Trigger warning: casteism, sexual violence
“My mind is crowded with many anecdotes: stories not only about the sorrows and tears of Dalit women, but also about their lively and rebellious culture, passion about life with vitality, truth, enjoyment, and about their hard labour. I wanted to shout out these stories.”
These are the words of Bama, who showed the agony of Dalit women in all stages of their lives. Her narratives presented an understanding of the life of poor and Dalit women.
“Sangati” was written by Bama in 1994 in Tamil, and then translated to English by Laxmi Holmstrom. In the novel, there are two protagonists: Maariamma and Maikkanni. The whole story revolves around them. It deals with how they live and face physical, mental and emotional challenges in their lives.
The Structure And Language Of Sangati
The novel is separated into 12 chapters. The meaning of “sangati” is action or events. So, here, Bama is indicating the events in a Dalit woman’s life which are full of grief. This novel has an autobiographical element to it.
As far as the language of the novel is concerned, Bama has liberally used Dalit, Tamil slang, which can hardly be accurately translated into English. She uses slang words while talking about clothes, festivals, and costumes. In my opinion, the use of slang makes this novel more natural and creative.
The novel showcases how members of the Dalit community survive in perilous situations by coming together. Everyday struggles in the streets, at the workplace, and their homes, is represented in Sangati. The way I see it: it is the story of the Dalit community, and not a single person.
What Is The Major Theme Of Sangati?
The major theme which has been discussed in Sangati is to do with the women of the Paraiyar community in Tamil Nadu. It tackles gender biases, oppression of Dalit women by the “upper” castes, as well as sexual assault at the workplace.
A baby girl always gets the second place in the society at large. Bama can relate to the misery of the girls of her community. Girls are always considered to be “lesser than” and ignored most of the time. We can sense this suffering via the following lines from the novel:
‟Even when we played ‘mothers and father,’ we always had to serve the ‘mud’ rice to the boys first. They used to pull us by the hair and hit us saying: ‘What sort of food is this, di, without salt or anything!’ In those days, we used to accept that pretense blows, and think it was all good fun. Nowadays, for many of the girls, those have become real blows and their entire lives are hell.”
Bama mentions a painful folk song to do with Ananatamma, who was beaten up for eating crab curry before serving her husband:
“O crab, my pretty little crab,
who wandered through all the fields I planted, I pulled off your claws and put you on a pot,
I gave the pot a hot and set it down.
I waited and waited for him to come home, and began eating as he came through the door.
He came to hit me, the hungry brute. He pounced at me to kill me.”
Awareness Among Dalits About Their Social Status And Dignity
Dr BR Ambedkar brought up all the issues which hadn’t been addressed for centuries. He stood up against the suppression of Dalits. This struggle fights back against the old and ragged beliefs which have no basis in logic and reality.
Dalits were not permitted to enter temples, fetch water from wells, or gain education in schools. After Ambedkar’s assertion, the Dalit community realised the deplorable conditions they were surviving in, and they also started speaking up for their dignity and self-respect.
Sangati is the saga of resilient women from the Dalit community, who work hard daily, and the numerous torments they face from upper caste men and more.