Chronicling a deep history of resistance
Fear and Other Stories is a reminder of the inherent dangers of the Dalit life. In this collection of short stories, veteran Gujarati writer Dalpat Chauhan narrates these lived experiences of exasperation and anger with startling vividity. His characters interrogate historical, mythological and literary legends and foreground the perspectives of the disenfranchised.
Chauhan deftly wields his prose to counter dominant narratives, pointing out gaps and voicing the silences within. In The Payback, for a change, we see famished savarnas begging Dalit families for food that they scorn otherwise. The eponymous Fear follows the heroic but doomed resistance of Dalit youths fighting against savarna men with the “right” to enter their homes and molest women inside. And the allegorical Cold Blood features a doctor who tries to leave behind his identity with his surname, only to be reminded of it when the savarnas accept his blood, but not water from his hands.
Hemang Ashwinkumar’s nimble translation introduces the English reader to Chauhan’s heart-wrenching stories while unmasking a rural Gujarat unrecognizable from its supposedly vibrant idylls. His introduction to the book not just contextualises Chauhan’s work, but is also a touching and thought-provoking commentary on the larger canvas of Dalit literature.
The Life and Thought of BR Ambedkar
{{/usCountry}}The Life and Thought of BR Ambedkar
{{/usCountry}}Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) is perhaps the most iconised historical figure in India. Born into a caste deemed “unfit for human association”, he came to define what it means to be human. How and why did Ambedkar, who revered and cited the Gita till the 1930s, turn against Hinduism? What were his quarrels with Gandhi and Savarkar? Why did he come to see himself as Moses? How did the lessons learnt at Columbia University impact the struggle for water in Mahad in 1927 and the drafting of the Constitution of India in 1950? Having declared in 1935 that he will not die as a Hindu, why did Ambedkar toil on the Hindu Code Bill? What made him a votary of Western individualism and yet put faith in the collective ethical way of life suggested by Buddhism? Why is it wrong to see Ambedkar as an apologist for colonialism? From which streams of thought did Ambedkar brew his philosophies? Who were the thinkers he turned to in his library of 50,000 books? What did this life of the mind cost him and his intimates? What of his first wife, Ramabai, while he was busy with the chalval?
A Part Apart is a rigorous effort at both asking questions and answering as many as one can about BR Ambedkar. Ashok Gopal undertakes a mission without parallel: reading the bulk of Ambedkar’s writings, speeches and letters in Marathi and English, and what Ambedkar himself would have read. This is the story of the unrelenting toil and struggle that went into the making of Ambedkar legend. The book also features 70 photographs, most of them from the archivist Vijay Surwade’s collection.
A father’s memoir of raising a neurodivergent son
Step into Noel’s shoes, look around his world a passion for music and for glittering car showrooms, unusual tennis and swimming tactics, and a clear inner exuberance. In this poignant memoir pieced together by his dad, a family comes vividly alive as Noel’s mum, sister and dad navigate the experiences and challenges encountered when their loved one is neurologically different. Coming from a father’s heart, this book explores the patience, understanding and indissoluble love that caregivers must find within themselves through it all. This jigsaw puzzle of Noelisms is an honest and immersive exploration of neurodivergence and the full richness of a life lived differently.*
*All copy from book flap.