So far this subject has not received any attention,' she said.

I am trying to document what this side of being a Dalit is like. I am trying to tell stories that have not found space so far in media or pop culture narratives. Through her book, published by Aleph Book Company, Dutt said she wants to reach out to those 'who think we live in a post-caste world' and caste discrimination existed only in ancient India.

Because Dalits have been doing these jobs, and they exist in cities also,' she said. The book chronicles his experiences of pain, loneliness, depravation, alienation, and the growing political consciousness of his caste. In this personal memoir that is at the same time a history of the Dalit people, she writes about the journey of coming to terms with her identity and chronicles. 'People who come to collect garbage at homes are almost always Dalits, those who do manual scavenging 99 per cent times they are Dalits, nobody from upper caste seeks quota in these jobs. Water in a Broken Pot is the memoir of Yogesh Maitreya, who is a poet, writer, translator and the founder of Panther’s Paw Publications, which is devoted to publishing literature by Dalit- Bahujan writers. 'Often when I returned from school, my mother would enquire if someone asked me about my caste and if someone did I am supposed to say 'Brahmin' because she was worried that if I revealed I was from the 'bhangi' caste, I would face discrimination even by my teachers and friends in Ajmer and miss out on opportunities,' she said reminiscing the Rajasthan of early 1990s.Īsked if the 'gap' in 'discrimination' shrinks in urban spaces where money and services appear more dominant instead of caste, she said in villages caste is more visible, in cities it is invisible but it is equally present in both areas. Dutt, 33, recalled incidents from her childhood about discrimination that had left her 'scarred' and became the reason for choosing to hide her caste even when working with a leading daily in New Delhi.

Coming out as dalit a memoir