My Wish Lists Login / Join

Joothan

An Untouchable's Life

By: Omprakash Valmiki, Arun Prabha Mukherjee

Write A Review

Paperback | 2 July 2008 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
208 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
2.17 x 1.42 x 0.13

Paperback

RRP $41.95

$37.75

10%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.44 with

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

Omprakash Valmiki describes his life as an untouchable, or Dalit, in the newly independent India of the 1950s. "Joothan" refers to scraps of food left on a plate, destined for the garbage or animals. India's untouchables have been forced to accept and eat joothan for centuries, and the word encapsulates the pain, humiliation, and poverty of a community forced to live at the bottom of India's social pyramid.

Although untouchability was abolished in 1949, Dalits continued to face discrimination, economic deprivation, violence, and ridicule. Valmiki shares his heroic struggle to survive a preordained life of perpetual physical and mental persecution and his transformation into a speaking subject under the influence of the great Dalit political leader, B. R. Ambedkar. A document of the long-silenced and long-denied sufferings of the Dalits, Joothan is a major contribution to the archives of Dalit history and a manifesto for the revolutionary transformation of society and human consciousness.

Industry Reviews

"As an editor and writer, Valmiki has done much to stake out a space for Dalit literary expression, well exemplified by this narrative. Fascinating cultural and personal history." -- Booklist "Mukherjee offers English-language readers an accessible translation of Valmiki's engaging memoir that will prove invaluable." -- Maggie Ronkin, The Journal of Asian Studies

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Society & Culture Social Groups Social Classes Social Issues & Processes Social Discrimination & Inequality History Regional & National History Asian History Literature, Poetry & Plays Biographies & True Stories Biographies

Fiction Modern & Contemporary Fiction Science Biology, Life Sciences Computing & I.T.Computer Programming & Software Development

Foreword	p. ix
Preface to the Hindi Edition	p. xiii
Introduction	p. xvii
Joothan	p. 1
Glossary	p. 155
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Joothan

An Untouchable's Life

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Biographies

Outside the Wire

On the front line with the SAS in Australia's war in Afghanistan

Drives A Bit Funny

A hilarious and heartfelt collection of car stories on life, laughs and lessons behind the wheel

Communion

Finding My Way Back to Faith

Famous Flags

Great Local Grand Finals

Reckless

The Saga of Australian Crawl

John Longmire

Pain, perspective and premierships - my autobiography

John Farnham

A Little Golden Book Biography

Juicy

How to Live a Life in the Wreckage of Expectations

The Smallest Restaurant in Paris

Hardcore

50 Years of Skateboarding in Australia

Undercurrent

The Hidden Cost of Going Undercover

Alan Joyce

Riding the Jet Stream

What It Takes

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Hotter

How I Lost a Husband, Gained a Lawyer and Found Myself

Nobody's Girl

A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice

You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It

Musquito

The real story of a legendary colonial warrior

Long Journey Home

The perilous escapes of Anzac POWs from fascists in wartime Italy

The Steps

The powerful new memoir from the Academy Award-winning actor and icon

From the Ground Up

How to build a cult brand

I Wrote My Own Eulogy

The art of appreciating your own life

Lionel Messi

The Graphic Novel

The Outrageous Good Fortune of Living

A guide to replacing religion with meaning and grace, for readers of Julia Baird, Stephanie Dowrick and Alain de Botton

The Infinity Machine

Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence

This product is categorised by