englishcircle - Analysis Unit 4

Summary of the essay Dalit Sahitya: The Historical Background

Eleanor Zelliot

Dalit Sahitya movement seems unique within Marathi literary tradition in Maharashtra. Dalit writing is different in the quality of writing, variety and aesthetic attractions from other writings by untouchables. This ‘literature of the oppressed’ is a social movement that is linked with action or change in society. Movements in Dalit writings have appeared in Karnataka as well as Gujarat and one day it will be an all India Movement. ‘Dalit’ in Hindi and Marathi means “ground down, depressed”. This term is preferred to other words like Harijan, Scheduled Caste or untouchable by the untouchables. The term is recognised by the governments of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The term is one of pride for untouchables.

Influence of Dr BR Ambedkar and his Buddhist beliefs can be seen in this movement from the 1920s. Dalit creativity is closely linked with this movement begun by the Mahar caste. The Mahar caste is a large Marathi speaking caste. They constitute about 9% of the Marathi speaking population of India. Eighty percent of these people have become Buddhists. They are found in every village throughout Maharashtra. Their traditional work was to serve the village as watchmen removers of cattle, messengers etc. The British called them ‘inferior village servants’. They were the all-purpose servants. They also were traditionally the singers, dancers, comedians and drummers of the folk drama e.g. ‘Tamasha’. Not only Mahar caste but also Mangs and Chambhars were discriminated against socially; the wells and temples were closed to them and their living quarters were removed from the village proper. Chokhamela was a 14th century poet-saint who lived as a traditional village ‘Mahar’. He is the only recorded voice of the Mahar within the devotional and religious Bhakti movement. Most of the poems of Chokhamela sing the glory of god Vitthal and the meaning of devotion. Some poems protest against untouchability and some acknowledge social inferiority. However, Chokhamela finds comfort in religious equality which is reflected in his poems like the writings of other poet-saints of the Bhakti movement. His poems are called ‘abhanga’ which are short narratives sung in between narration of stories.

There is a gap in literature between Chokhamela and the beginning of the modern Dalit movement. The first document of the new movement is by Gopal Baba Walangkar, an ex-soldier and Mahar who publicly challenged caste Hindus about their mistreatment of untouchables through his newspaper. He also appealed to the British government to allow for the recruitment of untouchables into the army again. After the initial efforts by Walangkar, a new generation of leaders started motivating those Marathas who had left the village for work in the mill, on the railroads and on the docks; to gain education and become united and powerful. Nagpur also became a strong part of this movement along with Bombay in Pune. Kisan Fago Bansode left a small volume of poetry beside his works for newspapers, libraries etc.

Twenty years after Bansode and Shivaram Janba Kamble, a distant relative of Walangkar, Dr BR Ambedkar appeared on the scene of dalit movement. He was much better educated and capable in spreading the message of equality. Ambedkar took pride in the army background of Walangkar and his own father. He was perhaps the most qualified among all the dalits in India. He represented all the untouchables and remained identified with them. He ensured to secure rights for the untouchables from the British government as well as the parliamentary structure in India.

Ambedkar’s political work resulted in the development of the Dalit Panthers, an Organisation that was founded in 1972 by writers namely Namdev Dhasal and Raja Dhale to protest against atrocities against untouchables in the villages. The founders of the Panthers believed in ‘Literature as a weapon’. The headline-years of the Panthers 1971-1973 may be termed as beginning of the Dalit Sahitya movement. The Buddhist conversion by Ambedkar and his followers played an important role in shaping the development of Dalit Sahitya. Mahad Satyagrah for water in 1928 proved to be an event that changed the course of Dalit Movement in India. It was used as a poetic image for protest. Dr Ambedkar helped to frame independent India’s new Constitution as Chair of the Drafting Committee. He outlawed untouchability but could not remove the idea of pollution and casteism from the hearts and minds of people. Untouchables wanted social and psychological freedom and simple criticism of Hinduism or protest from within the system were no longer adequate. A major short-story writer Baburao Bagul considered the Buddhist conversion of 1956 as the beginning of Dalit Sahitya.

Within two years of the conversion Shankarrao Kharat, the first major figure in the Dalit Sahitya published a book of short stories ‘Bada Balutedar’ in 1958. He has also edited a book on Ambedkar’s letters and the history of Buddhist conversion. His main focus is the description of the life of the Mahar and of other lowly people in the traditional village.His writing is sad but not bitter, descriptive rather than analytical. Unlike Kharat, Baburao Bagul wrote in a different style which is more realistic, forceful and based on city life. There are more realistic descriptions of violence and vulgarity in Bagul’s short stories. Slowly but steadily, Dalit writings have become influential in the recent Marathi literature. The highly regarded journal ‘Marathwada’ feature dalit writing in the 1969 issue. Times of India issued a special TimesWeekly dedicated to dalit poetry and stories translated into English. Poets like Namdeo Dhasal, Arun Kamble and Arjun Dangle contributed to the poetry extensively. These were the members of the first group of dalit Panthers. There were other poets outside the Panthers group. Daya Pawar not only published poetry but also wrote a fictionalized autobiography which he titled ‘Balut’. It was praised and was very influential. The writing of autobiographies is an important feature of Marathi literature not only among Buddhists but also in other dalit groups. Trayambak Sapkale published ‘Surung’ (explosion) in 1976 and won the poetry prize in Marathi that year. Waman Nimbalkar published his first romantic poem in 1959 but by 1973 named his dalit poetry collection 'Gaokushabaheril kavita' (poetry from the outskirts of the village.

