Dalits must opt to remain within the Hindu fold as the downgraded ‘scheduled castes’, while those Dalits who exercise agency by stepping out of Hinduism to convert to Islam or Christianity are ‘punished’ by being denied the mechanics of reparation of historical wrongs afforded to the ‘Hindu’ Dalits. Quite inexplicably, and rather arbitrarily, Dalit converts to Sikhism or Buddhism do not have to pay any penalty for their conversion.
In the 1990s, there was explicit use of the term ‘feminism’ in the media. In this process, concepts like autonomy, freedom, and choice began to be associated with feminism, while women’s activism was seen as an imposition. An example is the way International Women’s Day is celebrated. Generally, this day is marked by women’s organizations that align themselves with progressive forces. But, in the 1990s, one can see that there was a hijacking of Women’s Day. Feminism was associated with discounts and free goodies, and consumption became central to its meaning. The media promoted a notion of feminism which is market-friendly.
I tell them that there are many who take up wide problems but no one takes up narrow and small issues, therefore I have to be narrow minded…’ (p. 132). Similarly, another diary entry of Narayan Uke dated 02.11.1946 mentions that Dr Ambedkar was busy most of the day with the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in an important meeting and how the latter praised his book What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables.
Yet, the space was carefully designed to ensure that the ‘masses’ were separated from the ‘classes’ thereby building social inequity into the very architecture of the space. Neither the Europeans nor the Princely State, the author observes, were willing to imbibe the ‘idea of equality as a central tenet of being modern’ (p. 68). Later, in its bid to become a global city, Hyderabad witnesses the construction of a giant IMAX theatre with a six-storey-high screen, a four screen multiplex and other recreational facilities.
India of course is largely a population of ‘informal workers’, with no formal contracts, no unions representing them, living precariously on subsistence wages in small enterprises in the cities. With these enterprises shutting down, what were they to do? There were no buses or trains—the Shramik trains came much later—they decided to walk back to their villages.
It is the mundane materiality of groceries, virtual schooling, work from home, and housework that remind us about the behind-the-scenes effort that people, especially women, make on a daily basis to carry on with the business of life, even in times of upheaval and uncertainty. The author goes beyond the residents who inhabit this relatively prosperous street to include in her creative ambit the grocery delivery boy Shyam, who decides to walk home to the safety of his village however illusory that safety might be