India’s first Dalit Ambedkarite English poetry showcase will bring together poets who will celebrate its power at a Lower Parel venue
On July 20, 1942 in Nagpur, more than 25,000 Dalit women participated in the historic All India Depressed Classes Women’s Conference led by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (centre). PIC COURTESY/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; The Reserved Compartment
Five poets — Aleena S, Abhijit Khandkar, Daniel Sukumar, Shripad Sinnakaar, and Gautam Vegda — will take the stage this weekend at a performance venue in Lower Parel. They’re part of a new initiative, The Reserved Compartment, a community-driven platform that aims to amplify Dalit Ambedkarite voices through poetry, storytelling, and music. Sukumar reveals that the thought behind the name was to reclaim the word “reserved” and one’s identity from caste and gender-based segregation. “There exist strict boundaries on what you can write about, and perform on stage. [Reclaiming the word] is to say, we’ll build our own stage. This is not just a compartment; the whole train is ours,” he shares.
Daniel Sukumar performs a poem
The initiative was born as a result of conversations that Khandkar and Sukumar had had over the years. “Whenever we interacted, the topic would always be: Where are the Dalit poets in the English language?” When Khandkar attempted to host a Dalit poetry event at the Ambedkar University in Delhi, he couldn’t find too many. “It got me thinking; it is not possible that they aren’t out there.” He wondered if the reason was the lack of platforms for their voices. This triggered him to begin the initiative with the five poets he knew from the community.
Abhijit Khandkar
One of Sukumar’s poems will explore his identity as a Dalit Christian poet, and the marginalisation faced by the people of his community from the state, church and several inner circles. Additionally, the poets will interrogate narratives that set out to define what a Dalit person should look and speak like. “People [from privileged castes] expect us to wear shabby clothes, fold our hands and bow down when we stand, speak only when we’re spoken to,” he says. If one resists such categorisation, one is dismissed, often as ‘the rich Dalit’.
Aleena, a poet from Kochi, will further the conversation by probing into the relationship of the rural Dalit women with English. “The poem is titled My English. It is about English as a product of culture, colonisation, caste, and hierarchy.” She admits, “The pressure to choose poems which represent the genre is immense.”
Aleena S, Gautam Vegda and Shripad Sinnakaar
Khandkar, elaborating on the novelty of the initiative, adds, “We are calling this ‘India’s first Dalit Ambedkarite English poetry showcase’, so it is our endeavour to live up to that claim.” However, he believes the show is, more than anything, a celebration, and the poems needn’t be restricted to anti-caste themes. “We want to break that stereotype. We don’t speak for other Dalits, and are sharing our personal stories through our poems. We’re trying to build bridges here,” he insists. The idea is to celebrate poetry, identity, and roots.
The venue of the event holds historical significance. Khandkar explains, “We’re doing this at Todi Mills, where the old abandoned mills were once in operation. My grandfather was a mill worker. One of my poems is about the mill workers, the 1980s Bombay (now Mumbai), and the uprising of the workers.” Marathi poet Bhagyashri Boywad will open the show. After the Mumbai chapter, the poets plan to take the initiative to other cities to encourage others to join in. “Because of the strong Dalit and Ambedkarite movement that Maharashtra has witnessed in the past, it felt like a good place to start here,” summarises Sukumar.
On November 2; 5.30 pm onward
AT Backspace Todi Mills, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel.
Log on to bookmyshow.com
Cost Rs 700
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