Dalit Writing has had very humble beginning but new language, new experience, new sources of poetic inspiration as well as new writers entering the field have enriched the movement. The field of literature was once dominated by high castes but that scenario has now changed. Dalit Sahitya has also been at the centre of controversy. A critic of Dalit literature may ask some simple questions like can there be Dalit literature or only literature? Can only dalits write Dalit literature? Are educated ex-untouchables who have now become middle class, dalits? Supporters of Dalit literature may answer these questions like: Yes, there is Dalit literature; only dalits can write Dalit literature because they have the unique experience; educated middle class dalits not only remember the mistreatment done to them but also identify themselves with their village brothers and sisters. The middle-class dalit people still face the idea of pollution which remains strong in the Hindu mind. Dalits are still subjected to outrageous treatment when they claim their full human rights in villages as well as in cities.

Analysis: 'Habit' by FM Shinde

Detailed Critical Summary of the poem

This stanza has been taken from the poem ‘Habit’ written by FM Shinde. (if reference to the context is asked)

The poem ‘Habit’ has been written by FM Shinde. He is a prominent Marathi poet with 24 collections of poems. His poetry sympathizes with the agony of the underprivileged. He is also a prose writer. Most Dalit poetry expresses the agony of repressed or the anger of the rebel. Dalit poetry protests against the dominance of caste and class. Intense emotions and directness of language are major features of dalit poetry. The poem ‘Habit’ is subdued in its tone. The poem focuses on the inertness of the oppressed in society, especially Dalits.

Poet explains that if a person gets used to something he or she loses his sensitivity and does not feel anything. Such a person cannot express his emotions if there is something frightening or humiliating. The blood of such a person does not boil with anger even if he is insulted and humiliated. The poet compares the dalit to a clay statue, lifeless and silent, incapable of protest or resistance. A person whose feelings have been deadened by ‘habit’ behaves like a statue made of clay. The wet mud over his bone suggests that there are no nerves or feelings left in that person. The poet further says that an inert person is not affected by the sorrow that visits him. Such a person may feel embarrassed for a moment as if in dreams; but the feeling goes away immediately due to the habit of tolerance. Habit makes a person dull so much so that his feelings never find an outlet.

The poem is a direct attempt to provoke the inactive, passive dalits out of their habitual inertness and react against the unjust social system. The poem is an indirect and subdued wake-up call to dalits to cast off their sluggishness due to their habit of tolerating social injustice. The poet points that dalits have got so used to suffering all oppression, humiliation, insult and pain inflicted on them that they accept discrimination, social injustice and even cruelty without any protest. In this, they behave like a lifeless clay statue which is not affected by any external pain. They have no sensitivity left in them. So indirectly he tells the dalits that they must shake off their inertia, realize their true situation and not to accept any humiliation or injustice.

Critical Appreciation of the Untitled Poem by NT Rajkumar

NT Rajkumar has written an "Untitled" poem like FM Shinde's poem 'Habit'. This poem by NT Rajkumar brings out the sad plight of dalits in an indirect and symbolic manner. NT Rajkumar is associated with the caste Kanniya. People of this caste are associated with traditional methods of curing using herbs and incantations. His poems articulate the protest against the exploitation that people have been experiencing for ages.

In this poem the poet is challenging the oppressors of dalit people and is voicing the desire for revenge that is not individual but represents the restlessness and anger of all dalits. 'Dancing cobra eyes' represent the agitation that is needed to strike at the oppressors so as to destroy all that has crushed the dalits through the ages. The image of cobra has been used to represent the desire to destroy the people responsible for the plight of Dalits. The poet terms his poetry poisonous and compares it with fragrant flowers. The poetry is poisonous because it carries the message of revenge, death and destruction for the unjust social system. His poetry is like the seeds of protest that seeks to challenge, poison and demolish all existing power structures along with the literary tradition of the oppressors. Poet explains that the empowered groups of society will be so afraid of his writings that they will not have the courage to face it alone and they will gather more oppressors like themselves for their support. The phrase 'birds of prey' has been used to symbolize the oppressors of Dalit people. Poet calls on Shiva to let him wield the power of the god of anger to tease the empowered groups of society. The poet senses that the exploiters, which are called kites, fly away and disappear in the distance like a dot because of the poet's anger and desire for revenge. The kites may also have a wish for freedom. The poet however feels that people of high caste or class are afraid of him. The poet further proclaims that he cannot even touch the shadow of the kite,a symbol used for the oppressors and he will be born again and again as devil, as ghost, as Kali, as Isaki and as vengeful spirits and he will terrorize the oppressors of dalits and follow them till the end of times.

The poem expresses the anger, frustration and envy of dalit people who want to take revenge on the high castests or classes and they think of being reborn as spirits, ghosts, devils or vindictive furies to execute their revenge. The term Isaki has been taken from the marginalized narratives of local folk deities that are not part of the Hindu pantheon. This goddess Isaki is hungry for revenge like goddess Kali who wants to destroy all evil.

The poem was originally written in Tamil. Through this poem the poet wants to fight against oppression and injustice of all those responsible for the death and destruction of his people i.e. dalits. This fight will not get over with the poet's death because he will be reborn again and again as destructive forces of nature that will not rest till they execute the revenge for all the pain and suffering dalits have experienced. The poem becomes a weapon in the fight against injustice and expresses the anger and frustration of dalit people. It is the voice of a rebellious soul that wants to avenge itself. The poem represents the desire for revenge of all the dalits who feel bound to the reality of the earth.

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