought up her children,
settled them, yet never been beholden to anyone’”. Being “the oldest inhabitant of
the village” (127) she received respect from all whatever be the caste, as the narrator
exclaims “many Jats of the village would come to Daadi asking for her advice
about weddings and other such celebrations. They would also do whatever she
advised them.” (Changia Rukh: Against The Night 130).

Daadi refused to die and there too her resilience shows up. When advised by others
‘Haro, take the name of God. Now it is the time for you to think of God. He may
relieve you’”, Daadi with her toothless smile would answer “I think of Him, but he
doesn’t take me away’”. Finally at her death after nearly hundred years, “half the
village collected around her. As her body was laid out, there was praise for her on
everyone’s lips.” (Changia Rukh: Against The Night 132).

At the same time Daadi operates in the text as an agent of patriarchy(see glossary)
who keeps a strong hold on younger women. The narrator explains, “I had never
seen Daadi working. But she would always criticize daughters and daughters-in-
26 law of other houses, ‘Bitches! They get up late in the morning! We would have
finished grinding ten seers of wheat by this time.” (Changia Rukh: Against The Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
Rukh: Against the Night-II
Night 126).

Analyzing the relation between his mother and Grandmother, Daadi, the narrator
notes: “Despite all this, my mother would never retaliate. She was afraid of my
Daadi’s harsh tongue and would neither argue with her nor say anything against
her. At times, it appeared as if she had lost the use of her tongue.” (Changia Rukh:
Against The Night)

The expression “as if she had lost the use of her tongue” is damning yet thought
provoking. It speaks volume of the position of the mother in the household who is
silenced by the patriarchal set up evident in this case in the form of Daadi as also
her husband. Seebo, the narrator’s mother is also at the receiving end vis-à-vis her
husband and the young narrator observes it carefully, “Bhaia often taunted Ma about
her brothers. Sometimes he would abuse her, and throw things at her when his
temper ran away with him. And Ma …she had steeled herself to patiently bear all
humiliations heaped on her” (120).Accepting domestic violence as a way of life,
Seebo like other women in India under the framework of patriarchy has been taught
from childhood “to patiently bear all humiliations heaped on” them. Considering
herself insignificant in the larger scheme of things the narrator’s mother accepts
her position as a low caste and merely echoes the father’s wishes and words. So is
the case with other women in the village who more or less adhere to traditional
roles assigned to them in the social set-up.

The narrator’s attitude to women he meets in the workplace reveals that he feels
one with their cause. Relating with them at the ideological level he asserts “One
must do something to protect them from exploitation”. Noting in his friends a
demeaning attitude towards women, the narrator states:

Musical evenings would be arranged to forget the tensions of the day and to relax.
Jokes, which were mostly about women, would be told. Even the women who were
working in the godown were not spared.

It was very upsetting. Sometimes I had suspicion about those women, and then
again I felt concerned about their vulnerability and their helplessness. The result
was that I would often advise these women how to conduct themselves with dignity.
(Changia Rukh:Against The Night p 176)

Exploitation of women is in many ways similar to that of caste. Madhopuri

understands the nuanced dimensions of caste but he is unable to see that ‘advising’
women on “how to conduct themselves with dignity” is no answer to the problem.
He sympathizes with the cause of women but he is unable to go beyond it.

2.8 LET US SUM UP

Madhopuri in Changiya Rukh exposes the hypocrisy of leaders who believed in
attaining freedom from British rule but not acquiring equal rights for the
untouchables. Even in free India politically and legally Dalits may have achieved
equality but the social scope of the country Madhopuri notes is deeply entrenched
in caste bias. This is an all pervasive phenomenon true not only of villages in India
but also the supposedly progressive and modern city. A discussion on women
characters in the unit would afford you a view of the relatively passive role played
by women in the village. Violence against women too is noted by the narrator in the 27
Fiction and Autobiographical text as also their disturbing silence in the sphere of men. Madhopuri brings to the
Writing
fore the important question of religion and its place in the lives of Dalits offering an
alternative in the form of Ad-dharm movement. At the same time Madhopuri evokes
the importance of owning land for a Dalit who is enslaved in poverty. Education
too receives ample focus in the text as the narrator increasingly becomes motivated
to pursue education and change his conditions.

2.9 GLOSSARY
Dehumanisation : considering human beings as or worse than animals.
It is to degrade human beings by viewing them as
objects and depriving them of all positive human
qualities.

Defilement : the idea of pollution and purity has prevailed in

caste-centric discourse. Defilement refers to
polluting/desecrating the sacred/pure (symbolized
supposedly in the upper caste). Presence or touch
of Dalits was seen by the upper-caste as
contaminating their surroundings.

Begaar : is a form of forced labour under which a person is

compelled to work without receiving any
remuneration introduced particularly by the Jats in
the northern belt.

Humanism : attributing central place to ‘the human’ and positive

values of brotherhood, fellow feeling among people
as also respecting the dignity of man.

Agent of Patriarchy : one who assists in the smooth functioning of the

patriarchal order, thus becoming an agent through
which male centric ideas are disseminated. The
patriarchal set up in this way becomes consolidated
in a society.

2.10 QUESTIONS
1) Compare Dalit autobiographies with mainstream autobiographies. Do you agree
Dalit autobiographies are essentially political in nature?

2) Do state authorities abet exploitation of Dalits? Is it ironic that guardians of

democracy should exercise oppression?

3) Why does narrator’s father consider religion a sham? Give reasons.

4) Do you think education for Dalits is an important step in bringing about change
in their conditions of living in India? Discuss.

5) Write a note on attitude of men towards women both in the urban and rural
spheres in the text.

28
 Balbir Madhopuri: Changia
2.11 SUGGESTED READINGS Rukh: Against the Night-II

Akshaya Kumar and Amandeep, “Dalit versus Mainstream Autobiographies: A

Critical Note”. Indraprasth, (vol.1, 2012) p. 25.
Surinder S. Jodhka and Prakash Louis, “Caste Tensions in Punjab: Talhan and Beyond
Author”,Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 28 (Jul. 12-18, 2003).p 2924.
Cudden,J.A. Dictionary of Literary terms and Literary Theory. New Delhi:
Penguin,1999.
Jaffrelot, Christophe. Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analysing and Fighting
Caste. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2005.
Jodhka, Surinder S. and Prakash Louis. “Caste Tensions in Punjab: Talhan and
Beyond”. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. 38, No. 28 (Jul. 12-18, 2003).
Jodhka, Surinder S. “Caste and Untouchability in Rural Punjab”. Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 37, No. 19 (May 11-17, 2002), pp. 1813-1823.
Judge, Paramjit S. and Gurpreet Bal. “Understanding the Paradox of Changes among
Dalits in Punjab”. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 41 (Oct. 11 - 17,
2008), pp. 49-55.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. Religion as Social Vision: The Movement Against
Untouchability in Twentieth Century Punjab. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1982.
Omvedt, Gail. Understanding Caste: From Buddha to Ambedkar and Beyond. New
Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2011.
Ram, Ronki. “Untouchability in India with a Difference: Ad Dharm, Dalit Assertion,
and Caste Conflicts in Punjab”. Asian Survey, Vol. 44, No. 6 (November/December
2004), pp. 895-912.
Rao, Anupama.The Caste Question: Dalits and the Politics of Modern India. Delhi:
Permanent Black. 2009.
Srinivas, M.N. ed. Caste: Its Twentieth Century Avatar. New Delhi: Penguin. 1997.
Tharu, Susie. ‘The Impossible Subject: Caste and the Gendered Body”. Gender and
Caste.
Valmiki, Omprakash.Jhoothan: A Dalit’s Life. Trans. Arun Prabha Mukherjee.
Kolkata: Samya, 2003.
Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature. New York: OUP,1977.
Juergenmeyer, Mark. Religion as Social Vision: The Movement Against
Untouchability in 20th Century Punjab. Berkeley: California UP. 1982.
Gurram, Srinivas. Dalit Middle Class: Mobility, Identity and Politics of Caste. Delhi:
Rawat 2016.
Ram, Ronki. “Untouchability, Dalit Consciousness, and Ad Dharm Movement in
Punjab”. Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol.38, no. 3, 2004.
Sikka, Sonia. “Untouchable Culture: Memory, Power and the Construction of Dalit
Selfhood”. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, vol 19, no. 1, 2012. 29
Fiction and Autobiographical
Writing UNIT 3 BAMA: SANGATI-I

Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 What does the title Sangati mean?
3.3 The Form of the book Sangati
3.3.1 Autobiographical Elements in Sangati
3.3.2 What is Autobiography?
3.3.3 A Dalit Autobiographical Narrative
3.3.4 A Christian Dalit Narrative
3.3.5 A Christian Dalit Woman’s Narrative
3.4 Does Sangati bring out Women-centric problems of the day?
3.4.1 The Relationship Between Dalit Women and Men
3.4.2 Dalit Women and Upper Caste Men
3.4.3 Dalit Women and Upper Caste Women
3.4.4 Discrimination Against Women in a Patriarchal Society
3.5 The Politics of Caste
3.5.1 Deep Rooted Prejudice Against Dalits
3.5.2 Lack of Education Among the Low Caste
3.6 Let Us Sum Up
3.7 Glossary
3.8 Questions
3.9 Suggested Readings

3.0 OBJECTIVES
This Unit is intended to familiarize you with Bama, the author of Sangati. You will
find introductory notes on her works and life. As you go through the material you
should be able to identify the specific form of the text Sangati. The woman question
would be taken up at length in the discussion since it constitutes a major concern in
Bama. The predicament of being an unmarried Christian Dalit woman is strongly
etched in her works. You will find a discussion on caste prejudices as well that
permeate Indian society and how these benefit the wealthy groups. A view of
education would be taken up vis-à-vis the overall perspective of the author. The
discussion shall equip you to appreciate the text better.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
‘Bama’ is the pen-name of Faustina Mary Fatima Rani, a Tamil Dalit woman novelist
born into a Roman Catholic Family in 1958. Bama’s ancestors were landless
labourers in Pathupatti village in Tamil Nadu. Her grandfather converted to
Christianity to evade the plight of Dalits at the time. This was the case with most of
the Dalits in her community of Paraiyas.

