SEC - BOOK REVIEW

UNTOUCHABLES BY NARENDRA JADHAV

Aditi (2018/724)

You are born into a society in which you cannot exercise your free will. Not because yo
u don't have the ability or resources. But because its a consequence of history. How wo
uld you feel?

Narendra Jadhav tells the unspeakable horror story of his family's struggle for equality a
nd justice in India. While most Dalits accepted their lowly position as fate, Jadhav's fath
er rebelled against the oppressive caste system and fought against all odds to give his ch
ildren a destiny that was never ordained. Based on his father's diaries and family stories,
Jadhav has written the story of his parents. He vividly brings the issues of hunger, the
cruel humiliations, the perpetual fear and brutal abuse in his book. It is a deeply compas
sionate son's tribute to his parents, an eye-opening work of nonfiction that an insight int
o the lives of India's millions of Dalit, whose struggle for equality continues even today.
Damu and Sonu Jadhav dedicated their lives to help their children break free of the sha
ckles of India's caste system. Behind their commitment is the towering inspiration of Ba
basaheb Ambedkar whose call to educate Dalit children became the motto of their lives.
The book is divided into the personal stories of his father and mother—a hard-working p
air who were determined that their son would have a better life. There are two protagoni
sts telling their stories one after another - Damu (father) and Sonu (Mother) . It is a stor
y of his father's plight; his determination to stand up to a religious dogma, and educate
his children for a better life. It is a story about millions of humans who are deemed 'unt
ouchables' by the elite in India, resulting in a grossly uneven distribution of resources, h
ousing and work opportunities. Rebelling against the norm takes courage and determinati
on. The future is uncertain but you know that the status quo is unacceptable. That's why
very few make the leap of faith and chart the way forward for the rest to follow. Dr. B.
R. Ambedkar was the beacon for the untouchables. Damu was one of Dr. Ambedkar's s
teadfast followers.
Even after reaching great heights of success, they are still addressed based upon their ca
ste (especially if belonging to a low caste) to remind them of their origin. It is cruel and
unacceptable. Education must be everyone's right and not determined by their caste. If
used correctly, education and knowledge can open great pathways.
Narendra Jadhav's untouchable ancestors walked with brooms on their rumps to erase the
ir polluting footprints. When a cow died, too sacred for others to eat, it was the untouch
ables, the hungry lowborn, who plucked at the stringy carcass, blood spraying their faces
as their children shooed scavenging dogs. Dr. Jadhav's ancestors were also required to
wear clay pots around their necks to keep their spit from polluting the ground that the u
pper castes walked on.
This story is presented through the eyes of Narendra Jadhav parents dhamu and Sonu fir
st and then by the second generation, author himself. It is about the journey of a Dalit f
amily from a small village, Ozar, to a big city Mumbai, and then to far off places like t
he USA. It depicts the oppressive and exploitative village life as well as the successes o
f the three generations of this family. The central narrative follows the transformation of
this family into a very successful family of eminent scholars and officers in the country
and abroad-all in a span of three generations.
Damu is a common man in a village who works as a Yeskar, the one who is assigned v
illage duties like that of guarding dead bodies. He has seen many atrocities, social boyco
tt and excluded life due to the hegemony in hierarchical society. Damu criticizes Hindu t
radition as it treats Mahars worse than cats and dogs. He says "I am a man of dignity a
nd I will not go from house to house begging for Baluta, what are all of you going to
do? Kill me?"- The words spoken by Damu show his painful criticism and contempt lev
eled by Dalit community against Hinduism.
The important events reflected in the book are how lower caste were humiliated, gender
playing the role in occupation by paying men and women differently, weddings and ritua
ls, how animal meat was consumed and celebrated. It can be seen that men and women
were paid differently by breaking huge boulders into gravel. It shows us the agitation le
d by Dr. BR Ambedkar and he had a profound influence on jadhav's parents. It empowe
red their will to teach their kids by walking on the path shown by Ambedkar. They cha
nged their religion from Hinduism to Buddhism as well. Damu also gets his family out
of poverty through working hard in city but it can be seen that even after several years
caste still persists as their identity even now.
One event where his father, Damu, recalls how he learned he was an Untouchable and h
is mere touch can contaminate food and water for higher castes. The fact that drinking
water through a high caste's tumbler was not permitted and lower caste were supposed t
o drink water through cupping their palms inspite of availability of a tumbler. If water g
ets polluted by their touch, it will lead to punishment of that community. But dog was a
llowed to drink through that Tumbler, it led Damu to think that is it better to be born as
a dog than as an untouchable - Mahar.
First instances of experiencing untouchability in the life of Sonu can be seen when she t
ouches the auspicious sweets in a higher caste wedding. Other kids started eating the sca
ttered food and started quarrelling over it like animals which was called dirty and conta
minated by the high caste lady. One kid told Sonu that they were lucky that they even g
ot the chance to eat the sweets but Sonu was thinking that has she committed a sin in p
ast life which is the cause of their mistreatment now.

