ISSN No.
0974-035X
Towards
Excellence/Mr.Chetan P. Joshi/Page 12-17
A Refereed Journal of Higher Education
Towards Excellence
UGC-ACADEMIC STAFF COLLEGE,
GUJARAT UNIVERSITY AHMEDABAD, INDIA
Autobiography -The Tool Of Collective Identity: B.Keshar Shivam’s
‘Purn Satya’ (‘The Complete Truth And Nothing But The Truth’)
Mr. Chetan P. Joshi
INTRODUCTION
In the Dalit movement, the role of Dalit literature is very significant to generate the
awareness among the Dalits to unite for their right. The Dalits are in seeking their self- identity
and therefore they have started expressing their selves, and literature is one of the important tools
for self expression. With the help of various literary forms they depict the realistic Dalit and nonDalit life. They have been exposing the social hierarchical system based on ancient principles of
‘Varns’, with Brahmans the purest and Untouchables the most polluted. The Dalit literature is
committed to the whole downtrodden society and culture. It makes the Dalits aware of the
injustice and their rights which are denied by so called upper class society for centur ies. In this
struggle they took inspiration from the ‘Black Literature’ and started struggle for self identity
and self respect.
Arjun Dangle, the editor of Poison Bread, writes: “Dalit literature is not simply literature; it
is associated with a movement to bring about change. It represents the hopes and ambitions of a
new society and new people”. ( Dangle 266)
The protest against ages old established caste system found its very first expression amidst
the Dalit literature. The age-old question of Dalit identity was addressed midst different literary
forms like the poems, short stories, fictions, novels and autobiographies. Though the beginning
of the movement was unorganised, Dalit literary movement acquired considerable pace with the
active support of Dr.B.R. Ambedkar.
In this movement of self identity, autobiographies played significant role as they were the
documentations of sorrows and sufferings faced by the writers themselves. Therefore, the
autobiographies became an important source of inspiration for the movement.
The meaning and importance of Autobiography
As autobiography is a narration of self and experiences of the self, it is written from a
subjective point of view. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the term an
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‘autobiography’ as, “The story of a person’s life, written by that person; this type of
writing.”(http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/autobiography)
Dalit
autobiography is a modern trend in the genre of autobiographies and it differs from the
mainstream autobiographies, as it is related with the Dalit consciousness, Dalit movement, the
style of writing, use of particular language, etc. Dalit autobiography is a type of self- narration in
which more significance is given to the collective life than that of the individual life. The
collective and common social living is depicted through the writer. These autobiographies are
not written to describe the achievements and self glorification there for the aims and objectives
of these autobiographies are different. Basically, the Dalit autobiographies are used as a weapon
for creating a social awareness among the downtrodden society and culture.
The Characteristics of the Dalit Autobiographies
The main intention of the Dalit autobiographies is to spread awareness about social injustice
and discrimination among the oppressed and exploited people.
Malagatti says, “We are choosing memories that create social change.” (Government
Brahmana 10)
Normally an autobiography glorifies one’s ‘self’ and boasts about the special qualities and
achievements of one’s self. But when a Dalit auto-biographer writes, he writes about his sorrows
and sufferings and how he or she was denied to live even as an ordinary man.
The self as
expressed in the autobiography turns on into the spokesperson of the whole Dalits community
who suffers lot because of the ‘Dalit identity’.
One of the important characteristics of the Dalit literature is that it vehemently criticising the
‘varna’ system which was the root for the pitiable plight of the Dalits.
The other crucial characteristic of the dalit autobiographical narratives is that they do not
segregate the individual from his whole historical surroundings, family and society. The
individual is not isolated subject but he represents whole community. The painful struggles and
the quest of identity of the individual seem never detached from the nature that the organism of
social relation and historical surroundings has given him. The subject of the autobiographical
narratives generally is a social personage from and among a whole community.
Sarah Beth writes, “Autobiographies of marginalized groups differ in that they are written
by...individuals who emphasize the ordinariness of their life rather than their uniqueness in order
to establish themselves as representative of their community.” (Beth)
This painful experience
is common to all the Dalit auto-biographers, this firsthand experience outburst when they got
opportunities to express themselves. For this kind of expression this marginalized groups found
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autobiography the proper medium to express themselves. For them Autobiography is not only a
kind of literary form, but is a platform to give voice to their sorrows and sufferings and to their
inner yearning to be considered as normal human beings.