30
Bama received her early education in the village and later at the age of 26 decided Bama: Sangati-I
to take vows to enter the Convent of Catholic Church and serve the people of her
community. She soon realised that the Church was not free of prejudices and that it
would take much more to fulfill her dream of uplifting the Dalit community. Seven
years after having experienced the problems within the church and its skewed attitude
towards the Dalits, Bama quit the convent and went to the city of Madurai for better
prospects. Here she sought to find an independent life and was encouraged by a
friend to write her memoir. This got published under the title Karukku (1992) which
is the first autobiography by a Dalit woman writer. It is also the first Tamil Dalit
text on the Christian Dalit community. For the first time in the history of Tamil
literature a Dalit woman was speaking in her own voice about her experiences of
being a Dalit and a woman within that community. Karukku was translated into
English in the year 2000 and the book won the Crossword Prize for the best translated
text. Her other two full-length works of prose which also carry autobiographical
elements are Sangati (1994) and Vanmam (2002). Apart from these Bama has to her
credit three collections of short stories Kisumbukkaran (1996), Oru Thathavum oru
Erumayum (2003) and Kondattam (2009).  Bama teaches in a school in Uthiramerur,
Tamil Nadu.

A brief note on her works would be useful in understanding the writer’s sensibility.
Bama wrote Karukku in 1992 when she, a Dalit woman, left the convent of the
Catholic Church. The Tamil publishing industry found her language unacceptable
as also crude and refused to publish her manuscript. In such a scenario Bama
published her milestone work Karruku on her own. The book broke all barriers of
tradition—it took up in the main the issue of caste oppression within the Catholic
Church. The Tamil word ‘Karukku’ means palmyra leaves which have very sharp
saw-like edges on both sides and can be seen as double-edge swords. The title
works as a metaphor in the book for using the weapons of the oppressor (in this
case the teachings of Christianity) against itself. In Karukku, Bama’s concerns mainly
centred around casteism within the Roman Catholic Church. In Sangati on the
other hand the critique of the church is presented in a broader sense. Both Karukku
and Sangati focus on Bama’s personal struggle to find her distinct place and a sense
of self in the patriarchal caste-ridden society she grew up in.

In her third Novel Vanmam, Bama takes up the issue of inter-and intra-caste feuds.
The novel brings out the hostility between two Dalit communities—the Pallars and
the Parayars of Kandampatti Village. Bama projects the complex hierarchical
structure of the caste order in Tamil Nadu in which the Pallars come at the top
followed by the Parayars. The former identified themselves as Hindu Dalits while
the latter were Christian Dalits. Each community bore grudges against the other.
Importantly Bama shows in this book how the dominant Hindu castes used this
intra-Dalit rivalry for their own benefit. Vanmam in this sense is not a typical Dalit
text that talks about the exploitation of Dalits in society. It depicts Dalits as aggressive
and not meek people. However unlike Karukku and Sangati, Vanmam does not
portray women as powerful positive characters.
Kisumbukkaran, Bama’s collection of short stories translated in 2006 is a more
appropriate example of ‘subaltern literature’ as it relates stories of Dalit women
and men in a subversive manner.
Let’s try to understand Sangati, the text in course, in a detailed manner. Sangati has
many voices. Predominantly it is the voice of a Dalit community seen through the
eyes of women. There are many women in the text of different age groups who all
31
Fiction and Autobiographical have a story to tell. In most cases it is a story of violence both physical and mental,
Writing
social prejudices and fossilized tradition. The strength in women to fight the
circumstance and persevere themselves gets aptly highlighted in Sangati. This is
when the social order constantly tries to sap them of their vitality and break their
spirits, and strength. When the extremity of oppression becomes unbearable their
undying will and hard work sustains them. Bama passionately writes about women
narratives and their distinct features in her preface to Sangati. To quote from it:

My mind is crowded with many anecdotes: stories not only about the sorrows and
tears of Dalit women, but also about their lively and rebellious culture; their eagerness
not to let life crush or shatter them, but rather to swim vigorously against the tide;
about the self-confidence and self-respect that enables them to leap over their
adversities by laughing at and ridiculing them, about their hard labour. I wanted to
shout out these stories. (ix)

What are these adversities Bama mentions? Who is responsible for the “sorrows
and tears of Dalit Women”? Let’s find out in the discussion.

3.2 WHAT DOES THE TITLE SANGATI MEAN?

“Sangati” refers to a community of events and happenings that may be viewed as
interlinked stories. The subtitle “Events” makes that clear. It could also mean news
and anecdotes about the Dalit community. In a way the life of the times is vividly
brought before us in a series of incidents and stories. These stories of people are
presented to us in the form of memory. The narrator of Sangati tells us the travails
of her mother and grandmother as also her aunts and cousins, how they responded
to challenges, in some case they appeared victorious in others they were destroyed.
These narratives in a way become histories that are at once personal and collective—
individual and typical (see glossary) narratives of women. Sangati is “in the voices
of many women speaking to and addressing one another as they share the incidents
of their daily lives. These voices, sometimes raised in anger or in pain as they lash
out at each other, or against their oppressors, is reported exactly”, says Laxmi
Holmstrom, the translator of the book (xix-xx). The many anecdotes that Bama
brings to us have all been part of her formative years and the women she projects
are associated with her as friends or relatives who left a deep impact on her sensibility.
The perspective she offers in the text may not have been available to her as a young
girl but as an educated woman she is able to evaluate them. This brings us to the
next important question related to the text—the autobiographical elements in Sangati.

3.3 THE FORM OF THE BOOK SANGATI

3.3.1 Autobiographical Elements in Sangati
Laxmi Holmstrom suggests that because “Sangati moves from the story of individual
struggle to perception of a community of paraiya women, a neighborhood group of
friends and relations and their joint struggle” one may argue that “Sangati is perhaps
the autobiography of a community” (Introduction to Sangati, xv). Sangati certainly
carries incidents from the author’s life and surroundings and therefore has
autobiographical elements. However, it is not an autobiography in the sense that
Bama’s first book Karukku is. Sangati is more an autobiographical novella which
means it has some fictional elements and follows a literary form.

32
3.3.2 What is an Autobiography? Bama: Sangati-I

Since Bama deploys the autobiographical mode in Sangati, we may try and
understand the term broadly. An Autobiography is a full account of one’s life written
by the person her-/himself. This is different from a biography where the full account
of a particular person’s life is given by another person. In fact there are many ways
in which one can write about one’s self—as a memoir, diary entry or an
autobiography. M. H. Abrams has explained the difference among these terms in
the following lines:

Autobiography is a biography written by the subject about himself or herself. It is

to be distinguished from the memoir, in which the emphasis is not on the author’s
developing self but on the people and events that the author has known or witnessed
and also from the private diary or journal, which is a day-to-day record of the
events in one’s life, written for personal use and satisfaction, with little or no thought
of publication. (Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Australia:
Thomson,1999.p.22)

Autobiography in this sense focuses on the developing self of the author. It is a kind
of a bildungsroman (see glossary). Bama’s Sangati tangentially accounts the growing
up of the protagonist while at the same time revealing the lives of other women and
the community at large. In this sense, it has both elements of autobiography and
memoir. It takes from real life stories of struggle and perseverance, of challenges
taken and change effected. The book becomes significant in Dalit literature as it
projects personal testimonies of violence and oppression meted out to the community
as a whole and specifically to women within that community.

Sangati is at one level an autobiography of a Dalit woman, at another it is a memoir

of a village. Still it is a novella (a short novel) –an imaginative recollection and
representation of life. Sangati thus cuts across many genres.

3.3.3 A Dalit Autobiographical Narrative

Would a Dalit autobiographical narrative be different from a mainstream one? In
what way could it differ? To begin, both would be personal narratives with an
additional responsibility to express the concerns of the time. A Dalit account of self
however would prioritize the concerns of the Dalit community rather than the society
at large. Such a text in fact would voice those problems which are generally silenced
by the powers of the time. In the opinion of critics, Akshaya Kumar and Amandeep,
“Mainstream autobiographies are well-structured narratives of self-glorification”
while conversely, “Dalit response is the response of those who have been wronged
for centuries, their expression is an outlet of pent up sufferings. The main focus of
dalit autobiographers is not to carve out neat narratives from their life-graphs; it is
rather to express the anger of their sordid life”. In this sense, mainstream
autobiographies focus on the ‘heroic self’ of the protagonist, one that has done the
nation proud and would become the object of study for later generations. However,
Dalit autobiographers speak of oppression and violence meted out to an entire
community not an individual alone. The ‘heroic’ aspect of Dalit autobiographical
narratives constitutes the subject’s fight against oppression and the ability to liberate
oneself from the stronghold of caste system. Significantly, Dalit autobiographies
uncover the dark side of the apparently harmonious society. For this reason, Kumar
and Amandeep further suggest:

33
Fiction and Autobiographical Dalit autobiographies are unabashedly political and polemical. Caste is
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the pronounced theme in these accounts. In mainstream writings caste is
underplayed as though it never was an issue. In these writings, caste
hierarchies are taken for granted and hardly ever problematised. There is
not a single dalit autobiography which does not make caste an issue.
(Akshaya Kumar and Amandeep. “Dalit versus Mainstream Autobiography:
A Critical Note”. Indraprasth. Vol. 1. 2012. Guru Gopbind Singh
Indraprastha University: New Delhi. 20-1)

Certainly, caste is an important issue in Dalit autobiographical literature. This is

because casteism in India has constantly divided society, exploiting the lowest of
the low. Its divisive nature has given way to the policy of exclusion in which the
Dalits suffer the most. Note the way Bama tells us of the habitation of the Paraiyar
(the untouchable) caste. In the text, people of this caste are not supposed to use the
tube water that belongs to the upper caste. The low caste people occupy the ends of
the town and are not supposed to mingle with those higher up. The narrator at the
outset of Sangati makes clear the sharp lines that divide communities.

