Foreword to Joothan by Arun Prabha Mukherjee

(a poem by Siaramsharan Gupt… entitled “Achut ki Aah”(The Sigh of an

Untouchable), narrates the sad story of an untouchable denied entry into a
temple and how it broke his heart. Such) “portrayals of Dalits (as untouchables
are now called) as mute and pathetic characters, unable to act or speak about
their oppression, are characteristic of high-caste Indian writers. They portray
Dalits as tragic figures and objects of pity, incapable of talking back or feeling
enraged. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things ( 1997 ), which won the
Booker Prize in 1997 , and Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance ( 1995 ) are also
written in this appropriative voice, a voice that contains, rather than expresses,
the Dalit experience.”

in writing his life story ofbeing born in the Chuhra caste and growing up in
Barla in northern India,Valmiki spoke ofthe realities and contradictions ofmy
society that thick walls ofdenial had shut out. Although I had been introduced to
Marathi Dalit literature in translation before I read Joothan ,i ts impact was much
higher on th e Richter scale ofmy consciousness because it was speaking of my
corner ofIndia,in my first language,Hindi,in a way that no other text had ever
spoken to me.

Can dominant society make space for the subaltern to speak? I have
translated Joothan as my contribution to making that space.Hardly any Dalit
literature is available in translation.High-caste and elite Indian
voices,whether in India or in diaspora,continue to represent the Indian
voice.

Joothan is one amon g a body ofDalit writing that is unified by an ideology,an

agenda,and a literary aesthetic.It provides an apt introduction to this newly
emerging school ofwriting,which is no t just a school ofwriting but sees itselfas
part ofa social movement for equality and justice.As is shown by the list
ofauthors that Valmiki enumerates in Joothan ,Dal it write rs have read and been
inspired by the work ofwriters from many parts ofthe world.

In Joothan Valmiki writes:“We need an ongoing struggle and a co nsciousness

ofstruggle,a consciousness that brings revolutionary change both in the outside
world and in our hearts,a consciousness that leads the process ofsocial change.”

Valmiki, preface to hindi edition:

Out ofthe blue came a letter from a publisher,Rajkishorji,in December 1993 .He
wa s planning a book called Har ijan se Dalit (From Harijan to Dalit) in the Aaj ke
Prashn (Questions for T oday) series.He wanted me to write about ten or eleven
pages in an autobiographical fo rm for this anthology.My essay,“Ek Da lit ki
Atmakatha”(A Dalit’s Autobiography), appeared on the ve ry first pages of Har
ijan se Dalit .

Once again I had to relive all those miseries,torments,neglects,admonitions.I

suffered a deep mental anguish while writing this book. How terribly painful was
this unraveling ofmy self,layer upon layer.Some people find this
stuffunbelievable and exaggerated. Many ofmy f riends were astounded.Why was
I writing an autobiography so early in my life? I beg to say to them:“Do not
compare this narrative ofpain with the achievements ofothers.”A friend worried
that I was eating away my literary capital by writing ofmy experiences
autobiographically.Some others said that I would only co n tribute to the inferior
status ofmy people by stripping myselfnaked.A close friend ofmine fears that I
will lose any prestige that I have ifI write my autobiography. Why should one feel
awkward in telling the truth? To those who say that these things do no t happen
here,to those who want to cla im a superior status for Indian civilization,I say
that only tho se who have suffered this anguish know its sting. Still,a lo t remains
unsaid.I did not manage to put it all down. It was beyond my power.You can call
it my weakness.

Intro by Mukherjee

Untouchabili ty was legally abolished when the independent Ind ia adopted its
constitution on November 26 , 1949 .Valmiki portrays a slice oflife that had
seldom been recorded in Indian literature until th e advent ofDalit literature in
Marathi,the language of the state ofMa harashtra (its capital is Bombay),in the
1950 s and its subsequent spread to many other languages,notably,Tamil,
Telugu, Malay alam,Gujarati,Hindi,Punjabi,and English.Until then,literature had
been the domain ofhigh castes in India. Literary representations either ignored
untouchables or portrayed them as vic tims in need ofsaviors,as objects without
voice and agency.