Guy Poitevin writes, “It serves purposes of social intervention and accordingly carries strong
militant connotations”. (Poitvin)
It is true that due to Ambedkarite effect the Dalit literary movement sowed its first roots in
Maharashtra, the birthplace of Dr. Ambedkar and his movement. Ambedkar’s revolutionary
ideals stirred all the Dalits of Maharashtra and they became aware of self- respect. And in the
course of the time the awareness spread in the neighbouring states also.
The History of Gujarati Dalit Literature
In Gujarat, the history of Dalit Literature is not as old as Marathi Dalit Literature. The origin
of Dalit Literature in Gujarat is seen during 1980s. The awareness generated by Dr. Ambedkar
was not seen in Gujarat, but in 1980s when the anti reservation movement started in Gujarat, the
Dalits came together and got united for their rights. During this time they felt the necessity to
express themselves and they started writing.
Rita Kothari has stated in ‘Short Stories in Gujarati Dalit Literature’,“unlike Marathi dalit
literature, Gujarati dalit writing did not evolve out of a large political movement against the
upper castes...it grew as a response to the upper castes’ virulent attacks on the reservation policy
in 1981”. (Kothari)
Now within almost more than three decades, Dalit literature in Gujarati has established itself
firmly as a genre which cannot be ignored. Like all dalit writings, Gujarati dalit literature is
about affirmation of human rights, self-respect, anger against social discrimination, records of
individual and collective sufferings, and their hopes and ambitions for a new society free from
inequality. This way the Dalit literature is absolutely a weapon for the struggle; basically it
appeals the dalits however it has also strong appeal to the other readers are also.
Gujarati Dalit literature is healthy in the literary forms like poem and short story. But so far
Autobio graphical form is concerned; ‘Purnasatya’ is the only full length autobiography available
in Gujarati Dalit literature; written by B.Keshar Shivam, published in 2002. And this book is
considered as a ‘mile stone’ not only by dalit but even by main stream literary critics. It has won
‘Dasi Jivan’ award of the Government of Gujarat in 2003.
‘Purnasatya’ vividly describes the hardship, particularly socio-economical, faced by Shivam
and his community. The description of his childhood memories is so touching. In his early
childhood the economical condition of Shivam’s father was better in comparison with the other
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members of the community as he was ‘kantrati’ (contractor), but in the course of time it became
worst as he was drunkard. So, even being a child Shivam had to work hard to be helpful to his
family. Shivam says, “There were many restrictions: ban on education, ban on listening to
religious discourse, ban on wearing good clothes....The only thing which was not banned was
hunger”. (Shivam 12) Shivam worked as a boiler cleaner in a factory, which was a difficult task
even for a man. He says, “i developed blisters on my hands from constantly using the
hammer...my palms hardened and even today I can feel the hardness. It is a constant reminder of
not night marish past but of its reality”. (Shivam 21). Even as a small boy Shivan faces lots
difficulties but never compromises with the self-respect. Shivam writes, “The religious leader
had the crutch of a begging bowl but I never resorted to begging to satiate my hunger. I have
gone to bed hungry but have never asked for alms from anybody”. (Shivam 14)Even at the small
age, this temperament indicates his role in future and due to this kind of temperament he
becomes able to bear the tensions that he has to deal as a government officer. He says, “I found
as if it were I who were being forced and exploited to hard labour to fill my belly”. (Shivam 11)
Shivam’s childhood was spent among bones in the bone mill where his mother was working.
He describes his games with bones in the bone mill. And he gives very touching description of
the incident of the death of his companion girl child in the bone mill. Shivam has very
courageously described the incident at bone mill where a worker tries to exploit sexually to
Shivam. The first part of the autobiography also high lights the social costumes and the life of
the people of the community. Their beliefs, superstitions, and some supernatural elements are
also there. Whatever events Shivam has depicted, they are depicted with such vividness that we
get a very touching picture of the lives of the Dalits; from births, weddings, religious ceremonies,
bhavais to mushayaras. This shows the collective life of the Dalit community and how they get
united in adverse circumstances. And not only that but it also shows what forces has nurtured
young Bhikha’s mind.