3.3.4 A Christian Dalit Narrative

We have discussed in detail the implications of a Dalit account of self. Now I would
like to add the adjective Christian to it. We find that the author narrator is a Christian
Dalit. Does it make any difference? It sure does. The moment we begin discussing
a Christian Dalit autobiographical narrative we are taken to the significant question
of Religious Conversion (see glossary) that took place in large number among the
Dalits. Particularly in Tamil Nadu among the many Dalit communities, the Paraiyas
(the community to which Bama belonged) converted to Christianity. The people of
this community of outcastes were persuaded by the missionaries to change their
religion and in return they were offered free education for their children. What was
the result of such a conversion? On the one hand the Paraiyas were targeted by
other Dalit communities of the region because of what was seen as ‘betrayal’ on
their part (Bama deals with this issue at length in her novel Vanmam), on the other
the Paraiyas after the independence of the country were denied the rights and benefits
other Dalit communities received. It caused a severe blow to them when the state
and central governments de-recognized them as Dalits after independence from
British rule. Add to this the predicament faced by the Paraiyas within the religion
they had adopted—i.e. Christianity. They, the Paraiyas, were never fully accepted
by the new religion they had converted to. They had to face discrimination at the
hands of the Roman Catholic Church. Bama’s Karakku shows in depth how casteism
prevailed even within the Catholic Church in the region. It exposes the sharp divide
between the preaching of the church and its actual practice.
It becomes evident in Sangati that the hypocrisy of the church vis-à-vis Dalits; the
insensitivity of the government in excluding Dalit Christians from receiving benefits
as also the inter-community feuds together make the circumstance difficult for the
Paraiya community. Bama is able to project the complexity of the issue and the
predicament of the community in the text.

3.3.5 A Christian Dalit Woman’s Narrative

Till now we have discussed what it is like to be a Dalit Christian in India in the 20th
century. I wish to add a third category that is important in understanding Bama’s
concerns in Sangati—that of being a woman who is both Dalit and Christian. What
34 would a Christian Dalit Woman’s autobiographical writing be like? Would it be
different from a Dalit man’s narrative? Indeed it would be. Narratives of women Bama: Sangati-I
disadvantaged at various level—being a part of a religious minority, a social outcast
and a victim of patriarchy (see glossary)—would speak of their pain and suffering.

We see in Sangati that Dalit women’s condition is worse off than Dalit men’s.
These women face violence from men within the house and outside the home they
are harassed by upper caste men.

3.4 DOES SANGATI BRING OUT WOMEN-

CENTRIC PROBLEMS OF THE DAY?
3.4.1 The Relationship Between Dalit Women and Men
The men of the Dalit community conveniently take out their frustration on their
wives. The narrator precisely articulates the predicament of women in the book:

The position of women is both pitiful and humiliating, really. In the fields
they have to escape from upper-caste men’s molestations. At church they
must lick the priest’s shoes and be his slaves while he threatens them with
tales of God, Heaven and Hell. Even when they go to their own homes,
before they have had a chance to cook some kanji or lie down and rest a
little, they have to submit themselves to their husband’s torment.

How will their bodies stand it if they keep on bearing children? They don’t
get proper food or drink. It’s the men who fill themselves up at home and
in the shops. Women rarely go into hospitals, but deliver their children at
home in a makeshift way. Many women die at childbirth or soon after.
Almost immediately the men marry a second time. As for birth control,
the men won’t do it. They say they’ll lose their strength if they do. And
women say that if they are sterilized in a haphazard way by people without
proper training, they will not be able to work in the fields as before. If they
can’t work, how will they eat? As it is, families keep going only because
of the women. So the questions they ask sound reasonable to me. (Sangati
p.35-36)

Women are caught in this vicious circle of exploitation. They try to preserve
themselves and their children. We see that the Dalit male—who is a victim of
oppression by the upper caste in the fields and town—turns into a victimizer (one
who causes suffering) within the bounds of the house, where he can exert his male
pride. Lakshmi Holmstrom has precisely observed the many problems faced by
Dalit women in the field of work and home. The overarching framework of patriarchy
brings them under control at different levels in their day-to-day life. She notes:
“Within the community, the power rests with men: caste—courts and churches are
male-led, and rules for sexual behaviour are very different for men and women.
Hard labour and economic precariousness leads to a culture of violence, and this is
a theme that Bama explores boldly throughout the book” (xvii). The narrator in the
text sums up “I have to say that even if all women are slaves to men, our women
really are the worst sufferers” (65). Thus Dalit women become victim of Double
marginalization (see glossary).

At the same time, we find that economic inequality prevails between women and
men even when they belong to the same caste-group. Women are underpaid on
construction and agricultural sites even when they work as much as men do. Further, 35
Fiction and Autobiographical “the money that men earn is their own to spend as they please, whereas women bear
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the financial burden of running the family, often singly” (Holmstrom xvii). The
sense of responsibility of running a household is what governs lives of women
depicted in Bama’s Sangati. They earn not with the motive to indulge in their fancies
but to provide for the family. The men folk on the other hand are seen squandering
the money they earn on buying alcohol for themselves. It is in this intoxicated
frenzy that they beat up and sexually assault their wives. This may be a common
sight in the Indian patriarchal society however in the hands of Bama it becomes a
sharp critique of the system we put up with. As the narrator’s grandmother comments
on the situation of woman—

We have to labour in the fields as hard as men do, and then on top of that,
struggle to bear and raise our children. As for the men, their work ends
when they’ve finished in the fields. If you are born into this world, it is
best you were born a man. Born as women, what good do we get? We only
toil in the fields and in the home until our very vaginas shrivel. (Sangati
P.6-7)

Note the use of shock provoking reference “vaginas shrivel”. Such usages may stun
the reader but they expose the barbarity of a culture. Bama creates a strong character
in the figure of the grandmother, Paatti, who speaks the brutal truth. The strength in
such characters comes from the fact that “the women in our street led hard lives”
(7).

3.4.2 Dalit Women and Upper Caste Men

Bama in fact through Sangati explores how women at work have to face sexual
harassment by upper caste men. We see instances of upper caste men stalking Dalit
women and then going scot-free while the blame automatically comes to the woman.
Let’s look at a specific instance from the book. One important instance in the book
is described when the narrator’s cousin Mariamma while crossing the upper caste
Kumarasami Ayya’s fields was accosted by him—”when she went innocently to get
some water (from the irrigation pump-set), he seized her hand and pulled her inside.
Frightened out of her wits, she left everything and ran home, hardly knowing how
she escaped” (20). Later we see that the man Kumarasami complains to the Paraiya
head that Mariamma was “behaving in a dirty way” (20) with another man. The girl
is punished and called a harlot by her community. In fact we see in the text that
parents find it difficult to keep young virgin girls at home for they may be sexually
assaulted by the upper caste men and no action could be taken against them. Thus,
Paatti furiously tells the narrator’s mother “How are you going to keep a virgin girl
at home and not get her married? Everyone will tittle-tattle about it. Keeping young
women at home is like keeping a fire going in your belly. How long will you protect
her, tell me?” (9-10). The narrator’s response to Mariamma’s plight is important
here. She gives vent to her feeling of frustration and rages against the prejudices of
the all-male judge community who falsely accused her cousin. She reflects on the
horrific tale thus:

When I thought of Mariamma’s life history, I was filled with such pain
and anger. Because of some upper-caste man’s foolishness, she was made
the scapegoat, and her whole life was destroyed. If a woman is slandered,
that’s always her fate. People won’t consider whether the accusation is
true or not, nor will they allow the woman to speak out. They’ll marry her
off to any disreputable fellow and wash their hands off her, not caring in
36
 the least whether she lives or dies. I was disgusted by it. I wanted to get Bama: Sangati-I
hold of all those who had brought her to this state, bite them, chew them
up, and spit them out. (Sangati p.42)

The anger she experiences as a young girl turns into a firm resolve when she grows
up to become an undeterred woman fighting for her rights.

There are other instances in the text where the fear women experience when faced
with men of upper caste is explicitly projected. Take a look at the way the narrator’s
grandmother warns her against malicious upper caste men. She says— “‘Women
should never come on their own to these parts. If upper-caste fellows clap eyes on
you, you’re finished. They’ll drag you off and rape you, that’s for sure.” (8) Thus
women live under a spectre of constant fear and insecurity as they feel vulnerable
against such attacks.

