Joothan- 1

Name: Sakshi Kumari, Class: BA LLB 4th Year, Yashwantrao Chavan Law College, Pune
In Indian history, it had been easier to abolish the inhumane social practices on paper by introducing or amending the laws than abolishing them from people’s mindsets. Even after being legally abolished in 1950, untouchability was one such act that was still prevalent in Indian society. The title encapsulates the pain, humiliation and poverty of Valmiki’s community, which not only had to rely on joothan but also relished it. Joothan by Om Prakash Valmiki is considered one of the finest works of Dalit literature, which highlights the practice of untouchability in the newly independent state, India. Joothan was first published in Hindi in the year 1997, and later, it was translated into English by Arun Prabha Mukherjee in 2003.
Valmiki’s story strikes him at a deeply intimate and politically relevant level at the same time—the duality of it is fascinating. The autobiography possesses an honest touch, which in turn magnifies its impact, and is also devoid of any florid displays of prose. His unrefined work has been left untouched and is a fragment of his thoughts. Such uncensored reality allows the readers to see the world through his eyes and feel his pain. This allows the readers to not only feel compassion but also a strong need for change.
Joothan is a memoir of a Dalit boy who faced several atrocities since his early life because of his caste identity. Valmiki was born on 30 June 1950 in the Chuhra community of Barla village, Uttar Pradesh. The village was segregated among the Tyaga and the Chuhras; the Tyaga used to consider themselves as upper caste and dominated the entire village. Valmiki’s work represents his traumatic experience of caste violence he faced not just in his school but also in college and at workplaces. The Chuhras used to work hard in the houses and fields of the Tyagas but were not able to get two decent meals in a day because they were often underpaid and sometimes not paid at all. Valmiki’s work represents the day-to-day struggles of the Dalit people in the most detailed way possible that reflects their terrible socio-economic condition in the society.
Valmiki, in his book, shares one of his traumatic experiences from school, where his headmaster, Kaliram (a tyaga), forced him to sweep the entire school premises for three continuous days instead of attending his regular classes. The Chuhras were the easy and primary target of the wrath of Tyagas. All the school masters belonged to the upper caste and left no stone unturned to humiliate and torture the students who belonged to the lower caste.
Despite the barriers of caste which proved to be a hindrance at every step throughout his years in school and college, Valmiki persevered to get better education and evolved. Both his parents have been portrayed as heroic figures in the text. They desired something better for their child and fought for his safety and growth. One of the most powerful moments in the text is when his mother overturned a basketful of joothan at a wedding after a high-caste Tyagi humiliated her. The author eschews a straight narrative, shifting between memories to illustrate how his present is profoundly affected by his past, despite the considerable distance he has travelled to emerge as a leading figure in Dalit literature.

Valmiki manages to do three things in his work:
a) As a matrix of their social existence, he provides a brief account of the Chuhras’ physical and psychological environment in the Barla village.
b) The author succinctly outlines the daily challenges faced by his community in securing two square meals. At the same time, he is able to demonstrate that the economic deprivation of the untouchables is the consequence of the Hindu caste order.
c) He documents his personal challenges in obtaining education at the village school. His narrative illustrates the potential for the untouchables to achieve emancipation through persistent struggle and determination, despite facing significant hardships and deprivations.
The first part of this extract, very quickly, paints the sub-human living conditions of the Chuhras in the village. The Chuhras, Valmiki’s own caste, lived across the pond, which acted as a natural barrier between the upper caste quarters and the untouchables.
It not only bounds the space where the upper and lower castes occupy physically but also demarcates the two worlds of existence. The Chuhras lie in dump and poverty. Only the description of basti makes us to feel how beastly they were living and deprived people there on the face of stone. All-ears stench was pervasive and you could see pigs, dogs and children scurrying in the mung-bean fields of this basti. In short, the Chuhras existed in a physical and social environment lacking human dignity, evidently as a result of the caste system. Thus, Valmiki’s early childhood is marked by this utter deprivation and lack of dignity.
The author’s objective doesn’t stop at evoking compassion towards the oppressed Dalits in the mind of the reader but questions, “Why is my caste my only identity?” The answer to that one question take the reader in deep introspection. Caste in India has always been synonymous to the socio-political fabric of any Indian nation. Right from the reservation debate over government jobs and education to uplift the politically and economically weaker section to political farces, nothing lacks an underlying layer of caste or religion. Joothan is a raw piece of literature and a must read.