I am currently re readingDr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste – It is a thin little well thumbed, book – actually a speech that is published in a book form. It
This is a book that every Indian ought to read…I read this almost a lifetime ago as part of what ever i was doing at that time. Read it fast, converted into data, precised it and forgot about it. This time around, I am going to savour it… and while doing so am going to post excerpts
As i read through it – some 20 years after I first read it – i keep nodding my head in agreement. Smiling at the humour. chuckling, when things don't seem too much different now than they were almost 70 years ago (two opposing factions. One threatened to burn the other's pandal if they held a political rally)…cringing when things don't seem too much more different now than when they were then (discrimination). And of course his wry comments…
The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India, is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers and the other of the socialists.
I can't seem to find any copies in bookshops. But, it is online here and here
It gives an insight into what ailed us, and what continues to ail us … caste …and more importantly deep rooted programming on caste lines.
Thanks Harini – I’ve been looking for this. 🙂 You know what strikes me about the Raj-Bihar issue? That Bihar was the caste laboratory, where caste politics came of age. Now they’re the target of regional bias. What goes around comes around.
Yes… but those who were discriminated against in the caste lab, are probably the same people who are now the target of regional bias…. it isn’t the upper castes who migrate to find daily wage jobs 🙁
i have gone through from this book many times. it provides us many insights to understand our caste based society.now-a-days i’m writing the review of this classic. you are correct that every indinan should ought this.
Hi,
We, Dasya Theatre, are performing ‘Annihilation of Caste’ drama in Telugu. The founder of the theatre group, Sauda Aruna have translated it into Telugu and dramatized. I shall post you some pictures of the play soon. Are you on Facebook?
Regards
Srisail Reddy Panjugula
lovely to hear. let me know if you want me to put up any information on it.
yes i am . harini calamur 🙂