3.4.3 Dalit Women and Upper Caste Women

At one level both Dalit women and women of the upper caste are equals. They are
together victims of patriarchy. They suffer ill-treatment at the hands of the males.
Even as both are victims there is no sense of solidarity between them. Why do you
think that is the case? There is a strong sense of class and position in them that
separates them. The upper caste women look down upon the Paraiya women in the
text. To illustrate the point, the narrator says—”Besides all this, upper-caste women
show us no pity or kindness either, if only as women to women, but treat us with
contempt, as if we are creatures of a different species, who have no sense of honour
or self-respect” (66).

At the same time we see in the text that women of the Dalit community remain in
awe of the lifestyle of the rich upper caste. Lets’ take an example from the text—
Paatti greatly influenced by the appearance and way of life of these women says,
“‘These ladies are all upper-caste folk. When you look at them, each one is like a
Mahalakshmi, a goddess. Every time you look at them, their hair is sleek with oil
and they are wearing fresh flowers. They don’t just buy a small amount on Sundays
and holidays like we do. They get their supply of pure oil straight from the oil press
and can rub it into their scalps every day. It takes a whole hour just to plait their
hair, you know’” (12). There is a great difference of lifestyle between these two
groups of women—one who have time and money at their disposal and the other
who have to strive to earn their livelihood. Dalit women in a way come out as the
deprived lot.

However the narrator’s view is different in that she believes that the low caste
women unlike the upper caste women are freer, as they are economically
independent—

From this perspective it seems to me that at least our women work hard
and earn their own money and have a few coins in their hands. They don’t
hold out their palms to their husbands for every little expense, like those
others. (Sangati p.66)

We find that unlike the upper caste women, Dalit women are relatively liberated in
their surroundings to move and act. Dalit women also work on the fields to earn for
themselves and their families. There is thus a kind of dignity of labour that the dalit
woman enjoys. The predicament of the upper caste woman would appear worse in
comparison as she is bound to the confines of home and family and shackled in 37
Fiction and Autobiographical custom and jewelry with little exposure of the outside world. She is also solely
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dependent on the husband for her upkeep and in this sense male domination is
complete in her case. Her sense of self is crushed to the last bit. Also it is not the
case that violence against women takes place only in the case of low caste groups
but that it is more visible. In the case of the upper caste women violence happens
within the house in closed rooms and the woman rather attempts to hide it. Contrarily
Dalit women expose the husband’s behaviour unto the entire community instead of
keeping it to herself. Thus “high status, whether acquired through caste, or the
ownership of wealth meant that women were confined to the home and subjected to
a harsh sex code. Pre-and extra marital sex led to the loss of caste for women of the
higher castes and widowhood implied a life of perpetual mourning. In extreme
cases she committed sati.” (M.N. Srinivasan, Introduction, Caste: Its twentieth
Century Avatar, xi)

3.4.4 Discrimination Against Women in A Patriarchal Society

In Sangati Bama clearly brings out the age old prejudice against women in the
Indian society. The narrator shows how infant boys and girls are treated differently—
”That’s how it is from the time that they are very little. When they are infants in
arms, they never let the boy babies cry. If a boy baby cries, he is instantly picked up
and given milk. It is not so with the girls.” Certainly girls are considered to be
inferior to boys in a patriarchal society. The comparison is stark as we find that
baby girls are denied long breast feeding—”With girls they wean them quickly,
making them forget the breast”. The grudge against girls in general filters in responses
to specific instances—if a girl falls sick she will be given care “half-heartedly”
while “If the boys catch an illness or a fever, they will run around and nurse them
with the greatest care” (7). This feeling of resentment for women is an all pervasive
phenomenon in Sangati. It begins with their birth and carries on in their growing
years as well. The narrator in the text further elaborates on the issue:

It’s the same when the children are a bit older, as well. Boys are given
more respect. They’ll eat as much as they wish and run off to play. As for
the girls, they must stay at home and keep on working all the time, cleaning
vessels, drawing water, sweeping the house, gathering firewood, washing
clothes and so on. When all this is done, they will carry the tiny babies,
minding them even when they go out to play. (Sangati p.7)

Note that the roles for young girls are pre-defined. They must stay at home and do
the household chores as also look after young siblings while the boys remain at
large free of all cares. In fact they are treated more respectfully than girls. What is
even more interesting here is the fact that:

Girls must not play boy’s games. The boys won’t allow the girls to join in.
Girls can play at cooking or getting married; they can play games with
stones and shells such as that thattaangal or thaayam. But if they go and
play boy’s games like kabadi or marbles or chellaangucchi, they’ll get
roundly abused. People will say. ‘Who does she think she is? She’s just
like a donkey, look. Look at the way she plays boy’s games. (Sangati p.7)
As seen above girls are considered worthless and are in fact dehumanized (see
glossary)—like a “donkey”, seen as having a value even below human beings.
You will see in the text that Dalit women are subjected to extreme kind of violence—
both physical and mental. Let’s take the instance of narrator’s maternal aunt Perimma,
38
who died in such an event. When the narrator inquires from her grandmother “How Bama: Sangati-I
did Perimma die then Paatti?” the grandmother gives out the gory details of violence
her daughter was subjected to. She says:

I reared a parrot and then handed it over to be mauled by a cat. Your Periappan
actually beat her to death. My womb, which gave birth to her, is still on fire. He
killed her so outrageously, the bastard” (10). The metaphor of the cat and the parrot
is too strong to be missed. It tells of the way Perimma faced brutal assault at the
hands of her husband. You must also take into account that Violence meted out to
women is not merely physical but also predominantly sexual —the narrator’s
question “But why did he beat her, Paatti?” gets a sharp angry answer from the
grandmother:

You ask me why? Because the man was crazy with lust. Because he wanted
her every single day. How could she agree to his frenzy after she worked
all hours of the day and night, inside the house and outside? He is an
animal, that fellow. When she refused, he practically broke her in half.
Once in my very presence he hit her with the rice pounder. May his hand
be bitten by a snake!” (Sangati p.10).

Don’t you think by showing the grisly details of sexual violence against women
Bama has been able to critique the whole system of patriarchy that considers women
as property of men? You will also note that women as shown in the text are oppressed
both within the house by their husbands and outside by men at large. Viewed as
vulnerable objects that can be mishandled at will women seem to lose the ground
as customs and norms too punish not the males but females. As you may have seen
Bama has captured this stark reality very well in Sangati. Lakshmi Holmstrom has
importantly observed in the context that Bama “writes of the violent treatment of
women by fathers, husbands and brothers, and she describes the violent domestic
quarrels which are carried on publicly where sometimes women fight back”. (xvii)

Despite the physical, sexual and mental violence women in Bama’s Sangati face,
they show a sense of resilience. They exhibit a spirit of fighting till the end of not
despairing or brooding. In fact their lives are marked by continuous hard work.
They put in their labour both outside and inside the house to get the household
going. They act as the breadwinner of the family. This gives them a sense of optimism
as well as they hope things would improve and turn for the better. Thus women
perform multiple roles and have varied identities—in the domestic sphere they
perform the chores of the house and in the public sphere they act as labourers.
These prototypes are not only presented as characters but also woven in tales told
to the narrator by her grandmother. Note how Paatti tells the inquisitive young
narrator about a woman from the village and her life story of courage and strength:

‘Look how I’m prattling on about something else. Yes, his mother was out
one day, cutting grass for their cow. She was pregnant at that time, nearly
full term. She went into labour then and there, and delivered the child
straight away. She cut off the umbilical cord with the sickle she had taken
with her to cut the grass, dug a hole and buried the placenta, and then
walked home carrying her baby and her bundle of grass. It was only after
that that they heated water and gave her a hot bath. That fellow that went
by just now, he was that baby. That’s why they named him Kaatturaasa,
king of the fields’. (Sangati p.6)
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Fiction and Autobiographical We see how women could by themselves deal with their own pain and hazards even
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in delivering a child. This kind of grit and determination depicted in women is
inspiring as it projects them as resilient in face of all kinds of circumstance.

3.5 THE POLITICS OF CASTE

3.5.1 Deep Rooted Prejudice Against Dalits
From the very first page of the text we get a glimpse of caste related distinctions
that divide people. The narrator acquaints us with this truth very early in the text—
”In our village it was my grandmother who attended every childbirth. Only the
upper castes never sent for her because she was a paraichi.” (1). Till the end the
identity of being a woman of the Paraiya caste hounds the narrator, so to speak—”I
often get angry enough to shout out aloud: I am a paraichi; yes I am a paraichi. And
I don’t like to hide my identity and pretend I belong to a different caste” (121). The
narrator talks further of the predicament of being a Dalit in the urban sphere as
well—making us aware that deep rooted prejudices against Dalits exist not only in
rural areas but in the supposedly civilized urbanscape as well. She writes about her
experiences in the following manner:

I have to struggle so hard because I am a woman. And exactly like that, my

people are punished constantly for the simple fact of having been born as
Dalits. Is it our faults that we are Dalits? On top of that, just because I am
a woman. I have to battle specially hard. Not only do I have to struggle
against men, I have to also bear the insults from women of other castes.
From how many directions must the blows come! And for how long!
(Sangati p.121-2)

3.5.2 Lack of Education Among the Low Caste

Let us see what Bama has to say on the issue of education for Dalits. Acknowledging
the necessity of education amongst the low caste and especially among girls of the
low caste, the narrator of Sangati speaks directly to the reader (here we see Bama
the author taking the persona of the narrator and giving vent to her thoughts)—”We
should educate boys and girls alike, showing no difference between them as they
grow into adults” (123).