Focusing on other relevant village's event like Killing the farm animal of upper caste per
son was a way of taking revenge of humiliation by the lower caste people.It was intrigui
ng to see how European Saheb helped the Mahars with issues of cactus growing over th
eir huts. Animal meat was used in three ways- first, death of a beast animal was celebra
ted because the whole community will get to have food, second as animal fights the win
ner gets the animal of opponents as a feast & third as a sacrifice to God also known as
jatra. Wedding had more importance attached to it too, it was the duty of the whole vill
age to maintain their prestige & honour through carrying out the wedding rituals in right
manner.Jadhav's portrayal of village life of Mahars includes a detailed description of ho
w Mahars would share the dead cattle meat, poisoning a bull belonging to the Patil as a
revenge against his ill-treatment of Mahars, the celebration of jatra and the offering of a
buffalo to the Goddess, the cockfighting during the month of Vaishakh an occasion to t
hank Mariaai, Madhav, a Mahar youth's affair with a high-caste woman and so on. The
absence of anger or pride in this description reduces these "events" to barbaric practices
or "cultural traditions" of Mahar community.
Dr. Ambedkar, who had experienced the pain and humiliation of untouchability from the
inside as an untouchable--unlike Gandhi, preferred a word that was unambiguous about it
s impact. Dalit—which means crushed, stepped on, or oppressed—was Dr. Ambedkar's p
referred word. The category of "Dalit" is a political identity based on the collective expe
rience of pain and suffering of the untouchable communities. Damu explains this treatme
nt in terms of the tricks played by the highborn and says the best way to fight back is t
o follow Ambedkar.
Narendra Jadhav's father, Damu was much influenced by Ambedkarism and Dalit movem
ents. One can see his social commitment, struggle and Dalit consciousness in many an e
vent throughout the work. In his own words, Damu was not a born leader. But he chose
to fight against the prevailing caste system and create his own destiny, he was fearless
and stood against the tyranny of caste system. He was an intelligent man, with no forma
l education. He worked hard to live with dignity and self-respect. He steered his children
to educational heights and inculcated in them the spirit of excellence & human dignity.
These ideologies of Ambedkar encouraged Damu to see his children fulfill their aspiratio
ns and rise to high positions at all levels and finally overcome the barriers that have so
bedeviled their own lives. The summary of Dalit movements and politics that Damu has
seen is the dominance of upper. So he seems to be greatly cautious in bringing up his c
hildren and he is reminded to be the one in Ambedkar‟s words, “There will be no differ
ence between parents and animals if they do not desire to see their children in a better p
osition than their own".
He escapes permanently from the village after one month of his village life and Yeskar
duties in March 1930. He struggles very hard to survive through mental pressure, financi
al difficulties and hunger. His wife Sonu joins a match factory to support the family. He
gets in touch with Ambedkarite activists like Tau Master and Guriji in Mumbai. With t
he recommendation of Tau Master, Damu gets a job in the United Mills in Pare. He los
es this job very soon as he is injured-he loses his thumb in an accident in the factory. F
inally, Damu gets a regular job in Mumbai Port Trust Railways in 1930s. Damu's family
moves from Kurla to the quarters in Wadala. From here, there is no turning back for D
amu's family.

