Dalit Women In Dalit Literature

Abstract: As a literary movement on its own, Dalit literature lashes at the marginalization and ostracization of the dalit community in the name of caste. In defiance of the oppressing society, the dalits reclaim self-respect, wielding their pen; they assert their right to dignity and humane treatment. Dalit feminism celebrates dalit women’s vibrancy and self-preservation despite the dual oppression of patriarchy and caste. Bama’sSangati rejoices in the resistance and rebellious nature that sustains dalit women in the face of hardships. This paper analyses in detail the lifestyles and everyday affairs of dalit women who reclaim their uniqueness laughing at and ridiculing society’s cruelties. Though anger, shame, sorrow and helplessness have become inseparable from their lives, their spirit is indomitable. The events narrated in Sangati stand witness to the fact that centuries of suffering have only made the dalit women strong. Bama’s characters do not want sympathy. They want recognition. Their joy in living, defying the cruelties of the caste Hindus, itself is a form of assertion. Pained that discrimination is justified, sanctioned and perpetrated by the government, they want to make their presence felt: they want to shout out

Yet, the resilience displayed by them is beyond admiration. They have the stamina to laugh at life’s adversities, the pluck to counteract the atrocities the upper caste men inflict on the “dalits of dalits” (Agarwal 167). Their vehemence is the result of self-discovery, their pride in being a paraichi. Being a paraichi gives them certain freedom: for example, to remarry; to bathe in wells; to wear kumkum and flowers even after becoming a widow. Sangati celebrates these freedoms that are forbidden to upper caste