However, Bama problematizes the issue of education. You will see in the text that
free education was made available to the Paraiyas by the white priests even at the
time of the author’s mother and aunts. But even then there was widespread illiteracy
in the community. What could be the reason? The narrator tells us:
Even though the white priests offered them (Paraiyas) a free education,
the small children refused to go to school. They all went off and took up
any small job they could get. At least the boys went for a short while
before they stopped school. The girls didn’t even do that much. They had
enough to do at home anyway, carrying the babies around and doing the
housework. My mother at least studied up to the fifth class. My Perimma
didn’t know anything. (Sangati p.5)
In the above quotation you must have noticed that availability of education free of
cost is not enough. There are other overriding concerns that restricted education of
children among the poor and the deprived. One, the problem is economic—boys
have to go fetch for work so they can contribute to the family’s income which is
40
otherwise scarce. Their time has to be spent in working and not studying. This is a Bama: Sangati-I
real problem. As noted above, there is little will in small children to go to school
and the parents too would rather have them earn. Two, there is a social angle to the
problem especially in the case of girls. In the absence of both the parents who must
work and earn, you will see that in the text young girls in the family take care of the
domestic chores. These include cooking, cleaning, rearing their infant sibling among
others.

You will however notice that the attitude somewhat changes at the time the narrator
grows up. When the narrator’s grandmother tells her mother “As soon as she gets
her periods, you stop her from studying, hand her over to some fellow or the other
and be at peace”, the mother replies “‘Her father won’t allow her to stop off now.
He wants her to study at least to the tenth. He says, we didn’t learn anything, and so
we go to ruin. He says, let them at least get on in the world’” (9). Importantly,
education does become the means through which the narrator is able to “get on in
the world”, that she had to face many hardships on the way notwithstanding.

It is not to say that with education of Dalits the entire mindset of people can be
changed. We find that even educated Dalits have to face discrimination in the city
at the hands of the upper caste communities. This is when legally and politically
they have equal rights in the country. The focus here is on the social psyche of the
country that would not consider a Dalit equal. As we note in the case of the narrator—
”However well one can fend off all the other questions, there can be no getting
round this question of caste. If I answer straight out that I am a pariachi, they will
not let me rent their house. They make it really difficult however much I am willing
to pay” (120). Note that money is not a criterion for the landlords, caste is the ruling
concern. This also brings in the pure/impure discourse used against the Dalits. Thus,
the narrator exclaims—”These days, it is as hard to find lodgings as it is to find
employment. People hesitate to rent houses to Dalits.” (120).

3.6 LET US SUM UP

In our evaluation of the text Sangati we must keep in mind that Bama presents a
Dalit view of things but she does so by presenting a woman-centric view of Dalit
life. She scrutinizes her own community equally as she does the upper caste one.
Sangati simultaneously works at two levels—exposing the discriminatory practice
against women in a patriarchal set-up and looking at the fossilized institution of
caste from the point of view of women.

Bama in Sangati has specifically focused on two important aspects—social

prejudices against the entire Dalit community and violence done upon women in
domestic and public spheres. To this end, Bama draws out incidents and events
from lives of close friends and relatives who faced such exploitation. She takes up
at length the various causes of social exclusion and gives concrete opinion on them
in the text. Deploying the style of anecdotes Bama makes use of the autobiographical
form and blends it with the fictional. The text charts out the equation between
different groups in society—upper caste and low caste men; upper caste and low
caste women; upper caste women and low caste women; Dalit men and women etc.
It is a kind of power play in which the victim in one place becomes the victimizer in
another. The subtle nuances of these relationships are captured adequately by Bama.
At the same time, Bama highlights the problems faced by Dalits both in rural and
urban areas. A Dalit woman faces even bigger problems of survival in the city. She
41
Fiction and Autobiographical has her own battles to fight even as they are different in nature as compared to the
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village life. Education plays an important role in this and Bama problematizes this
area making us better evaluate the specific problems faced by her community.

3.7 GLOSSARY
Individual and Typical : a character can have certain specific traits that
distinguish him or her from other characters. But
she/he also belongs to a particular group in society
that behaves in a common manner. It is the tendency
of a class or section that the character shares.
Therefore the group that the character belongs to,
will make him/her act in one way even if it goes
against the individual persona.
Bildungsroman : it is a novel (roman) about growing up of the
protagonist. It charts the varied influences that shape
the personality of the central character. ‘Bildungs’
signifies the building up of the character.
Double Marginalization : it refers to exploitation that takes place
simultaneously at two levels. Dalit women are
victims of upper-caste oppression and male-
dominated society. They suffer at both ends and are
thus marginalised at two levels.
Dehumanisation : when a human being is looked down upon and is
deprived of essential positive human qualities; thus
snatching from her/him all the rights that come
along with dignified living.
Religious Conversion : conversion from one religion to another was
common in India under the British rule. Christian
Missionaries all over the country wooed the
deprived sections of society to convert them by
offering their children free education and meals.
Dalits were particularly inclined to conversion
because Hinduism considered them untouchables
and gave them no rights according to the varna
system.
Patriarchy : where the rule of the patriarch prevails; it refer to a
social set up where norms and values as also
behaviour and roles are determined keeping the
male at the centre rather at a pedestal. In such a
society women are made to believe that they are
innately inferior to men and that men have a right
to treat them any way. Women thus are seen as male
property.

42
 Bama: Sangati-I
3.8 QUESTIONS
1) Analyse Bama’s view of her own community. Do you think she is equally
critical of her own people as she is of the upper caste?

2) Compare and contrast the predicament of Dalit women and Upper caste women
in Sangati. Cull out examples to support your answer from the text.

3) Write a note on the predicament of a Christian Dalit woman as presented in

Sangati.

4) Does Sangati end on an optimistic note? What according to the writer can
elevate the conditions of the Dalits?

3.9 SUGGESTED READINGS

—.Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Australia: Thomson,1999
— Akshaya Kumar and Amandeep. “Dalit versus Mainstream Autobiography: A
Critical Note”. Indraprasth. Vol. 1. 2012. Guru Gopbind Singh Indraprastha
University: New Delhi. Pp.20-29.
Chakravarti, Uma. Gendering Caste Through a Feminist Lens. Calcutta: Stree, 2003.
Kothari, Rajni. Caste in Indian Politics. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, 2010.
Omvedt, Gail. Understanding Caste: From Buddha to Ambedkar and Beyond. New
Delhi: Orient BlackSwan, 2011.
Ragamalika, Annam. “Caste, Gender Dichotomy: a Dalit Feminist Perspective—A
Study of Bama’s Sangati” . Impressions. E-journal vol.6, no.1, 2012. http://
www.impressions.org.in/jan12/ar_annamr.html
Ravikumar, and R. Azhagarasan, ed. Anthology of Tamil Dalit Writing. Chennai:
OUP, 2012.
Tharu, Susie and K. Lalita. Women Writing in India, Volume 1: 600 BC to the Early
Twentieth Century. New Delhi : OUP, 1991.
Srinivasan, M.N. Introduction, Caste: Its twentieth Century Avatar. Ed. M.N.
Srininvas. New Delhi: Penguin,1996. p. xi.

43
Fiction and Autobiographical
Writing UNIT 4 BAMA: SANGATI - II

Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Opening the Discussion
4.2 Role and Significance of the Narrator
4.2.1 Narrator as Character
4.2.2 Narrator as Observer
4.2.3 The Questioning Narrator
4.2.4 Experiential Narrative
4.2.5 Recording History Through Memory
4.2.6 Self-Conscious Narrator
4.3 Religion Tradition and Cultural Values
4.3.1 Why is Religion Important in the Analysis of Dalit Identity?
4.3.2 A Particular view of Christianity from Dalit Perspective
4.3.3 How are Cultural Values Formed?
4.3.4 Place of Superstition and Beliefs in the Dalit Community
4.3.5 Importance of the Local Dialect
4.3.6 Tradition, Rituals, Superstition and Beliefs as Anti-women
4.4 Class and City-Village Divide
4.4.1 Problem of Immense Poverty Faced by the Dalit Community as Agricultural
Labourers
4.4.2 Predicament of Indentured Labour Abroad
4.4.3 Intrusion of Capitalism, the New Phenomenon
4.5 Let Us Sum Up
4.6 Glossary
4.7 Questions
4.8 Suggested Readings

4.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit you should be able to understand:
• the specific narrative technique used by Bama in Sangati and the purpose behind
it;
• the way religious and other cultural institutions work towards maintaining order
by controlling the minds of people, in this case particularly the Dalits; and
• class divisions in society, the resultant poverty and the predicament of the
Dalit agricultural labourer.