As a student Shiva m is a clever and active, he takes part in
extracurricular activities, particularly in drama. He is loved even by many of the upper class
teachers. But wherever he goes, whatever he does the inferiority complex is always with him. As
a child he always feels fear while dealing with the outsider. In the first part of his autobiography
Shivam has described an incident, as a student he went to school picnic after taking food,
everyone threw the leaf plates in a pit, the beggars were collecting the leftover from the plates.
When a beggar woman saw Bhikha she threw the plate. Sivam writes, “She threw my plate as if
it were a live wire or filled with poison and cried out ‘Hai, hai he’s a dhhed...’”. (Shivam 113)
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The second part of the autobiography was published later. It deals with Shivam’s life as a
government officer. Even being a government officer he has to suffer in each and every step of
life due to his dalit identity. In Dholaka, where the author was posted as a ‘mamalaydar’, he was
not able to ge t house on rent in good locality. In this part we can see Shivam’s devotion to Dr.
Ambedkar and to his community. Shivam continues his efforts to be helpful to his community at
any cost. We can see how he suffers while helping to others. As a government officer he
performs his duty bravely. He suffers lot while he allots ‘Gochar’ to the landless dalits.
B.Kesarshivam writes, “If you were to knock on the words of pain, you would hear the sound of
truth; if you were to press the words, you would find drops of perspiration oozing out; and if you
were to dig into them, you would find blood streaking out.” (Shivam 17)
While talking about his duty in the Governor House he compares his present life with the
earlier one.
He writes in ‘Signature of Existence’, “I was destined to lead a very contradictory life. As a
child I had experienced a childhood hankering for a piece of rotlo and as an adult, in my job at
‘Raj Bhavan’, I had food cooked referring to the cookbooks that costs Rs.200 to Rs.250. I had a
huge staff of separate cooks for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.” ‘Whatever he is’, he says,
‘is due to Dr.Ambedkar’. (Shivam 18).
He has spent all years of his career to teach the dalits, ‘the mantra’ of Ambedkar: ‘get
educated, get organized and then revolutionize’. He has given a great tribute to Babasaheb by
changing his name and putting ‘B’ of Babasaheb at the beginning of his name. He always carries
the photograph of Baba Saheb in his pocket.
Shivam feels, that whatever efforts are done by the governments and social reformers, the
untouchability has not been completely removed, it is always there in one or another form. The
dalits share the same country, same religion, and same language but due to their Dalit identity
they are forced to live in their own bounding that creates their own subculture. Even after so
many years of independence, at some extent the dalits are treated in the same way.
Conclusion
This autobiography is in fact a documentation of sorrows and suffering and the agony not
only of Shvam but of the whole community. And the Dalit literature is nothing but the literary
expression of this consciousness. While going through this autobiography, in each and every
page the reader feels agony and pain suffered by the whole community. It seems that the writer is
the mouthpiece of the community and his self is merged with the community.
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Works Cited
Beth,Sarah:
“Dalit
Autobiographies
in
Hindi,
The
Translation
of
Pain
into
Resistance.”http://anniemontaut.free.fr/enseignement/coursLitt/hin406/HIN3B18a/DalitH
in_SarahBeth.pdf.Web.
Buss, E.W. Autobiographical Acts: A Changing Situation of A Literary Genre, Batimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1976.Print.
Dangle, Arjun. Ed. A Corpse in the Well, Bombay:Orient Longman Limited,1992.Print.
Prasad, Amar Nath, and M.B.Gaijan. Ed. Dalit Literature A Critical Exploration.New Delhi:
Sarup & Suns, 2007.Print.
Shivam, B.kesar. The Complete Truth And Nothing But The Truth, Kolkata:Navbharat Sahitya
Mandir,2002.Print.
Poitevin, Guy: “ Dalit Autobiographical narratives: Figures of Subaltern Consciousness,
Assertion and Identity”. http://aune.lpl.univ-aix.fr/~belbernard/misc/ccrss/ Web.
Weintraub, K.J. TheValue of The Individual: Self and Circumstance in Autobiography. Chicago:
Chicago Press,1978.
Kothari, Rita, Short Stories in Gujarati Dalit Literature. Economic and Political Weekly (30 Nov
2001).
Mr. Chetan P. Joshi,
Assistant Professor in English,
Sabarmati Arts and Commerce College, Ahmedabad.
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