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Women Should Be Treated At Par With Men: Author Raghav Chandra

Author Raghav Chandra speaks on how atrocities and indignities against Dalits will continue till we change our approach.

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Raghav Chandra is an IAS officer who has authored the novel Scent of a Game, themed around wildlife and conservation. His latest book Kali’s Daughter discusses caste and courage, set in the elite Indian Administrative and Foreign Services. He showcases this issue through the female protagonist, Deepika Thakur, a Dalit woman and a civil servant. More often than not, her caste becomes her identity. Thakur has to address the United Nations Human Rights Council and present her country in a good light, denying the issue of caste-based discrimination claiming that the Indian government is working towards its eradication.

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As Deepika Thakur prepares to address the Council in Geneva she is flooded with memories of how she had to deal with prejudice and discrimination due to her being a Dalit. Being a part of the Indian Administrative Services himself Chandra drew from his personal experience to establish the narrative in the book. In an interview with SheThePeople.TV, he speaks on how it isn't always possible for writers to take up a cause, and why men need to change their thinking and respect women.

Being a woman in India is difficult enough and on top of it belonging to the Dalit community totally puts her on a backfoot don’t you think?

 A woman in India is born disadvantaged because of the traditional mindset that women are not as strong and competent as men. In this background, to be a Dalit woman, from an economically low middle-class family, from a tier two town, is to have the scales tipped entirely against you. Such squeeze is particularly palpable and worrying if a woman is even remotely aspirational. Deepika Thakur, the protagonist of Kali’s Daughter is the first person from her family to ever go for high education and then contemplate joining a national civil service.

It isn’t always possible for writers to take up a cause. Perhaps not necessarily necessary either. An author shouldn’t preach. Having said that, if a writer has an opportunity to build a message into his writing without compromising the storyline and the elegance of the writing then it is certainly worth it.

In fact, the only time she has ever travelled out of her region has been to participate in the Civil Services Interview. So when she gets a good rank and qualifies for the Indian Foreign Service in her very first attempt at this notoriously difficult examination, she faces the predicament of having to first convince her family that she has indeed succeeded and is not pulling a fast one on them – there is also their disbelief that she could pass on her own merit, without availing of the special privilege of quotas for the backward communities. Then she has to personally appeal to them to let her join the foreign service because their historical introversion prevents them from even envisaging her going abroad to work. That is why she feels: “She had conquered the Everest of examinations. Though she had succeeded personally, she had failed her parents…just when her success had begun to translate into their success.” That forces her to resign herself to the power of destiny.

Was there a trigger point for you to write this book?

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It was fortuitous that I was posted as the Secretary of the Constitutional body for the safeguarding of the Scheduled Tribes and got to examine the subject of atrocities against the weaker communities very closely. I told myself that I should capture all my experience of thirty-six years as a public affairs administrator and highlight the challenges faced by a Dalit. Besides, having read a lot of so-called Dalit literature I realized that practically nothing had ever been written on this important subject from the eyes of a non-Dalit who had had a privileged life, was Harvard and St Stephens educated. Most existing literature, fiction and non-fiction tell the story of Dalit exploitation in a very direct, grimy way – starvation deaths, rapes, dispossession from land, suicides. There was a need to capture the mental tortures a Dalit could face in an urban, economically comfortable setting.

Also read: Why Jhumpa Lahiri Is Essential Reading To Understand Indian Diaspora

You have juxtaposed two protagonists- Deepika Thakur and Amandeep -one from a lower middle class dalit family and another from a sawarna family. However both are strong characters representing their social class. How important is it for a writer to take up a cause, particularly that of marginalised sections in the present context, when there is a narrative of might is right being built by majoritarian groups in the country rather globally as well?

Don’t you think it should be left to the activists, because it is generally felt that literature even though reflects the society at large the ‘cause element’ in a fiction straight jackets it and doesn’t allow creative freedom to a writer? Having said that, while reading your book I felt that the cause element has not in any way overshadowed the literary aesthetics and sensibilities of the novel.