4.1 OPENING THE DISCUSSION

Let’s begin with the end of the text. That’s where we actually find the predicament
of the narrator. The last chapter is the only chapter that is focused more or less
entirely on the writer’s experience other than that the entire text constitutes what
she sees or has heard about people in her surroundings.
44
You will find that in a broader sense the issue of women’s oppression is at the Bama: Sangati-II
centre of the text. Add to this the fact that these women are dalits. This also entails
that these are poorest of the poor who have to work each day to sustain themselves
as they have no stored income or food. It is a fight for daily survival in which
women, men, and children contribute their share. What we find is that women have
a larger share in this contribution which actually runs them down physically.
The possible solution offered by the writer in the text is that education is a must for
the community. The narrator is seen to have taken that path and finds herself more
aware and potent to fight the order. And yet she casts a doubt over the new
phenomenon amongst the Dalits of gaining education. Not that she discounts the
fact that education is the most important thing. She traces the movement and direction
in which education is taking the young generation. The narrator makes one of the
characters point out in the text that these people who become educated begin to
look down upon their own people as if they had become changed people, some
foreigners. They refuse to associate with their lot and detach themselves from the
community feeling ashamed of it. They are as is suggested like oil on water. They
can no more merge with the community. This new phenomenon is brought to the
fore without any sense of bias or consciousness. The narrator honestly and squarely
poses the question before the reader without eulogizing this lot. Her own answer
however is to be found in the stance she adopts vis-à-vis her caste and identity. She
refuses to be cowed down in the urban spheres and cries aloud her identity of which
she says she is proud of.
It is the mindset of the people that is at fault according to her. As she describes her
experience of a dalit unmarried woman (p.120) she finds that she is doubly and
triply marginalised. For being a dalit she is not given a place she can rent. For being
a woman she is generally looked down upon. Thirdly for being a single woman
people constantly target her, keep sharp watch on her and consider her a loose
woman. She describes her fight at all these levels in the last chapter of the book.

4.2 ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE

NARRATOR
In Sangati individual stories and memories of people and events as also of personal
experiences are narrated in the first person. Thus it is a First Person Narrative (see
Glossary). These instances are then generalized as given truths by the figure of the
grandmother or mother figures in the text who offer comments on particular events
and anecdotes. In fact the author-narrator too offers such comments later in the
text. Is the narrative that of a young girl in the first part or is it that of an adult
woman—one who figures towards the end of the text? The author has built two
separate personas of the narrator—the curious-questioning young girl of twelve
and the young confidant-rational woman who figures in the last four chapters. Does
it mean there are two narrators? We find that the reflective voice of the adult woman
is in fact the narrator of events. She recounts past experiences and we identify with
this narrator who can get under the skin of a young girl and narrate life from her
point of view as well.

4.2.1 Narrator as Character

In the beginning of Sangati the narrator Pathima (whose name is seldom taken in
the text) is thirteen years old. But the narrator who is telling us the story is an adult
woman looking back at the bygone years. When she looks at events and people in
the past then she looks at herself also as a character amongst others. In this sense 45
Fiction and Autobiographical we simultaneously see the world of the text through the eyes of the young girl
Writing
thirteen years of age as well as through the distant eye of the adult woman who is
narrating the events. We see that the young girl shares a special bond with her
grandmother. In the tales of the grandmother the young girl finds immense wealth
of experience and food for thought. Paatti, the grandmother, supplies the narrator
with information and answers she has been looking for. In fact, the young girl/
narrator finds strength in her grandmother. The latter acquaints her with the real
problems of their community—she does not hide the ugly truths from the young
girl rather tells her squarely. This helps the narrator understand the surroundings
better—”she (Paatti) always chattered on about all sorts of things” (Sangati p.8). In
this sense the narrator gains knowledge of things and the way to deal with them.
For instance when Pathima is scared to enter the fields—”‘Aren’t you scared yourself,
Paatti? Come, let’s go home.’ I begged her” her grandmother’s show of courage
inspires her as the old woman replies—”Look there are two of us, aren’t there?
We’ll gather firewood a little longer and then go back. You’re frightened because
you are only a little girl” (Sangati p.8). Indeed the narrator as she grows imbibes
the sense of courage exhibited by the grandmother in the text.

4.2.2 Narrator as Observer

In the first part of the novel we see that the narrator precisely observes situations
and people. She does not give her perspective on things. Here we realise that the
narrator is perhaps the young girl who still doesn’t understand the mechanics of
social life. This seems to be a deliberate ploy of the author. She wants us to see the
workings of a young girl’s mind.

Nonetheless the narrator presents a detailed view of events that she witnesses in the
course of the narrative. In many a case she is the silent observer who from a distance
observes the fate of her friends and cousins who have been crushed by the dual
weight of patriarchy and caste ostracisation (See Glossary). The narrator remains
at the margins looking upon the lives of others and analysing them with the skills
she has attained with education. For instance:

The narrator largely remains unaffected by the hardships faced by her dear ones.
She learns from the experiences of others and charts a different future for herself.

4.2.3 The Questioning Narrator

We find in Sangati that the young girl narrator relentlessly questions the rituals
around her. She questions the state they are made to live in and the social bias that
exists for their community. The author explores the mind of a young girl in the text
and at the same time employs the innocent narrative to question the basic problems
of society which adults look over or consider as given truths. The young girl questions
injustice done to other around her. She is also bewildered by events and tries to
probe hidden truths: “So how can one have a baby all by oneself, Patti? Why did
she have to go out to work when she was just due? Couldn’t she have stayed at
home?”. These questions are genuine and speak the woe of women who must go to
the fields to fetch food for the family even in their full term pregnancy, as her
grandmother tells the narrator “and anyway it wasn’t just her, more or less all the
women in our street are the same”. The inquisitive narrator in the text is important
in making the structure of the text exploratory. What is meant is that the questioning
narrator in each chapter constantly explores and examines issues concerning Dalit
life.
46
4.2.4 Experiential Narrative Bama: Sangati-II

The story notes the experiences of a young girl—what she feels as an adolescent,
the kind of questions she repeatedly asks that projecting the simplicity of her mental
graph. This mental graph gets contrasted with the one she has as a mature adult.
The growth in her character becomes evident she gets old. Education plays an
important role here—it gives the narrator strength to fight the given circumstance
and also analyze the position of the Dalits. Her experiences as an adult have a
subtle edge and her critiques become sharper. Note for instance:

4.2.5 Recording History Through Memory

Do you think the narrator consciously uses words like “apparently” and “it seems”
in the text? Look at the following passage:

“Vellaiyamma Kizhavi (as everyone called the old lady) was my mother’s
mother. My own mother never actually saw her father, Goyindan. It seems
he went away when she was a three-month old baby and never returned.
My Paatti, it seems, got married when she was fourteen years old. My
mother was her second child. The older one was my aunt, my Perimma. It
seems within four years after he married, Thaatha disappeared” (Sangati
p.4).

Here as we can see the narrator wishes to emphasise that the story is not just about
what she sees or has seen but also about what she has heard from others like her
grandmother, or mother.

“Nor did I ever see Paatti wearing a chattai, a sari-blouse. Apparently, in her times,
lower-caste women were not allowed to wear them” (4-5). The suggestion is that
the narrator has gathered second hand information from those around her. As we
are told “As she (the grandmother) was about it, she’d give me all the gossip of the
village”(6) and “Apparently all this is very recent. In my Paatti’s time, she said,
there never was all this show and festivity” (Sangati p.16).

In this way the narrative is about the collective experience of a community. It charts
the history of not one but three generations: the grandmother’s; narrator’s mothers—
aunts’; and her own along with friends and cousins. Thus we find that the narrator
recounts certain past instances as well—Those that do not occur as the narrative
unfolds but are told to the narrator by the grandmother. In a way it is construction of
oral history—a history of suffering passed down from one generation to another
that records facts and events even as they largely remain undocumented. Memory
then becomes an important tool in the hands of the victims who narrate events of
violence and suffering to the next generation keeping the narration of history of
oppression alive.

Questions of the narrator posed to the grandmother come to mind: “But you said
they used to sing and raise a kulavai to the girl. Do you remember that song Paatti?”
The grandmother’s response after she sings the song strikes a sad note: “‘After
every four lines there was a kulavai, an ululation’, Paatti said. Then she added
sorrowfully, ‘Daughter of a wretch, what good did it do her to come of age and
become a pushpavati? The very next week she fell ill and took to her bed’” (Sangati
p.17).

47
Fiction and Autobiographical 4.2.6 Self-conscious Narrator
Writing
Also by using tentative words such as “seems” and “apparently” the narrator keeps
away the responsibility of saying the truth from herself.
“When my mother and Perimma were little children, the Christian priests came to
our village. When they promised that if our people joined their faith, their children
would get a free education, it seems that all the paraiyas became Christians. None
of the other communities, pallar, koravar, or chakkiliyar did so. All of them remained
Hindus. Why on earth paraiyas alone became Christians, I don’t know, but because
they did so at that time; now it works out that they get no concession from the
government whatsoever” (5).
The irony is that the dalits converted to Christianity to get a better life and in the
event they lost on all the concessions given by the government to other Dalit
communities. They could thus gather no benefits from either side.

4.3 RELIGION TRADITION AND CULTURAL

VALUES
4.3.1 Why is Religion Important in the Analysis of Dalit
Identity?
It is because all the groups in society that have been exploited economically,
politically and importantly in the name of religion constitute the oppressed. The
Marathi term ‘Dalit’ stands for the ‘ground down’ people—the oppressed. Religion
is an important instrument in the hands of the upper caste and class that is used
against the down trodden. The question however is how? A set of practices and
beliefs that we observe as part of religion give us a sense of right and wrong. It also
makes us believe in god’s will and the idea of fate against which we must not fight.
In this sense oppression that has been taking place since centuries in the Indian
caste system is understood to be legitimate and of god’s will. People thus must
accept it as article of faith. Under the framework of religion one is not suppose to
question caste and class distinctions, inequality and injustice. Commitment and
devotion to religious faith often make the people in general blind to rational thought.
It is thus that schedule castes, schedule tribes, labourers, peasants and women find
religion detrimental to their interests. In fact tradition too functions in a similar
manner and serves a similar purpose—that of maintaining the status-quo (see
glossary).
You will find in Sangati that religion is critiques from many angles. It is seen as
anti-women and anti-Dalits. Importantly it is also anti-poor. The priest at church
threatens women “with tales of God, Heaven and Hell” (35). Women are not allowed
to enter the sacristy while men are. These and many other instances in the text
show how religion controls and oppresses women. This is also true of the Dalit
community as whole. The Dalits are treated in a shoddy manner by the priests
because they belonged to the low-caste. This is when the paraiya community had
converted to Christianity. The prejudice still prevailed.

