My Childhood on My Shoulders
Price: 595.00 INR
ISBN:
9780199479290
Publication date:
26/12/2017
Paperback
276 pages
Price: 595.00 INR
ISBN:
9780199479290
Publication date:
26/12/2017
Paperback
276 pages
Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Translated by Deeba Zafir and Tapan Basu
This is the life story of a Dalit that gives a look into the unknown and unfamiliar world of the ‘lower’ castes who suffer unseen, in silence, in all its terrible dignity. Rendered in the folk idiom of western Uttar Pradesh, My Childhood on My Shoulders highlights the dismal lot of those who grow up shackled in free India.
Rights: World Rights
Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Translated by Deeba Zafir and Tapan Basu
Description
You hardly look like a Chamar! All dressed up like a Nawab, did you hope to gain entry into our courtyard? Out you go!' I left immediately. It was then that I felt the first stirrings of my sense of self-respect.
Born into a family of tanners in Uttar Pradesh, Sheoraj Singh Bechain struggled against social disabilities imposed on him by virtue of being an ‘outcaste’. Traded by his stepfather to serve as a bonded labourer at a brick kiln; kicked, punched, slapped, whipped for nurturing a love for education; earning his living by polishing shoes and serving in hotels—Sheoraj suffered hardships all through his childhood. In all of this, however, his quest for an education remained unperturbed, and eventually succeeded in getting enrolled in formal schooling.
This is the life story of a Dalit that gives a look into the unknown and unfamiliar world of the ‘lower’ castes who suffer unseen, in silence, in all its terrible dignity. Rendered in the folk idiom of western Uttar Pradesh, My Childhood on My Shoulders highlights the dismal lot of those who grow up shackled in free India.
About the Author
Sheoraj Singh Bechain teaches in the Department of Hindi at the University of Delhi, India.
About the Translators
Deeba Zafir teaches in the Department of English at Lakshmibai College, University of Delhi, India.
Tapan Basu teaches in the Department of English, University of Delhi, India.
Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Translated by Deeba Zafir and Tapan Basu
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. An Untimely Death
2. Whither Home?
3. Fake Devotion
4. Custodians of Community
5. Maya’s Marriage
6. Summons
7. Delhi: Small Steps in a Large World
8. ‘Swaraj’: The Survivor
9. Here Lived a Mochi
10. On the New Path of Learning
11. Bhai Saab: An Inspiring Role Model
12. A Milestone in Life’s Journey
List of Names
About the Author and the Translators
Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Translated by Deeba Zafir and Tapan Basu
Features
- The story of the disenfranchised and disempowered Dalit boy and his struggle to rise above his caste
- Autobiographical Dalit writing from the Hindi belt
- Dalit studies is an emerging area of study
Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Translated by Deeba Zafir and Tapan Basu
Description
You hardly look like a Chamar! All dressed up like a Nawab, did you hope to gain entry into our courtyard? Out you go!' I left immediately. It was then that I felt the first stirrings of my sense of self-respect.
Born into a family of tanners in Uttar Pradesh, Sheoraj Singh Bechain struggled against social disabilities imposed on him by virtue of being an ‘outcaste’. Traded by his stepfather to serve as a bonded labourer at a brick kiln; kicked, punched, slapped, whipped for nurturing a love for education; earning his living by polishing shoes and serving in hotels—Sheoraj suffered hardships all through his childhood. In all of this, however, his quest for an education remained unperturbed, and eventually succeeded in getting enrolled in formal schooling.
This is the life story of a Dalit that gives a look into the unknown and unfamiliar world of the ‘lower’ castes who suffer unseen, in silence, in all its terrible dignity. Rendered in the folk idiom of western Uttar Pradesh, My Childhood on My Shoulders highlights the dismal lot of those who grow up shackled in free India.
About the Author
Sheoraj Singh Bechain teaches in the Department of Hindi at the University of Delhi, India.
About the Translators
Deeba Zafir teaches in the Department of English at Lakshmibai College, University of Delhi, India.
Tapan Basu teaches in the Department of English, University of Delhi, India.
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. An Untimely Death
2. Whither Home?
3. Fake Devotion
4. Custodians of Community
5. Maya’s Marriage
6. Summons
7. Delhi: Small Steps in a Large World
8. ‘Swaraj’: The Survivor
9. Here Lived a Mochi
10. On the New Path of Learning
11. Bhai Saab: An Inspiring Role Model
12. A Milestone in Life’s Journey
List of Names
About the Author and the Translators