15 Rhetorical questions - Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan

From the life of a Dalit:

Joothan reflects on the narrator’s journey from ‘Chuhre ke’ to ‘Valmiki’. It was difficult to be Valmiki coming from the swamp. He survived and thrived. The parental support Valmiki had was commendable. The father, who held pride in his son being educated, died with the contentment of his son escaping the caste, although he died as a chuhra. Valmiki’s mother, who dared to dream along with his son, heard the stories he narrated. Even after the severe financial crisis, her Bhabhi didn't hesitate to sell her only jewelry to let the narrator stay away from the dirt of the responsibilities they bore. The livelihood helps people in this community survive, but it dismisses the emotions. When you've got a family to feed with no social support, just fighting with the world to barely exist, this is what comes out as a result. The irony of how we say what's written in a name, yet the emphasis we place on digging into someone’s caste, is quite ironically happening every day. Nothing yet; everything lies in a name, exactly the difference “Valmiki '' made to Omprakash’s name. The last lines of the story reflect the very realistic essence of the community. You become what you deal with, either a human or a survivor.

Take a look at the rhetorical questions from the autobiography:

1. How could one think of studies when one didn’t even have food?

2. So Ashwatthama was given flour mixed in water instead of milk, but what about us who had to drink mar, rice water? How come we were never mentioned in any epic? Why didn’t an epic poet ever write a word about our lives?

3. “Abey, Sohro [Father-in-law; abuse], if my children learn a few letters, how does it bother you?”

4. “Neither am I a Hindu.” If I really were a Hindu, would the Hindus hate me so much? Or discriminate against me? Or try to fill me up with caste inferiority over the smallest things? I also wondered why one had to be a Hindu in order to be a good human being—I have seen and suffered the cruelty of Hindus since childhood. Why does caste superiority and caste pride attack only the weak? Why are Hindus so cruel, so heartless against Dalits?

5. The hollowness of their hospitality was exposed. Respect depends on the guest’s caste. How did we have any entitlement to hospitality?

6. When I think of that woman today, I begin to feel nauseated. What helplessness had brought her to them? Did she come willingly? A woman surrendering to two men—even today my mind refuses to accept it.

7. I felt very awkward during lunch. When I began to remove the dirty dishes after eating, Chamanlalji stopped me and called out to his daughter,“Come and take away Bhaiya’s dishes.” She came and took the dirty dishes away. His kindness made my eyes well up. I became very emotional. How could I have expected such treatment in a world where chiding and indifference were my lot?

8. Often Vijay Shankar would say, “Hey, fellows, you don’t seem to have ever been young.” Youth had a different mind-set in the hostel, and we did not fit into it because useless things like literature had deranged our brains.

9. Savita defended the discrimination as right and justified by tradition. Her arguments were infuriating me. However, I remained calm. According to her, SCs were uncultured. Dirty. I asked her,“How many SCs do you know? What is your personal experience in this regard?”

10. The hotel owner who didn’t pay him his salary, you can’t even raise a finger at him. Can you policemen find a law to help the boy? To help him get the salary that is owed him? Or does your Penal Code consist only of beating him up?”

11.Why talk about the others when my own family and friends have caused me unspeakable anguish? It is easy to battle against the outsiders; the most arduous battle has to be fought against one’s own.

12. Right from my childhood to this day, countless stings have stung not just my body but also my heart. What historical reasons lie behind this hatred and malice?

13. If it were in one’s control, then why would I have been born in a Bhangi household? Those who call themselves the standard-bearers of this country’s great cultural heritage, did they decide which homes they would be born into?

14. The Hindus who worship trees and plants, beasts and birds, why are they so intolerant of Dalits?

15. Why is my caste my only identity?