4.3.2 A Particular View of Christianity From Dalit Perspective

Bama problematises the question of religion specifically in her analysis of
Christianity vis-à-vis the Dalits in India. She focuses on the hypocrisy of Christian
religion as practiced in her neighborhood. Note for instance:
48
 Sothipillai joined in, shouting angrily, ‘Just look at what goes on in our Bama: Sangati-II
church as well. It is our women who sweep the church and keep it clean.
Women from other castes stand to one side until we’ve finished and then
march in grandly and sit down before anyone else. I’ve stood it as long as
I could, and at last I went and complained to the nuns. And do you know
what they said? It seems we will gain merit by sweeping the church and
that God will bless us specially. See how they fool us in the name of God!
Why, don’t those people need God’s blessing too? (Sangati p.119)

Dalit women in the above quote can see the nefarious working of the Church in
particular and religion in general. You must have seen in the text that even after
converting to the Christian religion the Dalits were socially degraded and were
asked to menial work in the name of God.

You will find that in Sangati Bama brings into discussion the conversion of their
family into Christianity which happened in her grandmother’s time. It was only the
community of paraiyas who became Christians. This was because the missionaries
offered their children free education. Other Dalit communities however remained
Hindus. The irony of this is that benefits made available to Dalits by law in India
were not extended to the Periyar community since they had converted themselves
to Christianity. Thus they were deprived of concession and allowance other low
caste communities received. Such is the plight Bama brings out of her community—

When my mother and Perimma were little children, the Christian priests
came to out village. Perimma were little children, the Christian priests
came to our village. When they promised that if our people joined their
faith, their children would get a free education, it seems that all the Paraiyas
alone became Christians. None of the other communities, pallar, koravar,
or chakkliyar did so. All of them remained Hindus. Why on earth paraiyas
alone became Christians, I don’t know, but because they did so at that
time; now it works out that they get no concessions from the government
whatsoever. (Sangati p.5)

The young girl narrator from whose eyes we see events seems to hold a grudge
against the entire community for converting into Christianity. This is also because
conversion helped them in no way rather snatched from them what they were
genuinely entitled to.

4.3.3 How Are Cultural Values Formed?

Culture is the sphere where ideas are formed. Tradition, education, lifestyle, forms
of festivities, ritual and religious-social practices as also belief patterns constitute
the area of culture.

Let us turn to the text in order to understand the important role religion, tradition
and cultural values play in our life. In the following passage from the text we see
how patriarchal values are formed in homes and religious places and forged in
minds of children at an early age who imbibe them as real and natural:

When we played ‘buses’, there were always boys at the start and finish of
the rope as driver and conductor, who allowed the girls to enter in the
middle, and shouted at them. And when we played husbands and wives
they were the ones in authority; they took the roles of policemen and
shop owners” (Sangati p.31) 49
Fiction and Autobiographical Note that authority and ownership is seen as rights of boys in a simple game that
Writing
appears inconsequential. We see how at an early age boys and girls know the part
they must play in games where boys take positions of power and girls assume
positions of submission to that power. Games are a part of cultural activities and
these instill a sense of inferiority amongst young girls and superiority amongst
boys. Religion, as you will see in the text, too joins hands in this kind of
discrimination as we notice further that:

If it was like this at home, it was even worse at church. When we were in
the seventh and eighth class, me and my friends Jayapillai, Nirumala,
Chandura, Seeniamma, and others wanted desperately to peep into sacristy
at least once, someday, somehow, and run away without getting caught.
But we never ever made it, even a single time. Even the tiniest boys, born
just the other day, would manage to get in there as quick as anything.
They’d go in one way and come out the other. But they never allowed the
girls to join in.(32)

Restriction to enter the sacristy was only for women. Boys could enter it without
qualms. In this we see that all religions are equally prejudiced against women and
all their doctrines preach against the interest of women. This is also true of festivities
and other forms of entertainment in a cultural milieu. The narrator adds:

If they put on a play or something on a festival day, they never allowed

women to take part. The men themselves would dress up and act as women
rather than allow us to join in. (Sangati p.32)

Again we see women are barred to enact on stage. They are denied freedom men
have. These together become the background against which cultures and its values
are formed.

4.3.4 Place of Superstition and Beliefs in the Dalit Community

The text begins with one of the strong beliefs of the community about child birth—
”‘if the third is a girl to behold your courtyard will fill with gold’” constitutes the
opening sentence. Proverbs like this and others in the text form the core cultural
life of the Paraiya community Bama depicts. The narrator elaborates on the proverb
further—”They used to say that it was a good thing for the first, third, fifth, seventh
and ninth baby, the odd-numbered one, to be a girl. So if the second, fourth, sixth,
and eight baby, the even-numbered one was a boy, it was a lucky thing they said”
(1). The emphasis on “they said” tells us that these are commonly held beliefs that
the community as a whole shares. Thus the community would believe in certain
ethos as given-unchangeable practices. The tales and folklores, rituals and
ceremonies of the community are carried on and passed on to the following
generations. Tales of spirits particularly form an important part of the narrative.
Stories about the spirits—Esaaki, munni, and the wandering troupe of spirits called
Ayyankaachi—run into several pages and tell of people’s fears.

4.3.5 Importance of the Local Dialect

Bama in Sangati is conscious of providing the actual sense of the community through
belief systems as also through the local dialect (see glossary) of the community she
profusely adds. You must have noticed while reading the book many Tamil words—
especially those of relationships used to address brother (anna or thambi), aunt
(Perimma), cousin (macchaan), mother (Amma), father (Ayya), grandfather
50
(Thaatha) and grandmother (Paatti). There is a variety of Tamil words from everyday Bama: Sangati-II
life chosen to give a flavour of the community life. Words like devani, chattai for
dress, muni and pey for spirits, pottu for bindi and mai for kohl add to the pleasure
of reading the text. However more than pleasure, the author is set to assert her
identity as a paraichi (woman of the paraiya caste) that she extensively makes use
of the community dialect. Bama in both Sangati and Karruku “contrary to the normal
practice of publishing” does not employ “the formal grammatically-bound Tamil”.
Instead, she uses the “colloquial Tamil with its regional and caste inflections. While
the upper caste could enter this language only with a degree of effort and
unfamiliarity, these texts distance themselves from the formal and establish the
ordinary as their chosen domain”. It is in keeping with such a choice of language”
that “events which populate these texts are ordinary and belong to the everyday”
(Pandian, 35).Thus, choosing to write in this style is a political act on the part of the
author.

4.3.6 Tradition, Rituals, Superstition and Beliefs as Anti-women

Among the many beliefs of the Dalit community one finds that crucially it is the
female experience of linking up one’s being as possessed by spirits. It tells of the
psychological tension in women imposed by patriarchy that takes them closer towards
a sense of hysteria. Lakshmi Holmstrom suggests that Bama “explores the
psychological stresses and strains which may be a reason for Dalit women’s belief
in their being possessed by spirits or peys.(, xvii) You will see that in the text the
narrator relates the story of Manacchi who had supposedly been possessed by a pey.
A similar incident it is told happened with another woman Muukaya Chettiar’s
wife who fell into the well and died. These stories streamed the neighbourhood.
The narrator’s grandmother warns the girls around: “Don’t you girls go off to watch
her! The pey always grabs hold of young girls as soon as it claps eyes on them”
(46). Still other women go about saying “‘My daughter was telling me that child
Manacchi had her period that day besides. She must really have been in a trance.
Everyone knows that all peys are attracted by the smell of menstrual blood.’” (47).
That spirits take control of women is a regular phenomenon in the milieu described
by Bama (They spoke a lot about peys in our streets. 54) The author gives it a kind
of authenticity as the entire community becomes involved in curing the woman
who is possessed. In fact it cuts across communities as the narrator tells us of an
instance where a woman of the “vanaan (washermen) caste was possessed and was
dancing”. “The vanaan community” the narrator tells “lived on a street next to
ours”. Thus the entire neighbourhood of different communities comes together to
watch how the soothsayer would cure her. The entire drama unfolds thereafter.
These superstitions add to the insecure atmosphere that young girls find themselves
in. they constantly feel of being grabbed by evil spirits. In a way superstitions of
this sort control movement of girls and instill fear in them. This becomes clear in
the narrator’s approach who asks Paatti “‘why does the pey only possess women,
Patti? It never seems to go for the men, even when they are on their own’”. The
grandmother’s reply to this question brings out an important issue. You will see that
superstitions are embedded in a cultural ethos that considers women weak and
cowardly. While in actuality as is evident in the text the opposite is true. See what
Patti says: “‘How will it catch men? They know how to be brave in their hearts. The
pey only catches people who are scared. Its’ women who are always fearful
cowards’”. Further Kozhandai Amma adds “its not just that, you know. Its women
who are polluted every month. It’s when they are menstruating, they say, the pey
will get at them. Men don’t have this nuisance you see’”. (emphasis added, 50).
51
Fiction and Autobiographical Who is this they say in the above lines? It refers to a notion that is circulated in
Writing
society as commonly known facts while in actuality these are views that are meant
to make women subservient to the rule of men. The irony is that this idea of pollution
and impurity attached to women is something women are made to believe in. Thus
they perceive themselves as cowardly and impure. This is a strong indication of
cultural hegemony (see glossary). The narrator’s perspective however gives these
instances a clear shape. As she says: “As I listened to more of these stories and
thought about it all, I was convinced that it was all false. But all the same, I thought
about the fact that only women—and Dalit women in particular—become
possessed”. Examining why this was the case the narrator rationalizes it by going
into the lives of Dalit women—I understood the reason. From the moment they
wake up, they set to work both in their homes and in the fields”. Add to this the
sexual exploitation women face at the hands of their husbands. The narrator
continues—”women are overwhelmed and crushed by their own disgust, boredom,
and exhaustion, because of this. The stronger ones somehow manage to survive all
this. The ones who don’t have the mental strength are totally oppressed; they succumb
to mental ill-heath and act as if they are possessed by peys. (59)

