Sharan Kumar Limbale’s novel ‘Hindu’ is a significant addition to the process of reformulating a new aesthetic rubric of Dalit literature. Moving away consciously from the mode of sentimentality, binaries and universality, Limbale’s novel attempts to negotiate a new artistic vocabulary for the Dalits in a fast changing world where old certainties are vanishing at a mind numbing pace. ArunPrabha Mukherjee,in her introduction to the novel points towards the significant departure that Limbale’s novel articulates, by undermining several practices of burgeois narrative technique. Both Limbale and Mukherjee seems to assert that in a complex and dynamic world of dalit realities, experiences and corresponding techniques of representation should be recalibrated to bring out the intricate nuances of the specific life-world of the erstwhile ‘untouchables’.
Limbale’s novel traces not a romantic story or an autobiographical trajectory of an exploited dalit. Instead it attempts to look objectively at the socio-political ramifications of the category of ‘dalit’ as a community. In the complex world of Bhimnagar in the novel’s landscape the reader encounters a plethora of dalit and non-dalit characters, each individualistic in their significant ways and each conscious of their individual political standing. Limbale’s novel presents a world in transition where the old world exploitative mechanism was metamorphosing, keeping up with the demands of a constitutional democracy.Hindu becomes the microcosm of a nation grappling with social upheaval on the heels of political demands at a particular historical juncture of its existence.The setting has all the specificities of the Indian society in the 1990s and the narrative almost emerges as a yardstick t...
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In Nehru’s India, women were victims of a “passive revolution” that subtly advanced bourgeoisie men of higher castes under a guise of parliamentary democracy. Though women have presided over the Indian National Congress, served as a prime minister, and represent a large part of India’s la...
It is not a stretch to say that if one is to study the history of Europe, or in fact the world, religion is likely one of the most important aspects of nearly any incident or movement in the past 2000 years. What of the colonies that Europe created overseas, however? Are those areas also just as bound to religion as well, or is there something more, something which hold a higher sway that religion? Is Religion the reason behind the colonization that the Europeans did, or was the entire purpose of the colonies to create a source of income, and for economic reasons in general? It is this essay's purpose to state that while economics were a large reason for the colonies, the reason for the creation of the colonies were for a religious purpose for the puritan settlers, but for those that backed them it was a venture in which they hoped would reap them profits.
Narayanan, Vasudha. “Hinduism.” Her Voice, Her Faith: Women Speak on World Religions. Ed. Arvind Sharma and Katherine K. Young. Boulder: Westview Press, 2003. 11-57.
Annotated Bibliography In “The Commercialization of Religion” (2014), Alisa Schubert Yuasa argues on the concept of commercialization of Hinduism by providing real life examples that she had experienced. Yuasa alludes to how Hinduism has changed over the years by providing a flashback of her childhood and how she loved the culture and the beauty it represented. Yuasa then takes us to her present time and explains how people who call themselves priests come to her and insist on performing a pooja (ritual) without her permission. After this, these so called “priests” demand money due to their blessing, and rejection to this demand is followed by emotional blackmail saying that
Woodburne, A. S. "Can India's Caste System Survive in Modern Life?” The Journal of Religion, Vol. 2, No. 5. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pgs. 525-537. Web
God and the Indian is a two person play written by Drew Hayden Taylor. In this play we have a man named George that was a former priest at a residential school. We also have a lady named Johnny Indian that was a former student at said residential school. In the play Johnny accuses George of having molested her as a child. George tells Johnny that she is delusional and will not admit to his wrongdoings. The author tells the story from both George and Johnny’s sides. I think what the author is really trying to portray here is the denial of the people that worked in the name of the church at residential schools years after they had left and/or been shut down.
The short story, House Opposite by R. K. Narayan is an example of a man and his struggle with his own humanity. The basic plot of the story includes a holy man (only referred to as "the hermit") that is living along with the traditions of an Indian lifestyle. He considers himself to be a very good man, not succumbing to temptations or as it is put in the text, "He rigorously suppressed all cravings of the palate and punished his body in a number of ways." It is indicated that the hermit really did not understand why he was doing any of this however, barring his selfish interest in "spiritual liberation." The conflict in the story is internal; the hermit becomes aware of a prostitute living across the street, and cannot ignore her presence. Throughout the story, the hermit complains about the "awful monster" and regards her as the "personification of evil." This is not the root of the problem however.
Fuller, C. J. The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2004. Print.
Aravind Adiga’s debut novel The White Tiger published in 2008, and a winner of Booker Prize examines the issues of religion, caste, loyalty, corruption, urbanization and poverty in India. The novel besides receiving critical acclaim was also lambasted by some in India for giving in to western prejudices and playing up to their image of a poverty stricken, slum governed country. Some even went to the extent of calling it a western conspiracy to deny the country’s economic progress. It seems ...
4 # Stein, Burton (2001), a History of India, New Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiv, 432, p.222
The atmosphere in Bombay during the time of the novel was a cauldron of emotions. Bombayites were cantankerous, impatient with the municipality’s decision to ignore their complaints. The mood was tense as Indians prepared for the Second Indo-Pakistani War. The atmosphere in the Parsi community was insecure and anxious as ever under the political turmoil. “Gustard identified Shiv Sena and Indira Gandhi's authoritarian politics and anti-minority policies as two major threats that his community had to deal with.” (Sadhath, 5). Shiv Sena is a federal political party, previously a supporter of fascism and anti-minority policies. In the novel, they were portrayed as an over-confident party ignoring the verbal onslaught directed at them by minorities. They were openly racist, bribing Tehmul to hand out pamphlet targeting minorities in Bombay. Meanwhile, Indira...
Of the themes which dominate the representative writings of the forth world literatures include the theme of resistance, rebellion, opposition, assertion, challenge, sacrifice, suffering and displacement. All these general ideas are interconnected with the common concept of ‘freedom’ and an aspiration for which is truly a driving force for the indigenous people. In this paper an attempt has been made to look into the theme of resistance and how it contributes to the development of the spirit of self-determinism as it is reflected and re-presented in the Fourth World literatures with special reference to dalits’ writings in India in order to appreciate and advance the common cause of freedom in the larger interest of Humanity.
Mahasweta Devi, always writes for deprived section of people. She is a loving daughter, a clerk, a lecturer, a journalist, an editor, a novelist, a dramatist and above all an ardent social activist. Her stories bring to the surface not only the misery of the completely ignored tribal people, but also articulate the oppression of w...
Before going into the theatre “to see The Sound of Music for the third time” (35), Estha “[completes] his first adult assignment” (93). He goes to the bathroom on his own, while Ammu, Baby and Rahel accompany each other to the ladies room. This little detail about going to use the restroom foreshadows another instance where Estha will be forced from being a child into manhood.
Nicholas B. Dirks. (2011). Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton University Press