Two powerful essays discussing cultural capital and the modern legacy of caste that shape the lives of Bahujan youth, and other stories to read
All through April, Dalit History Month, the team at Lounge has been talking about ways to mark the contributions and resilience of the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In urban settings or in certain circles, caste isn’t always demonstrated, but there are subtle ways in which it plays out to the disadvantage of Bahujans—who lands an internship because their mother went to school with the CEO, finding a crew in the office because you all watch that one show, or swapping football stats with the boss.
This trivia for small talk or access to networks is a result of generations of privilege, and we asked two writers to weigh in on these more subtle forms of exclusion—or rather, about the extra work Bahujan youth have to put in to create opportunities for themselves. Ethnographer Balram Vishwakarma sent us a very personal piece on Bahujan youth having to understand pop culture and make it their power to enter a room.
A few years ago, a friend showed me Balram’s Instagram page, little stories of everyday life that capture the lived experience of people from the working class. He starts with the question ‘How much do you earn?,’ and his subject could be a vegetable vendor, a Mumbai taxi driver, a weaver, a streetside mechanic or a dhobi. He brings that same voice to his lively and thought-provoking piece about learning cultural shorthand to navigate elite spaces, which can also be read as a comment on the need for humanities education that expands horizons, imaginations and empathy.
It is complemented by Raju Kendre’s essay, which says that the modern legacy of caste remains unequal access—to jobs, education, healthcare, culture, and therefore to wellbeing and wealth. The two essays are illustrated by the talented Siddhesh Gautam, whose art for solidarity during Dalit History Month worked perfectly with this idea of elusive cultural capital.
Courtesy : Shalini Umachandra, Mint
Note: This news was originally published on https://mint.com/30 and has been used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.