Assignment for internal assessment, Department of English, Alipurduar University, June 2022
Joothan: An Authentic Depiction of Dalit’s Communal Space in the Artistic Endeavours
of Autobiography
Injamamul Hoque
PG 4th semester, Department of English
Alipurduar University
Abstract
The word ‘Dalit’ gained currency in the second half of the twentieth century in India, when a
group of young Marathi writer-activists founded an organization called Dalit Panthers. The
word Dalit is a common usage in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, and many other Indian languages,
meaning the poor and oppressed persons. It is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘dal’ which means
to crack open, split, crush, grind and it forcefully expresses the oppressed status of the erstwhile
untouchables in the Indian society. Dalit literature has come to occupy a unique status in the
domain of Indian literature despite the charge of being propagandistic and negative in its
approach, levied against it. Repudiating the remarks, noted Hindi Dalit writer, Om Prakash
Valmiki says, “Dalit literature is the portrayal of the wishes and aspirations of the oppressed
Dalits”. Non-Dalit writers belonging to high caste have, no doubt, portrayed the sufferings of
the dalits, however, Dalit writers feel that only Dalits can represent Dalits in an authentic
manner. Valmiki’s autobiography Joothan captures the misery and poverty of Valmiki’s
community. Valmiki relives the traumatic experiences of his past and present in the pages of
his autobiography, bringing to the fore the exploitation suffered by the Dalit at the hands of
upper caste people. Thrust of the paper lies in making a critical assessment of Joothan as a text
celebrating Dalit assertion and dismantling anti- Dalit hegemonic discourses.
Keywords: Dalit, Joothan, untouchability, Omprakash Valmiki, caste, discrimination.
Introduction
Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan, an autobiographical account of his birth and upbringing as an
untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the 1950s, is one of the first portrayals
Assignment for internal assessment, Department of English, Alipurduar University, June 2022
of Dalit life in north India from an insider's perspective. Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan: A
Dalit's Life is the most appropriate example for a Dalit literary text. On the surface this book
seems to be an autobiographical account of Valmiki's journey from his birth and upbringing as
an untouchable in the newly independent India of the fifties to his present as a Dalit writer. But
at the deeper level it is not only the personal story of Valmiki’s own life but of all those
subalterns who are not in the mainstream of the society.
The Hindi word ‘joothan’ literally means food left on eater’s plate, usually destined for garbage
pail in middle class, urban home. On other words, such food is also called ‘joothan’ if someone
else besides the original eater were to eat it. Thus, the word carries connotations of ritual purity
and pollution as ‘jootha’ means polluted. In English it means food remaining in the pot that
can be eaten at the next meal. But title articulates the pain, humiliation and poverty of Valmiki’s
community which not only had to rely on joothan but also relished it. Valmiki gives us a vivid
account of collecting, preserving, and eating joothan.
Valmiki goes on to present the hardships that he had to face in the educational institutions. The
upper caste boys used to tease the writer in every possible way. They used to laugh at his
clothes, which were nothing but rags. Even the teachers and the headmaster were not different
in this context. The Chuhras were always entrusted with the task of sweeping the homes and
public places. It was considered as their duty. Hence the headmaster of the school asked the
writer to sweep the school. The Dalit people felt that it was a waste of time to get their children
educated. When the writer’s father asked his fellow Dalits to send their children to school, they
blatantly refused it.
Right from the early stages of his life, the writer was conscious of the importance of studies.
Reading and writing made the writer an enlightened being. He began to read voraciously. His
results raised his self-confidence. He was selected as the class leader after the examination and
Assignment for internal assessment, Department of English, Alipurduar University, June 2022
his seat was moved from the back of the class to the front. Though some teachers behaved in
an unfriendly manner, the writer loved going to school. This was because most of the students
and most teachers belonged to the Tyagi community. The writer talks about the discrimination
they had to face in the school at different points in his autobiography.
After passing the board examination, Valmiki went on to study further. He took science as
optional subject. But even at this stage, his low birth became the butt of ridicule. He talks about
a teacher named Omdatta Tyagi, a caste minded teacher who insulted students based on their
caste. He dashed all his hopes of securing good marks in the examination. This caste minded
teacher didn’t like the idea of an ‘untouchable’ studying in the school. When the results were
announced, the writer’s name featured in the list of failures. He had secured good marks in all
other subjects but had failed in the lab test of the chemistry paper.
While describing the events in Bombay much later in his life, Valmiki highlights the fact that
education is not the solution to the ills of the caste system. Even his own relatives were hesitant
to invite him for a wedding as he refused to let go of his last name because it would reveal their
caste. Omprakash Valmiki constantly stresses on the differences between the Dalits and the
caste Hindus, the Savarnas, with respect to their various religious beliefs and customs, he subtly
contests the belief that the oppression of the Dalits by the Savarnas is justified as per the Hindu
religious laws because the pork-eating Dalits living on the outskirts of village.
Conclusion
To sum up, the book, Joothan – A Dalit’s Life, is an exceptional piece of literary work. As a
self-conscious Dalit literary text, Joothan makes a powerful statement against the oppressive
caste system still prevalent in most parts of India. Valmiki`s use of autobiography helps him to
occupy a vantage subject position from which he presents a Dalit’s lived experience. The ‘true
to life’ format of the autobiography helps him to lay bare the brutality inherent in the caste
Assignment for internal assessment, Department of English, Alipurduar University, June 2022
system, which consequently becomes a powerful argument in favour of dismantling this
undesirable form of social organization. At the same time, Valmiki’s own struggles and
success, acts as motivation for others to struggle and achieve their goals. Thus, Joothan
symbolizes the struggle for dignity and human rights and demonstrates that a revolutionary
transformation of society is not just desirable but possible as well.
Work cited
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Columbia University Press, 2008. Web.
Josan, Renu. "Oppression to Assertion: Dalit Consciousness in Omprakash Valmiki’s
Joothan." Journal of Teaching and Education 1.4 (2012): 7-12.
Dhanisha, KS. "PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA OF DALIT STUDENTS IN OMPRAKASH
VALMIKI’S JOOTHAN." Research Journal of English Language and Literature. Web.
Naik, Showkat Ahmad. "Contradicting Monologue: Dalit Autobiographies as a Counter
Discourse." Research Journal of English Language and Literature 3.3 (2015): 278-282.
Accessed on 17 jun. 2022.
Valmiki, Omaprakasa, et al. Joothan: A Dalit's life. Columbia University Press, 2003. Web.
Fareed, Sadaf. "Writing Community through Self: Om Prakash Valmiki's Joothan: A Dalit's
Life." Literary Voice 1.11 (2019): 29-35. Web.
Tripathi, Priyanka & Bhattacharjee, Partha. (2019). “Negotiating the Social Struggle:
Deconstructing the Dalit Subalternity in Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan: A Dalit's Life.” IUP
Journal of English Studies. 14. Accessed on 17 jun. 2022.
