The Oxford India Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing

Description

Our python fights often if I outgrow the role of a slave. It takes me into its hold in its befitting role of master. At the smallest error it becomes the penal code to devour me. These lines by the poet Varre Rani convey succinctly the Dalit anguish about centuries of oppression. Poignant and powerful, Dalit literature derives its strength both from the portrayal of the harsh reality of the world the lower castes of India inhabit and from their resistance movements. This anthology showcases the works of nearly eighty Telugu Dalit writers and public intellectuals. It presents Dalit perspectives on caste oppression, their stinging critique of Hinduism and the Left, and their angst against a social order that relegated them to a life of abject poverty by ignoring their culture, literature, and history. Representing nearly a century of Dalit writing and movements, the thought-provoking selections range from songs and poems to short stories, excerpts from novels, critical writings, and more. They bear witness to the diversity of Telugu Dalit writing, which is deeply embedded in modernity, in the changing paradigms of culture, and in the politics of the region and the nation.

Table of contents

Editors’ Note
General Introduction

SONGS

ANONYMOUS
Jambavapuranam

ANONYMOUS
The Song of the Outcasts

JALA RANGASWAMI
Present Condition of Mala and Madiga

NAKKA CHINAVENKAIAH
The Plight of Harijan Women

MASTERJEE
What Kind of Dharma Is This?

GADDAR
Oh My Garbage Dump!

GUDA ANJAIAH
The Village Is Ours

GORATI VENKANNA
The Village Weeps Tears

GYARA YADAIAH
The Communist Landlords

KALEKURI PRASAD
The Dowry Pyre

NERNALA KISHORE
Like the Dawn

POETRY

GURRAM JASHUVA
The Bat Messenger

NUTHAKKI ABRAHAM
Hymn for a Bug

S.T. JNANANANDA KAVI
Amrapali

PAMU RAMAMURTHY
To the Student

MODKURI JOHNSON
The Crow

NADAKURTHY SWAROOPA RANI
Puzzling Verses for Married Women

TERESA DEVADANAM
I Am a Poet, My Name Is Devadanam

SATISH CHANDAR
The Fifth Note

PUTLA HEMALATHA
The Neighbour

TAIDALA ANJAIAH
Our Hut

SIVASAGAR
History in Progress

BANNA ILAIAH
Undefiled History

YENDLURI SUDHAKAR
My Autobiography

G.R. KURME
I Was Murdered

CHALLAPALLI SWAROOPA RANI
Wild Flower

PYDI THERESH BABU
The Great Hindu Ocean

CHITRAM PRASAD
To Change the Note

MADDURI NAGESH BABU
What Caste Are You?

J. GAUTHAM
Wait and See

G.V. RATNAKAR
Our Children Compete

RAVINUTHALA PREMKISHORE
Yes, We Need to Break This Meal Plate!

KOYI KOTESWAR RAO
Saffron Tree

VARRE RANI
Python

GUNDEDAPPU KANAKAIAH
O Horror!

DARLA VENKATESWARA RAO
In the School of My Mother’s Lap

MOTKUPALLI DAMAYANTI DEVI
Putrefied Culture

SIKHAMANI
A Dark Country

INALA SAIDULU
The Old Bullock

DAMERA RAMULU
Two Glasses, Two Countries

KADIRE KRISHNA
The Misaligned Vastu

JOOPAKA SUBHADRA
No Guard for My Bosom

TULLIMALLI WILSON SUDHAKAR
Without You …

ANGALAKURTHI VIDYASAGAR
Gleaning the Earth

PONNALA BALAIAH
Landa, a Crimson Sunrise

GOGU SHYAMALA
My Food, My Wish

SHORT STORIES

BOYA JANGAIAH
Beware!

DARA GOPI
Our Convent

KOLAKALURI ENOCH
Hunger

NAGAPPAGARI SUNDER RAJU
Gundelakka

CHILUKURI DEVAPUTRA
Gurudakshina

JAJULA GOWRI
Bathukamma

KANNARAM JHANSI
Revenge with Marbles

GUMPULA VENKATESHWARLU
Byagarollu

PASUNURI RAVINDER
Turum Khan

EXCERPTS FROM NOVELS

G. KALYANA RAO
Untouchable Spring

VEMULA YELLAIAH
Kakka

EXCERPT FROM A PLAY

BOYI BHIMANNA
The Farmhand

PERSONAL NARRATIVES

BANGARU SRIDEVI
Why Should I Deny My Caste and My People?

SUJATHA GIDLA
From Malapalli to Brahmin Town

T.N. SADALAKSHMI
The Last Place for a Dalit Woman

YELUKATI SATYANARAYANA
His Wife Dies

KARTHIK NAVAYAN
Growing up in Andhra Pradesh Today

GURRAM SEETHARAMULU
Bones
ARCHIVES

BHAGYA REDDY VARMA
How Long Will You Oppress Us?

ARIGE RAMASWAMY
Self-Respect of Savarnas

KUSUMA DHARMANNA
Today’s Crafty Brahmin

JEEYAR DASU
Controversy over the Meeting at Visakhapatnam

P.R. VENKATSWAMY
Dedication of Devadasis

BATHULA SHYAMSUNDER
Where Do Muslims Stand Today?

J. ESWARI BAI
In Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly

ESSAYS

BOJJA THARAKAM
Ayodhya and the Hindus

KATTI PADMA RAO
The Historical Context of the Karamchedu Movement

GHANTA CHAKRAPANI
The Dalit Has Conquered the World

K.S. CHALAM
Tantra: The Origin of Dalit Epistemology

P. MUTHAIAH
Dandora: The Triple-Identity Movement

JILUKARA SRINIVAS
Village: The Social Prison

B. VIJAYABHARATHI
Thataka, Queen of the Nagas

K. SATYANARAYANA
Dalitism: A Critique of Telugu Literature

M.M. VINODINI
Teaching Tormenting Texts

SAMBAIAH GUNDIMEDA
Claiming Right to Represent and Agency: Dalits and
the Public Sphere

M.F. GOPINATH
The Marxist Mask

P. KESAVA KUMAR
Dalit Song: The Voice of the Voiceless

Glossary
Copyright Statement
About the Editors, Contributors, and Translators