This book very carefully describes a family through its all three generations who seek to
overcome the obstacles of being an untouchable in India in the early 1900's and providi
ng an education for their children, who have become scholars and successful professional
s. "educate, organize, agitate" not only placed him at odds with Gandhi’s policy of incre
mentalism in winning the goodwill of high-born Hindus, but also gained for him the eter
nal hostility of conservative Hindus for leading a mass conversion of untouchables into
Buddhism as part of his liberation movement. Narendra Jadhav recollects an incident ho
w he was humiliated by his upper caste teacher after reaching a high position, a reminis
cence of past but that past that ought to be struggled with the past to reconstruct the suc
cessful future like Jadhav's life.

Damu's main idea of struggle is to bring liberty, equality and human dignity. His life is
directed towards Ambedkarism to uphold a humanist social vision, a broader perspective
to address the concerns of the lower strata of society. He inspired people to take an acti
ve role in movements for social change. Jadhav is of the opinion that Gandhi is simply
another form of status quo-ism, the ancient orthodox Hinduism. He says that Hinduism b
elieves in the law of Karma & enjoins cow-worship so does Gandhism. Hinduism believ
es in incarnation of God and so does Gandhism. Gandhism promotes in the concept that
people need to accept their misfortunes as their best of good fortunes which none can ac
cept.
“The shudra who only serves (the higher caste) as a matter of religious duty and who w
ill never own any property, who indeed has not even the ambitions to own anything, is
deserving of thousands obeisance. Jadhav says that Gandhi‟s spirituality and Ahimsa hav
e not done justice to Dalits. His concept of Moksha and birth are rhetorical and his psyc
hology is closer to Hinduism rather than to egalitarianism and secularism. The concepts
of purity and impurity are not in food and things, but in their minds that always was to
save their existence and to dominate Dalit. According to Marx, Religion is opium that m
akes human mind poisonous. Dr. Ambedkar critically remarks that Hindu religion divide
d Dalits in all the aspects and emerged as the root cause for their downtrodden position.
Dalit men and women have been inhumanly treated by Hinduism. Ambedkar criticizes H
indus “Even the stone walls of the temple would melt in the face of worship to God, bu
t not the hearts of the orthodox Hindu.” The fact is that India is a secular country but it
stands as a non-secular and doubly colonized country in case of minorities. Damu says “
Atrocities, exploitations and inhuman treatment of upper castes provokes Dalits to questi
on their identity and existence.”

Over converting to Buddhism, Sonu disagrees with Damu and says that 'you are about to
kill my faith" and later realizes Damu's words and greatness of Buddhism. Sonu herself
had bitter
experiences of being an untouchable in the village. One can see the protesting nature in
Narendra Jadhav damu and sonu and also in Apoorva, Narendra Jadhav's daughter. Apoo
rva says “Now, I think I know who I am. I am just Apoorva, not tied down by race, rel
igion or caste. My ancestors carried the burden of being a Dalit and bowing down to de
meaning tasks even after India's independence. I have the torch they lit for me and nothi
ng can stop me.” Jadhav understands and takes pride in the idea of his daughter in carry
ing the Dalit identity, Dalit's social history and respect for ancestors and respect for self-
respect, dignity and identity. He says “It is unfortunate truth of our society that whatever
heights a man might scale, his caste is never cast off; it remains an inseparable part of
his identity. His caste always remains a cause for contempt. Only the type of humiliation
changes.” Humiliation faced by Dalit women and men is a visible social atrocity.

