Yashica’s work traces the struggle of young Dalit women to get an education, like her mother’s dream to get education is crushed by the patriarchal system within the Dalit community. However, it has not been an easy entry for Dalit women. English has aided some Dalits to climb the social ladder. Register NowĪdmitting children to a reputed English medium school so that they attain social and economic mobility is still a dream for many Dalits. Never miss real stories from India's women. I’m sure the book will resonate with most of the young dalit women who still struggle to live in the ‘closet’ because of ‘symbolic caste violence’ that prevails everywhere. My father would constantly tell us that we belonged to farming community, and never did he reveal the caste name ‘pariha’. While reading, I remember my mom’s struggle to train us with a bunch of lies about our caste so that we wouldn’t be treated as inferior. In fact, she would manipulate us by calling ‘beef’ as ‘mutton’ so that we would not reveal our Dalit-ness. She would warn me (and my siblings) not to use the word ‘beef’. Yashica, a young Dalit woman talks about how she was told to pass off as belonging to an upper caste by her mother, which was similar to my mother’s advice during my school days.
However, I feel the book has given me courage to share, as I no longer have anything to hide. I was also angry as I read the book, since it made me realise that I too, was made to hide my identity as a Dalit from a young age. I couldn’t pen down my thoughts about the book for few days since it would mean to revisit some more distressing moments of my childhood. I was happy that I got to read a book which in many ways mirrors my own experience as an urban Dalit woman.
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