The Prisons We Broke

Author: Baby Kamble
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Maya Pandit
Publisher: Orient Longman
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 178
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8125033904

Description

Writings on the lives of the Mahars of Maharashtra, Bay Kamble reclaims memory to relocate the Mahar society before it was impacted by Babasaheb Ambedkar, and tells a consequent tale of redemption wrought by a fiery brand of social and self-awareness.

The Prisons We Broke provides a graphic insight into the oppressive, caste and patriarchal tenets of the Indian society, but nowhere does the writing descend to self-pity. With verse and color the narrative brings to life, among other things, the festivals, rituals, superstitions, snot-nosed children, hard lives and hardy women of the Mahar community.

The original Marathi work, Jine Amucha re-defined autobiographical wring in Marathi in terms of form and narrative strategies adopted, and the selfhood and subjective that were articulated. It is the first autobiography by a Dalit woman in Marathi, probably even the first of its kind in any Indian language.

Contents

Introduction
The Prisons We Broke
An Interview with Baby Kamble
Afterword
Glossary