They meticulously practice Babasaheb's teachings on many aspects of life including clea
nliness and grooming. The transformation of Damu's family is complete when it acquires
education and middle class values. Looking at Sonu's words: "we began to bathe daily
and dress neatly with freshly washed clothes and tie our hair into a neat bun. We kept o
ur house clean with all the brass pots and pans polished and shining". Jadhav's family e
volves into a new urban middle class family. Jadhav's mobility in the society as a memb
er of English educated, professional middle class is an indication that he is able to acqui
re a new identity through his achievements.
The dalits converted to Buddhism and became neo Buddhists following the footsteps of
Ambedkar and following his way of emancipation shown to them. Damu & Sonu conver
ted after the birth of their first child.
Untouchables had sub-caste and hierarchy within their caste as well like mahar, chambha
r, dhor etc.Caste at the village level is a rigid system of practices, and it is also a huma
n rights violation as it undermines the dignity and equality of Mahars. Damu is a rebel a
gainst "the caste system" who shaped his own destiny and that of his children through e
ducation. He believed in himself and declared that he is the master of his own will. Wh
at is striking here is the construction of Damu as an autonomous individual who carved
out a life of his own. We see that Damu is different from other Mahars. His first action
against the fauzdar was shocking and appreciable at the same time. He came out as a wi
nning protagonist in it who is cheered with a round of a applause.
City is considered a better place for Untouchables than village, it also marks the transfor
mation of mahar community to dalits. Sonu's first experience of untouchability is yet ano
ther instance of violation of human dignity. Sonu was called to do some odd chores in a
landlord's house on the occasion of a wedding feast. She tries to distribute the sweets k
ept in one of the platters to the guests. The landlord's mother notices this and shouts at
Sonu for polluting their sweets. A conflict broke between kids in order to collect the sw
eets. One of them even offer a ladoo to Sonu saying because of her they got all the swe
ets. Sonu is disgusted at the other girls for picking up the food thrown away by the land
lord's mother. She kept wondering why the food was contaminated. Sonu believes that th
ere is something wrong with the community or she must have committed a sin in her la
st birth.
This signifies that both Damu and Sonu are attributed with a consciousness that someho
w naturally knows "human dignity." Sonu's "disgust" at the other girls who are collectin
g food like cats and dogs illustrates her consciousness as a human being with dignity. W
hat remains unexplained for her is why the "untouchables were worse than animals". Dal
it movement in colonial Maharashtra was a significant social process that shaped the ide
ntity of Damu as a Dalit and a neo-buddhist. Its intriguing to see about the different sub
-castes among the untouchable castes and their caste-based inherited occupations.
Dalit movements rose with the injecting of socio-economic misery that has been in exist
ence in the class structures of the country into the body politic. Dalits have been struggli
ng to form an identity for themselves. They form a marginalized section of the populatio
n and it is this assertion of their identity and their consequent attempts to achieve social
status with other citizens.
The question which constantly revolved in my mind if Vedas has taught to treat Dalits i
nhumanly, why are Dalits needed for manual labour of construction of temples but in t
urn are treated inhumanly by the priests of these temples with the pride of their caste an
d not allow the lower caste to enter into a building they have themselves created. Jadhav
talks of Indian villages that are reproduced as centres of untouchability and caste atrocit
ies and says “Recall when Gandhiji was telling people to “go to the villages”, Ambedk
ar was advising his followers to do just the extreme opposite – “go to the cities”. Dr. A
mbedkar's intellectual and challenging life gives awareness of education as a means of tr
ansformation from gutter to greater heights.

Jadhav's self-representation as a participant-observer in the sense that he is writing about

