''Baluta'' (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

बलुतं) is an autobiography by the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n writer

Daya Pawar Daya Pawar or Dagdu Maruti Pawar (1935–20 September 1996) was an Indian Marathi language author and poet known for his contributions to Dalit literature that dealt with the atrocities experienced by the Dalits or untouchables under the Hi ...

, written in the

Marathi language Marathi (; , 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, , ) is a Classical languages of India, classical Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Guj ...

. Dangale considers it a remarkable representative of the autobiography genre of Marathi Dalit literature. According to Kalita, ''Baluta'' "introduced autobiographical writing" to Dalit literature. ''Baluta'' is seen by the ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature'' as an attempt by the writer to be personal yet "objective and representative", the title generalising the status of rural untouchables. It records the writer's struggle for peace, a struggle with no chance of retaliation in "word or deed". An English translation by Jerry Pinto was published in 2015.

Reactions

Rao considers that ''Baluta'', as a representative of Dalit literature, was not just a faithful narration of the Dalit experience but also an "ethical challenge" to the "caste Hindu" whom it "implicated".

Sharmila Rege Sharmila Rege (7 October 1964 – 13 July 2013) was an Indian sociologist, feminist scholar and author of '' Writing Caste, Writing Gender''. She led the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre, (the department of Gender Studies) at ...

quotes

Urmila Pawar Urmila Pawar (born 1945) is an Indian writer and activist in the Dalit and feminist movements. Writing primarily in Marathi, her works have often been hailed as a critique of social discrimination and the ''savarna'' exploitation by commentator ...

, who mentions the criticism of Dalit scholars that ''Baluta'' was shameful; Urmila rejects this criticism as based on lack of understanding. According to ''The Encyclopaedia...'', it created the first anti-hero in

Marathi literature Marathi literature is the body of literature of Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra and written in the Devanagari and Modi script. History Early history As a written language, Marathi is probably ...

. ''Link'' mentions that ''Baluta'' "created a sensation in the Marathi world for its frank and unique description of a life that the author lived in the ghettos of prostitutes, criminals, pimps and uprooted Dalit people, within and around the red light areas of the city of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

References

{{reflist Indian autobiographies Dalit literature 1978 books Speaking Tiger books