4.4 CLASS AND CITY-VILLAGE DIVIDE

4.4.1 Problem of Immense Poverty Faced by the Dalit Community
as Agricultural Labourers
You will see that the Dalit community represented in the text consists of agricultural
labourers whose labour is used by the land owning groups. They do not own lands
and therefore are always subject to the landlord’s terms. Swapna Samel in Dalit
Movement in South India 1857-1950 explains the phenomenon thus:

The members of the Dalit community were neither Zamindars not rayots;
they were agricultural labours, both bonded and free. They were not
permitted to have even Government Darkest land. There applications
were disposed on various grounds. Being almost invariably illiterate and
socially downtrodden, they were even charged with excessive taxes,
especially Pariahs who were cultivators. Some times they were made to
pay wet rates for dry cultivation. Condition of poor and bonded Dalits
was more miserable; they were exploited through various types of
punishments for false charges forced on them. (155)

This kind of exploitation in fact accentuated poverty amongst the Dalits. Ironically
even when these Dalit agricultural labourers don’t own the land they work on, they
are deeply attached with it—”‘This rain is excellent for the sesame and cotton
crops. They’ll grow good and sturdy, with stalks as juicy as spinach’, Susaiamma
remarked. She spoke with such concern about the sesame and cotton plants, as if
she were talking about her own children.” Seeing Susaimma talk in this fashion
Solayamma mocks her “‘Have you bought some land for yourself or what, tha?”.
To this Susaiamma retorts “How will I own land? I’m talking about the landlords’
fields. It’s only if their crops grow well and flourish that we are likely to get any
work.” We see that the Dalit labourers are totally dependent on the landlords’ fields
and his whims. You should also note that the landlords flourish while the labourers
can barely get enough to survive—”they (upper class women) stay in the shade all
day and all they do is cook and eat. They dress themselves in all the new fashions.
They bathe and make themselves up everyday. So what do they lack?”. There is
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also a sense of hopelessness that these women experience about having their own Bama: Sangati-II
land—”Are you suggesting that there will be a time when our people will live off
their own land? That’s never going to happen” (Sangati p.111).

Describing the life of city-goers, Paatti, the narrator’s grandmother is mesmerized

as she tells fellow women of her village:

‘If you go to town, you’ll see a huge number of vehicles. So many of

them, I can’t tell you. And in all those buses and cars, there are people
coming and going. God knows where all those crowds are going or coming
from. And do you think they just walk along quietly? No, they are always
buying and eating something or the other, as if it is a festival day. And the
shopkeepers! How many goods they bring and sell!’ (Sangati)

This leaves the entire group of women in wonder. The hustle-bustle of the city and
its fast-paced life is contrasted with the rustic life of these women. There is lack of
job opportunities in the village as women and men are predominantly bound to the
land as labourers. However the narrator, who has been able to steer clear from the
occupations of her parents and the community at large, finds it difficult to get a job.
She says, “Later when I finished my studies and began to look for jobs, I realised
that even with an education one has to face many difficulties when trying to earn a
livelihood. Being a Dalit creates a problem” (Sangati p.118). Combined with this is
the problem of fewer jobs in the city—”Of course, we can learn to read and write.
We could show a certificate, and earn a few rupees. But they say there’s big demand
for the few jobs that are going” (118).

4.4.2 Predicament of Indentured Labour Abroad

In Sangati you will find that it is worth noting that the narrator’s grandfather
disappeared after he left for work to Sri lanka and never came back. We sense
exploitation meted out to indentured labourers who migrated in search of jobs. As
we are told:

“It so happened that a Kangani, an agent from a tea estate in Sri Lanka,
arrived just at that time to recruit a whole group of workers from our
village. It was with them that Thaatha went away. But once he left, he was
gone forever. He never ever came back. All the others who went with him
returned within four or five months. They said they were treated like dogs
over there. They said even life in our village was better than that” (Sangati
p.4).

This is clear example of class exploitation that cuts across caste and community.
One wonders what would have happened to the narrator’s grandfather. Did he die
struggling in the gruesome circumstances as described above or decided to test his
fortune further and remained back in Sri Lanka? Whatever be the case migration
owing to lack of resources and jobs as also extreme poverty in the village became
the way of life at the time.

4.4.3 Intrusion of Capitalism, the New Phenomenon

You will note in the text that there are builders in the village who “were digging
wells in those parts gave good wages” and “even though it meant hard labour, the
youngsters went to work there hoping to pick up a few coins which would help to
fill their bellies” (Sangati p.17). Here you will find that capitalism has entered the
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Fiction and Autobiographical villages and is offering alternative job options to the young poor offering them
Writing
good pay as compared to agricultural work.
At the same time you’ll see the contrast between the lifestyles of the rich and the
poor as in:
“When we saw the pigs (of the rich), we could hardly move this way or
that. They’ve got so huge and fat, it’s unbelievable. You think these are
just ordinary pigs, do you? It seems they are all foreign. And do you think
they wander about eating shit like our pigs do? No, these are reared on
wheat and milk-powder and biscuits. Then why won’t they be white and
not coal-black like ours?
When Paati said this, we gazed in astonishment as if we were staring at
foreign pigs. After a while, Maadathi said, ‘Here we are, working away
like dogs before we can afford to buy wheat and milk-powder from the
priests, and look at the good luck that falls upon those pigs!” (Sangati
p.13)
The suggestion in the above lines is that even pigs kept by the rich have a better
standard of living than the poor people. The pigs are reared on wheat and milk-
powder, things the poor can’t afford. This brings into discussion the crucial question
of economic inequality that exits in society. There is a yawning gap between the
rich and poor as represented in Sangati. In fact you will see that different caste
groups together form the underprivileged group as against the upper class. Thus,
Bama at one level critiques the social inequalities that exist between upper caste
and the Dalits. However at another level she offers a sharp critique of the land/
capital owing groups that exploit the poor.

4.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have discussed the seminal question of the narrator in Sangati. We
see how the narrator assumes the role of a silent observer at one time and a rebellious
adolescent at another. We find that the narrative is a sequence of events that gain
coherence because of the joining thread i.e. the narrator. There is also discussion in
this unit on the necessity of writing such a piece. Along with that we have discussed
how Bama is in fact documenting the history of her community through her writings.
In Bama there are layers of experiences—she explores the realm deeper and provides
the reader with different shades of the Dalit community. Further she problematises
the question and even the possible answer is problematised. We have also studied
how, as evident in Bama, tradition religion and cultural values together keep the
practice of subordination of Dalits in place. These in no way assist the emancipation
of Dalits rather make conditions conducive to oppression. At the same time the
question of class inequalities have been raised in the discussion. We have taken
note of the occupation of Dalits of the paraiya community who were agricultural
labourers or indentured laboureres. In addition, we have discussed the predicament
they face vis-à-vis the rich landed communities. Eventually, the stark contrast
between rural and urban spheres has been focused upon in the unit.

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 Bama: Sangati-II
4.6 GLOSSARY
First person Narrative : where the narrator speaks in the first person that is
in the “I” format and addresses the reader directly.
This is different from the third person narrative
where the narrator talks about all characters in the
“s/he” format.
Ostracisation : exclusion from society; pushing a group or a
community of people to the margins and thus
considering them insignificant.
Status quo : letting things remain the way they exist in the
present form; the existing state of affairs.
Dialect : the peculiar language used by a specific
community; the colloquial way of speaking in a
particular social group.
Cultural Hegemony : the term hegemony means domination or control
that one group in society has over another. Once
we add cultural to it the phrase suggests domination
which is not apparent or visible, one that is hidden
or indirect. It could refer to controlling the minds
of a people without using force. In this sense, forms
of indoctrination and manipulation along with our
shaping perception of our selves and the
surroundings would constitute cultural hegemony.

4.7 QUESTIONS
1) Chart the growth of the narrator from a young girl of thirteen to an adult educated
woman.
2) Write a note on the cultural life of the paraiya community—their customs, way
of talk, and belief in superstition etc..
3) Do you think religious conversion helped the Dalit paraiya community come
out of the clutches of caste oppression? Give reasons for your answer.
4) Why does the narrator (in 2.4.1) say “Being a Dalit creates a problem”? What
problem is she referring to?

4.8 SUGGESTED READINGS

Holmstrom, Lakshmi. Introduction. Sangati: Events by Bama. Delhi: OUP, 2005.
Pandian, M. S.S. “Writing Ordinary Lives”. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol.
43. No. 38. Sep. 2008.
Samel, Swapna H. Dalit Movement in South India 1857-1950. New Delhi: Serials,
2004. p. 155.

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