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Essays on Caste in Modern
India IN this book is on casteism in the Indian society, the author has brought out the atrocities/discrimination perpetuated against the Dalits, adivasis and other subaltern classes by the so-called upper castes. The tales of olden days when Dalits were not allowed to listen to Vedic hymns, they had to wear tinkles before entering habitations of upper caste and slavery, untouchability and subordination, the triple curse, come alive in the book. This volume contains four essays. In the first essay "Why communalism in India is about caste", the author terms caste as the "central fault line" in India. He regrets the hierarchical and inegalitarian structure of the society in Indian is largely accepted but what is not acknowledged is the organised violence that is practiced against the subaltern sections i.e. Dalits, adivasis etc. The second essay directs issues of caste and caste violence with radical ideologies and radical thinkers. Menon points out that even E.M.S. Namboodripad, the communist ideologue, in one of his books in 1948 maintained that caste played a historical role in organising production and developing skills. The Brahmins were freed from labour for intellectual activity and culture. The last two essays deal with the social imaginaries and intellectual activities by subordinated castes and the Dalits. For this, novels written by Dalits and subatron in Malayalam in early 19th century have been extensively drawn upon to bring out the pitiable conditions of the Dalits and the struggle that the (Dalit) intellectuals had to wage. This small size book, one has to say is the labour of intellectual exercise of high order. The author has delved deep into the back waters of caste system, right from the times of Manusmiriti to the present day. The book will be read by the intellectual elite and those who want to study caste system in India in-depth. It is, however, jargon ridden.
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