Book Review: Interrogating My Chandal Life (An Autobiography by Manoranjan Byapari)

Sanjay Jagdeo Shinde

Abstract: The autobiography of a Dalit from Bengali named Itibritte Chandal Jivan initially appeared in Bengali as Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit (2018) by Manoranjan Byapari and translated by Sipra Mukherjee. The book is primarily written in the first person as an autobiography that examines Manoranjan Byapari's life and journey, who was destined to encounter numerous challenges throughout his life. His life was the subject of a documentary made by Rajya Sabha TV. Being a member of the lower caste Namashudra or Chandal, in Bengal, also called as a "casteless society" Byapari often expresses the most agonizing pain of being a Dalit and destitute, where caste and poverty end up dictating his tragic fate at every turn of life. The book details the oppression and marginalization Dalits undergo. According to Gaytri Spivak?s essay, Can a subaltern speak ? The meaning of the term Subaltern has not limited meaning but is widened to include the various oppressed, marginalized, exploited groups of society on account of class, caste, poverty and gender. This autobiography accelerates our thought process and enables the consciousness of the readers, critics and academicians to be thoughtful with the sentiments of dalit and dalit literature.

Keywords: dalit, poverty, destitude, marginalization, exploitation