<p>Omprakash Valmiki describes his life as an untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the 1950s. "Joothan" refers to scraps of food left on a plate, destined for the garbage or animals. India's untouchables have been forced to accept and eat joothan for centuries, and the word encapsulates the pain, humiliation, and poverty of a community forced to live at the bottom of India's social pyramid. <br><br>Although untouchability was abolished in 1949, Dalits continued to face discrimination, economic deprivation, violence, and ridicule. Valmiki shares his heroic struggle to survive a preordained life of perpetual physical and mental persecution and his transformation into a speaking subject under the influence of the great Dalit political leader, B. R. Ambedkar. A document of the long-silenced and long-denied sufferings of the Dalits, Joothan is a major contribution to the archives of Dalit history and a manifesto for the revolutionary transformation of society and human consciousness.</p>

Joothan: An Untouchable's Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Omprakash Valmiki

Historical

Columbia University Press

Dalit Sahitya Ka Saundaryashastra

Radhakrishna Prakashan

A searing memoir of the life of a sensitive and intelligent Dalit youth in independent India. It tells us how he overcame contempt, humilitation and violence to gain an education and join the slowly growing ranks of Dalit intellectuals in India

Joothan: A Dalit's Life

Literature & Fiction

Samya

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Omprakash Valmiki. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Omprakash Valmiki