the life of Mahars in Ozar village based on his father's notes. He describes living places,
calamities like famine and plagues, jatras, wedding rituals, ill-treatment based on caste,
and other activities in the village all in the same way. It is kind of similar to the intens
ive fieldwork of M.N Srinivas by using the method of participant observation in villages.
It is noticeable that Damu is different from other Mahars and that he talks back to the p
olice officer. It is also clear that Damu knows the language of human rights. When the
police are beating him, Damu cries "see the entire village is witnessing your atrocities."
Refusing to be loyal by following the tradition of Mahars to perform the Yeskar duty, H
is references to "atrocities" and "dignity" illustrate his self-assertive nature. The assertion
that he is "a man of dignity" is explained by citing his migration to Mumbai. The effect
of this scene is both to reify the village as space of "inhuman traditions" and to indicate
the need for individual rebellion against caste practices.
The city Mumbai is a powerful symbol of "freedom" in Outcaste. As a colonial city, it
provided a lot of occupational opportunities to the poor from the villages and also anony
mity to the untouchables. Mumbai was a centre of Dalit movement headed by Babasahe
b Ambedkar. Jadhav locates the shaping of a new identity for Mahars in colonial Mumb
ai in the context of Dalit movement. The book dates back to the time of liberalization of
Indian Economy in the 1990s. Jadhav's "mobility" is closely linked to the liberalization
of Indian economy, i.e., making India part of the processes of globalization. As is well-k
nown, this required various forms of structural adjustment, including a subjective transfor
mation from what is depicted as dependence to self-reliance and self-help. Jadhav's deput
ation to IMP from RBI is possible because of the new institutional arrangements betwee
n India and the international financial institutions like IMF and World Bank.
Talking about my views, it can be clearly seen that book uses colloquial language at so
me points like the usage of aaee, sasubai and baba. Ambedkar belonged to this communi
ty of untouchables only. The key aspect of this version of Ambedkar is that it locates th
e roots of Ambedkar's rebellion in his western education. He is also a messiah who guid
es the Dalits in all the agitations. Ambedkar believed education can help them let go of
this oppression. Its thrilling to see how Dr. N. Jadhav became the best international stud
ent in 1985 from being a lower caste Untouchable who weren't even allowed to acquire
education.
Jadhav devotes an entire section titled "The Struggle" to present the Ambedkar-Ied Dalit
struggles and the involvement of ordinary Mahars like Damu and Sonu. We see vivid d
escription of Dalit struggles such as the Mahad Satyagraha in 1927, the Nashik
Kalaram Temple Entry Movement in 1930 and Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism in 1
956. Shifting our focus to the other leader of this time (freedom struggle era) brings Ga
ndhi to our notice. Gandhi's naming of untouchables as Harijans was an attempt to patro
nize the Dalits. Gandhi's claim that he is "a representative of the Dalits" was quickly ex
posed as he opposed separate electorates as advocated by Ambedkar. Gandhi's fast unto
death against the Communal Award, the nationalist propaganda against Ambedkar and th
e signing of Poona Pact between Gandhi and Ambedkar in 1932 are all "historical event
s" that help the author to represent Ambedkar as the true representative of Dalits.Also,
Untouchables unintentionally provides a foundation for a dislike for Gandhi. Gandhi hist
orically did not support the Dalit equality movement which is a fact, and held a pitying
and slightly condescending view of them. Such a man loses respect in the eyes of masse
s who refused to acknowledge an entire population essentially because of their existence.
On the other hand, the Untouchable Ambedkar proved himself to be the true hero of In
dia as he awoke the conscious of thousands of Dalits and endlessly strove to secure the
m equal rights.
The shift from Ozar village to Mumbai city allows Damu, Narendra Jadhav's father, to g
ive up his Mahar identity and to adopt a Dalit identity through his participation in Dr. A
mbedkar's struggle and by taking up modern jobs in the Industry and the public sector i
n Mumbai city. In the generations that follow, both Narendra Jadhav and his daughter A
poorva become modern cosmopolitan citizens. They do not deny their identity as Dalits
but neither do they flag this identity. Jadhav is agonised by the fact that he is judged on
the basis of his origins. He feels that his caste background should be treated as his past
and he should be accepted as he is. He recollects how an old man from his village, his
high-caste school teacher and well-educated neighbour, reminds him that he is from a M
ahar caste. He insists that the process of globalisation and the new spatiality it represents
is central to this transformation of untouchables into "normal people." Jadhav calls it tra
nsnational identity "cosmopolitan Dalit identity."

Stereotyping and prejudice against groups are part of the human condition but it is possi
ble to eradicate them by training to see beyond groups and empathize with an individual'
s struggles, his dreams and aspirations. It is certain that Babasaheb Ambedkar challenged
 both the cultural and religous system of India. Without him, untouchables would have c
ontinued to lead a dreadful life.