Bengali Dalit

Education Intercepting The Dalit Way of Being

Author(s): 
Sarbani Banerjee
Publisher/Sponsor: 
Taylor and Francis Online
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369801X.2017.1320226

Abstract: Through readings of Adhir Biswas’ memoirs – Deshbhager Smriti [2010. 4 vols. Kolkata: Gangchil] and Allar jomite paa [2012. Kolkata: Gangchil] – as well as Manoranjan Byapari’s autobiographical work Itibritte Chandal Jibon (2012), I study the importance of education in the lives of first-generation literate Bengali Dalit immigrants. I evaluate the journey of Biswas and Byapari from being labelled as “chhotolok”, towards becoming a part of the bhadralok social group, redefining what it means to belong to either group.