It isn’t always possible for writers to take up a cause. Perhaps not necessarily necessary either. An author shouldn’t preach. Having said that, if a writer has an opportunity to build a message into his writing without compromising the storyline and the elegance of the writing then it is certainly worth it. George Orwell, HG Wells, William Golding … So there cannot be a template. Each author to himself, each story to itself…

It always comes as a surprise to others that there are competent and tough women. Personally, I have come across so many women who surpass men in their creativity, determination and execution.

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The title of the book is Kali’s Daughter. In the very first chapter when Deepika is selected her mother invokes Goddess Kali and says “Your daughter has won”. Does it in anyway insinuate the iconoclastic and rebellious aspects of women where they can only emulate Kali to break free from the misogynist milieu they have been brought up in?

 Upon her success, when the visitors finally depart, and Deepika touches the feet of the Goddess Kali, her mother says, “Your Deepu’s done it Maa.” Kali represents the adi-shakti, the primordial source of energy, the protector against evil. For Deepika’s family (and by inference others from weaker communities) Kali is the foil against the inequities of a casteist (Kali temples are not so opulent and therefore more accessible to the lower castes, unlike temples dedicated to other gods and goddesses), racially prejudiced (Kali is black and therefore can be identified with more easily by those who are dark-complexioned), even misogynistic (Kali is a woman in a winning, warrior mode, even subjugating the all-powerful Shiva) social order.

Continuing the above observation, is the image of Kali  also synonymous with Kali Yug (age of destruction) which has been brought up by William Dalrymple in his book The Age of Kali. Most of his essays deal with Dalit suppression. Do you think Kali Yug is the destruction of suppression? 

Kalayug is actually a period when there is gross injustice and adharma. For a higher-caste, this is a defiance of the ordained social order by the lower castes and the usurpation of authority by them (Rajesh says, “I know we live in this Kalayug, but a fair guy like you falling for somebody at the other end of the …”). For the lower castes, this is even greater intolerance, aggression, and exploitation by the higher castes.  In short, it is a period in which nobody is happy and there is turmoil in society at all levels and in all spheres of life.

Why do you think women don’t get their due, why do they have to be Kali or Chandi to fight for what they should get as their natural right?

It’s a pity women don’t always get their due – wages or fair treatment. But, there is no reason why women shouldn’t be treated at par with men. Their capacity to endure is far more – physically, emotionally and psychologically. In fact, any society in which women are given command over the resources and they are treated as equals is naturally poised to be more economical, happy and successful. Men must change their thinking and learn to respect women.

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Also read: Tribute To An Officer Who Gave Me My First Lesson In Empowerment

You are a civil servant. Do you think women officers are treated differently; people who deal with them have a different gaze when dealing with them? 

Not only in the civil services, in all professions, my experience tells me that women are perceived to be vulnerable and therefore treated differently. It always comes as a surprise to others that there are competent and tough women. Personally, I have come across so many women who surpass men in their creativity, determination and execution.

In fact, any society in which women are given command over the resources and they are treated as equals is naturally poised to be more economical, happy and successful. Men must change their thinking and learn to respect women.

 What do you have to say when Dalit leaders/officers are discriminated against in this day and age? A recent case in point being when a Dalit woman politician in Kerala staged a sit-in protest at a venue, cow-dung mixed water was sprinkled to cleanse the place? This happened a few months back, this is reality.

Atrocities and indignities against Dalits will continue till we change our approach to life. Recently, there was a report in the mainstream press about a BJP Dalit MP who was prevented from entering a village because of his caste. As a Rajput superior of Deepika’s father reveals, "We have to change the great Indian mind. We have to build in more compassion, empathy and respect in all our dealings. It’s still a long journey, but we have to begin somewhere. No better place to start from than from our own homes!"

 

authors books on Civil Services books on dalit women Kali’s Daughter Raghav Chandra
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