Dalit History Month: writers and artists recommend essential anti-caste books

“Writing on caste has been ubiquitous in the last decade. But only a fraction of it has come from writers from marginalised and oppressed caste backgrounds. Given the rapid transformation of caste into a stomping ground for several dominant caste anthropologists, social scientists, and historians eager to “study how the other lives”, one of the books I have enjoyed immensely is The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF (Blaft Publications). An anthology of short stories spanning science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism, this volume includes voices of caste oppressed writers as well as others who have incorporated anti-caste perspectives into their writing. The spectre of caste is so immense and all-encompassing that often, non-fiction alone fails to reach its farthest contours. This is where this delicious anthology comes in: naming feelings that often seem unnameable, identifying practices that resist categorisation, and drawing the reader into a world that caste-oppressed people inhabit all their lives — yet one that mostly goes unnoticed, or is wilfully ignored.”Yashica DuttJournalist, author, speaker

“Gail Omvedt’s Seeking Begumpura (Navayana) is a fascinating study of India’s anti-caste thinking. It examines the ideas of Bhakti saints such as Ravidas and Kabir, as well as reformers such as Jyotirao Phule and B.R. Ambedkar. The book presents an alternative history that highlights the voices and struggles of marginalised communities. What I liked most is how it links spirituality with social and political resistance. The concept of ‘Begumpura’, a utopian society free from caste, inequality, and suffering, is both inspiring and thought-provoking. Omvedt demonstrates that these visions were not just religious ideals; they were also strong critiques of social hierarchy. Her writing makes complex ideas easy to understand without oversimplifying them. This book provides a new viewpoint on Indian history, emphasises the importance of anti-caste thought, and encourages readers to think critically about equality and justice while introducing them to voices often ignored.”Somnath Waghmare Documentary filmmaker

“Sharankumar Limbale’s Sanatan (Penguin), translated from the Marathi by Paromita Sengupta, is a novel that does the near-impossible: it tells a gripping, tenderly narrated story of Maharwada spanning over a century while simultaneously arming the reader with the intellectual tools to dismantle the caste system. Through his characters, Limbale unpacks the origin myths of the so-called eternal order. He shows how Brahminism perpetuates its ideology through mythology, and counters it with narratives drawn from Dalit and Adivasi traditions. The novel brings Ambedkar’s observation — that caste is not a division of labour but a division of labourers — to devastating life. It also complicates easy nationalist narratives around colonialism, centring the Battle of Bhima Koregaon and the Mahars who found emancipation where upper castes saw only humiliation.”Meena KandasamyPoet, writer, translator, activist

“Ankit Kawade’s The Ambedkar and Nietzsche: Provocations (Navayana) is a philosophically sophisticated work of comparative inquiry that brings B.R. Ambedkar and Friedrich Nietzsche into a carefully mediated conversation without collapsing their profound differences. The book’s originality lies in its methodological restraint: it does not seek facile reconciliation, but rather treats comparison as a way of generating new conceptual insight. By locating a shared problem — most strikingly, the question of how to read the Manusmriti — it opens up a rich terrain for thinking about domination, enslavement, morality, freedom, and the possibilities of radical politics. Particularly significant is its refusal to appropriate Ambedkar into depoliticised or politically convenient interpretive frameworks. Instead, the book preserves the distinctiveness and critical edge of Ambedkar’s thought while using the friction of comparison to illuminate both thinkers anew. It is a rigorous and timely contribution to contemporary political philosophy, Ambedkar studies, and comparative intellectual history.”Anand TeltumdeScholar, writer, activist

“Shailaja Paik, The Vulgarity of Caste provides a renewed focus on caste and the elasticity of body by foregrounding western Maharashtra’s vocabulary in the textual form. The author looks at the gaze as experience and embodied territoriality of the outcasted communities. A long labor of ethnography written with independent authority, crafting an act of balancing the study of a community with their aspirations of belonging to a new society. 

Yogesh Maitreya is an author grounded with frankness and humility, and thus his characters speak of a directed liberation by revolting against the tensions that engulf an oppressed person’s life. His short story collection, Flowers on the Grave of Caste, was published by his indie-publishing house, Panther’s Paw Publications.”Suraj YengdeScholar, author, activist

“G. Kalyana Rao is an essential read. First published in Telugu in 2000 as Antarani Vasantham, it was translated in 2010 by Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar. I read it at the age of 17 or 18, and returned to it a decade later while writing my first play. It is a novel, a kind of memoir, a family saga, and, to me, a Dalit epic. The book traces seven generations of a Dalit family, reflecting the lives of the Mala and Madiga communities in Enneladinni, Andhra Pradesh. It interrogates dominant narratives around Dalit conversion to Christianity, highlighting the search for dignity, self-respect and education, even as caste discrimination persists in new forms. The book through its characters asserts that resistance is a necessity, not a choice. At its core, the book holds the memory of my people whose lives, culture, and histories are just like their spring — “untouchable”.”Sri Vamsi MattaInterdisciplinary theatre artist

“S. Karuppasamy’s first book, Naan Loco Pilot Aana Kathai (The Story of Becoming a Loco Pilot; Tathagata Publishing House), is gripping, yet written in simple language in Tamil. It narrates Karuppasamy’s efforts, disappointments, failures, pain, and challenges, leaving the reader both surprised and moved. His life challenges the negative mindset of leading just another life, and instead affirms the idea of living “a life of choice.” Born to Dalit parents in a small hamlet, with little access to education and without social status or a strong economic and political background, Karuppasamy achieved his dream through his own efforts. A native of Sembatti in Virudhunagar district in Tamil Nadu, Karuppasamy studied at an Industrial Training Institute. He joined as a trackman in Kollam and now works as a loco pilot in Chennai. There are many books such as his that have not been translated yet. I hope they will become available in the English so that they reach a wider group of readers.”BamaWriter, poet, teacher