Reading Dalpat Chauhan

I think of Preetha (#Preetha) when I sit down to write this as I haven't come across a more receptive interlocutor when it comes to discussing books in my entire life. How I miss the days at Mail Today when we would spend hours discussing books beyond what was officially covered by the newspaper for its books pages. And how often, I would goad dearest Priyanka (#Priyanka) to join us, whenever she would manage to take some time out of her busy editing/ writing schedule.

So, this is for you, Preetha and Priyanka, and how I wish we could actually sit down and discuss this in person some day.

For various reasons, I had not read a book fresh-off-the-press in a long while. I guess you read freshly produced stuff regularly only when 'covering' books for a newspaper/ magazine. So, while I continued to read as is one's wont, I was actually reading what I wanted to. Only recently did I lay my hands on a freshly-published book, Vultures by veteran Gujarati writer, Dalpat Chauhan. It's the English translation of his 1991 Gujarati book, Gidh, done lovingly by Hemang Ashwinkumar.

After reading the book, I spoke to the author. I had only one question in mind though we ended up talking for nearly two hours. The only question I wanted to ask him was: Why is he identified and promoted as a Dalit writer? Doesn't it defeat the very purpose of democraticising life, when even literature is getting classified as such? 

His honest answer was not only disarming but also a chilling reminder that securing and safeguarding rights in the country's Constitution only goes that far. He said: "Yes, it defeats the purpose. But who will write about us, if we don't? Our stories, our lives, our struggles, when told by one among us, have a ring of authenticity. An outsider can never translate that authenticity without experiencing it. I have lived what I write. Therefore the need to be identified as a Dalit writer."

Chauhan, 82 and based in Ahmedabad, began writing after he retired from a job with the Gujarat government, and has written about 25 books so far — novels, short stories and plays, all throwing light on the lives of Dalits. 

Vultures or Gidh is based on a real story of the murder of a Dalit boy by Rajput landlords in Kodaram village in Gujarat in 1964, for his involvement with an upper caste girl — a familiar tale that could be placed anywhere in India. Chauhan recreates this story through Iso, a young boy from the community of tanners, who, as the book jacket says, 'faces the brutal sword of caste patriarchy.'

It's a touching tale, told with great emotion by Chauhan, that I would recommend all my like-minded friends to pick up if looking for a thought-provoking read.

As I shut the back flap of the book on its last page, I felt very heavy in heart. The events described in the book had taken place in 1964, a time so long ago from our current reality, yet seemingly so close today especially when there is tremendous polarisation in our daily lives. We are removing the dirt from old fissures that had remained so neatly buried all these years... how can we expect new realisation to dawn on us at such times? 

I would rather use the words of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar to sum up my sentiment, from his speech that appears at the opening of the book: 

'As experience proves, rights are protected not by law but by the social and moral conscience of society. If social conscience is such that it is prepared to recognize the rights which law chooses to enact, laws will be safe and secure. But if the fundamental rights are opposed by the community, now Law, no Parliament, no Judiciary can guarantee them in the real sense of the word.'

As a community, we are yet to grow up to be worthy of our own Constitution.