Ankit Ramteke Oh, it is a movie about caste issues, progress, and all that. How nice! Do you know the talented Siddiqui is playing an assertive but cunning Tamil Dalit? Wow, As a caste-less, conformist, populist liberal, I am already experiencing a filmgasm. After years of rottenly skewed representation of these Achut, Neech, Bangi, …
Why did Dr Ambedkar choose Buddhism?
Kamna Sagar To answer this question, in this article I will expound on B. R. Ambedkar’s (1891-1956) early life and social and political exercises, including his adolescence and schooling, reasons for his battle for equivalent rights, his involvement in legislative issues, his support for the privileges of the unapproachable individuals, actually majority rules system for …
Revisiting Keezhvenmani after 50 years: The embers still smolder
Deivendra Kumar A It was during my post-graduation studies in journalism at the Central University of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvarur that one of my professors enquired about my view on the recent movie Asuran (2019), directed by ace filmmaker Vetrimaaran. Further, he asked me about the recent buzz that the particular film has created among …
Deifying the Migrant Mother and Kolkata’s erasure of Caste
Aatika Singh Pallab Bhowmick, an artist, has come up with the concept of portraying Goddess Durga as a migrant mother for this year’s Durga Pujo in Kolkata’s Barisha club. The finely carved and aesthetically beautiful sculpture is being widely applauded for its progressive form and thought. However, this particular theme showcasing a migrant woman laborer …
How to look ‘Dalit’ in the Savarna imagination
Bobby Kunhu When I first watched the classic 1972 Luis Bunuel comedy, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeouise, in 1994 or 95, I could not have imagined that it was possible to adapt the movie in an Indian context. Hypothetically, since I did not imagine that it could happen, I presume the reasons for …
Dynasty in Indian Politics
S Kumar The current political system in India has more dynastic rule than any time in the past. Even if we compare with the monarchies of earlier centuries, the rulers had less of a dynastic tendencies because of constant fighting among different regional powers and with invaders. In the past whoever was strong and able …
Serious Men – Not so Serious about Dalit Realities
Neeraj Bunkar The recently released ‘Serious Men’ is an Indian Hindi language comedy drama film directed by Sudhir Mishra. The film is based on a book of the same name by Manu Joseph. This movie revolves around the issue of child genius scams. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Ayyan Mani) plays a migrant Tamil Dalit man who lives …
Old is Gold
Shell Shield (This poem has been penned based on urban life settings browsed over from newspapers, heard on corporate floors and in hostels) His storyHe loved her, and she used himShe demanded – this, that and what notHe gave her all, and debt piledIn the end, she leftHe had no thread to tie her …
This is not another Nirbhaya
Harshali Nagrale India recorded an average of 87 rape cases every day in 2019 and 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women during the year – a rise of over seven per cent from 2018. Out of the total 32,033 reported rape cases in the year, 11 per cent were from the Dalit community (NCRB,2019). …