Quest for Revolt in Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki

Abstract

Omprakash Valmiki, like other writers of autobiographies, articulates the Dalit confrontation in his renowned story, Joothan. He describes every aspect of his disturbing social experiences, unfolding his complete life. Thus, Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan is about the voyage of Dalit discrimination and social boycott. The Valmiki kin is under pressure for schooling and position in the social order. In the meantime, it is also the fairy-tale of a Dalit family unit in search of self-esteem and identity in the Indian Hindu society. Omprakash Valmiki portrayed his life as an untouchable and Dalit in the newly self-governing India. The tale of Joothan refers to scraps of food left on a plate; this is meant for waste and animals. India's untouchables have been obligatory to acknowledge and eat leftovers for centuries, and these terms encompasses the pain, humiliation and poverty of the group of people enforced to survive at the underneath of India's societal pyramid. Although untouchability was abolished in 1949, But Dalits is being unrelenting to face prejudice, economic deficiency, aggression and mockery. Even after attaining Independence, the Dalits had to struggle a long time to get education; Joothan takes it seriously. Valmiki shares his daring resist to escape a prearranged life of steady physical and mental agony and his transformation into a speaking subject under the influence of the great Dalit political manager, BR Ambedkar. An article of the long silenced and long denied sufferings of Dalits, Joothan is a key role to the archives of Dalit history and a proposal for a radical transform of humanity and human consciousness. Dalits are being unrelenting to face unfairness, economic deprivation, hostility and ridicule. This paper is trying to portray the Quest for Revolt in Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan.