THE OUTCASTE - Sharankumar Limbale

                     THE OUTCASTE

                                  - Sharankumar Limbale

Introduction

               Sharankumar Limbale was born in 1956, is a Marathi language author, poet and literary critic. He has penned more than 40 books, but is best known for his autobiographical novel Akkarmashi. Akkarmashi is translated in several other Indian languages and in English. The

English translation is published by the Oxford University Press with the title The Outcaste. His critical work Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature (2004) is considered amongst the most

important works on Dalit literature.

                Sharankumar Limbale is regarded as the most prolific writers of contemporary literature whose literature aimed to expose the brutality of the upper class in Maharashtra .Limbale is a socially committed novelist who has produced a good deal of literature. He has written articles and essays on a number of subjects. His novels fall into two categories namely social and autobiographical novels. He focused his attention on the sufferings and misery of the Dalits of the Indian society. Caste discrimination, hypocrisy, caste system, the place of Dalits in the society, poverty, hunger, exploitation and protest are his common themes.

About the story

               Akkarmashi, a landmark in Marathi Dalit literature, is an autobiography written by Sharankumar Limbale in 1984. It is a Marathi version which is translated as The Outcaste in

English by Santosh Bhoomkar in 2003. It is first Marathi Dalit autobiography, which is translated into Hindi, Kannada, Panjabi, Tamil, Malyalam, and Gujrathi. Sharankumar Limbale’s 'The Outcaste' is about an untouchable family in general and community struggles in particular.

Summary

                Limbale portrays the pathetic situation of the life of a Dalit school boy. In fact the school boy represents the entire Dalit communities. The extract is all about the picnic and food. Once the teachers took the students for an outing, all children were happy. Mahar children were not

informed about the picnic when they reach the school they are told to run home and bring some tiffin to be eaten during the picnic. They came back with jowar bhakari (which was made by grain collected from dung paste) and chutney. They joined the group of boys and girls standing in rows.

Bhiwarabai came holding the stalk of a dry jowar plant. She pulled Parshya from the row and told him, that his father had gone to dig pits without eating anything. She instructed him to take food for his father or he will starve the whole day.

                All boys and girls moved in a single row with all their teachers. They all were happy. As they passed the way they saw Harya, sitting on a buffalo, who had been taken away from school and put him to work in Girmallya's farm by his father. Harya looked restless when he saw the

boys and girls in a row. When they reached the destination the tough boys went up the trees and other boys and girls ran all over the place. But the narrator watched them from distance. Wani and Brahmin boys played Kabbadi since the Mahar boys could not join them. So they played touch 

and go.

                After the play they settled down to eat. The high caste boys and girls and all teachers, nearly a 100, sat in a circle under a banyan tree. The Mahar boys and girls were asked to sit under another tree. They opened their bundles. The high caste children offered their food to their 

teachers. The narrator wondered what would happen if he offered his chutney to his teacher. Finally the high caste children gave the leftovers of their food to the Mahar children and they greedily ate it. He is rebuked sourly by his mother for not bringing some of the leftovers for the rest of the family to taste. 

                   On the next day after the picnic, the narrator goes to school. The teacher tells him to write an essay about the picnic of the previous day. As he sat thinking what to write, the teacher was angry 

with him. He shouted, “You, son of a bitch, start writing. You like eating an ox, don't you?” Then the narrator took his slate and pencil, spat on the slate, smeared it and wiped the slate with his shirt which was already dirty. He did not know how and what to write. He kept thinking how they had sat in a circle under a tree, eating. He remembers the hands of high caste boys and girls offering them, their leftovers, the withered tree under which they sat, the bundle of leftovers, the question his mother asked, and the teacher calling him a son of bitch and a beef eater. How could 

he start writing the essay his teacher had asked for? It was the real dilemma of the Dalits.

EXERCISES:

I. Answer the following questions:

1. In which language was Akkarmashi originally written?

a. Tamil b. Malayalam c. Kannada d. Marathi

ans: Marathi

2. To which caste did Sharankumar Limbale belong to?

a. Brahmin b. Mahar c. Wani d. Marwari

ans: Mahar

3. Which was the game played by the Wani and Brahmin boys during the picnic?

Ans: Kabbadi

4. Which game did the boys of the narrators caste play during the picnic?

Ans: Touch- and- Go

II. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two:

1. Why could Parshya not go to picnic?

Parshya could not go to the picnic because he has to take food for his father who had gone to dig pits without eating anything.

2. How did Harya become an asset to the family?

Harya was employed in Girmallya's farm to graze cattle. For his work he got food and a hundred rupees a year.

3. Comment on the politics of separation in playing games.

Wani and Brahmin boys played Kabbadi. Mahar boys played the game of touch and go. The Mahar boys could not join kabbadi because in kabbadi one has to catch the opponent. This would involve touching the body.

4. What comments are given in the extract about the narrator's hunger?

His mother said his stomach was an Akkalkot. (it just a town in Solapur). There seemed to be a gizzard in his stomach. He was never satisfied as he was a glutton and he always felt half-fed.

5. What made Girmallya's farm quiver in the narrator's stomach?

The narrator had eaten the leftover food from the high- caste children sitting in Girmallya's farm. The food was very tasty and he never tasted anything like that before. When he told mother this story, she asked him why he hadn't brought some leftover food for her. Leftover food is nectar, she said. These words of his mother made Girmallya's farm quiver in the narrator's stomach.

6. 'We sat like owls watching them.' What were they watching?

They were watching the high- caste boys and girls from the village eating together. The girls sat with the teachers and they were chatting.

7. What did the teacher ask the students to do the day after the picnic?

The day after the picnic the teacher asked the students to write an essay on the picnic.

8. What did the teacher do when he saw the narrator apparently doing nothing in the class the next day of the picnic?

The teacher was annoyed at him. He called the narrator son of a bitch and a beef eater and asked him to start writing the essay.

III. Answer the following questions in a paragraph:

1. Comment on the politics of food in “The Outcaste”.

Limbale portrays the pathetic and miserable life of a poor and oppressed community in the hands of an unthinking privileged class. The extract is about the picnic and food. Once the teacher took the students for an outing, all children were happy. Mahar children were not informed about the picnic. When they reached the school they were told to run home and bring some tiffin to be eaten during the picnic. They came back with jowar bhakari (which was made by grain collected from dung paste) and chutney. Most of the people have two meals daily, one is at

morning and second one is at evening. Due to such environment, Dalits are totally depending on upper caste people. They have no work or land to farm because of poverty these people can't eat even once in day, therefore, they ate green leafs or bhakari and also they collects leftover food. It was a tradition in Dalit society to beg and eat. In the picnic we see the whole high castes boys and girls sit near the teachers in a circle under a banyan tree, but the Mahar boys and girls were asked to sit under another tree. They opened their bundles. The high caste children offered their food to their teachers. The narrator wondered what would happen if he offered his chutney to his teacher. Finally the high caste children gave the leftovers of their food to the Mahar children and they greedily eat it.

2. The discrimination of the Dalits,

according to Limbale.

There was discrimination of Dalits not only in sitting, playing, prayer, food but also in the games they played. Boys and girls from the high castes Wani, Brahmin, Marvari, Muslim,Maratha, Teli, fisherman and goldsmith and all the teachers nearly a hundred, sat in a circle under a banyan tree. But the Mahar boys and girls were asked to sit under another tree. The high caste children said a prayer before eating which did not make any sense to the Mahar boys and girls. The high caste children play kabbadi but the Mahar can't play kabbadi with them because that

game involves touching. The Mahar boys play touch-and-go. Even when the high class girls gave food to the Mahar children, they make sure they did not touch them. No wonder Limbale called himself Akkarmashi, condemned and illegitimate.

3. Comment briefly on the ending of the extract given.

             The extract ends by showing the pathetic situation of the life of a Dalit school boy. In fact the school boy represents the entire Dalit community. There we see the poverty, the insult they

have to suffer and the disgrace they have to put up with. On the next day after the picnic, the narrator goes to school. The teacher tells him to write an essay about the picnic of the previous day. As he sat thinking what to write, the teacher was angry with him. He shouted, “You, son of a

bitch, start writing. You like eating an ox, don't you?” Then the narrator took his slate and pencil, spat on the slate, smeared it and wiped the slate with his shirt which was already dirty. He did not know how and what to write. He kept thinking how they had sat in a circle under a tree, eating. He remembers the hands of high caste boys and girls offering them, their leftovers, the withered tree under which they sat, the bundle of leftovers, the question his mother asked, and the teacher calling him a son of bitch and a beef eater. How could he start writing the essay his teacher had asked for? It was the real dilemma of the Dalits.

4. Comment on Sharankumar Limbale's prose style.

Sharankumar Limbale used a straight forward personal descriptive style in his auto- biography to show the life experiences of a Dalit, which includes inequality, discrimination and indifference towards them and their culture. The author describes a Dalit's pathetic situation of not

having an identity, a home or place of belonging in a simple yet touching with an unique style. He has a simple story to say but it has a profound message. He raises some valid questions to be answered by people who consider themselves civilized and modern- ‘How is a person born with

his caste? How does he become an untouchable as soon as he is born? How can he be a criminal?’etc. Limbale’s autobiography is a good quick read that would interest any student taking a course on modern India. The author includes an excellent introduction that describes the

caste system to all with his first hand experiences.

IV. Answer the following questions in about 300 words:

1. How did Limbale portray the caste-ridden Indian society in the prescribed extract from “the Outcaste”?

            Limbale portrays the caste-ridden Indian society in a very powerful manner in the extract from “The Outcaste”. In the very beginning we see that the Mahar children were not informed about the picnic only when they reach the school they are told to run home and bring some tiffin to be eaten during the picnic. But the other high caste children were informed previously about the picnic and they had come fully prepared for it.

            There was discrimination of the Dalits not only in sitting, playing, prayer, food but also in the games they played. During the picnic, high-caste children play kabbadi. The Mahar children could not join them because the play involved catching the opponent. So, naturally the high caste

children did not want to play that game with the low caste children. So Mallya, Umbrya, and Parshya, all from the Mahar caste played touch-and-go.

              Even the food of the various castes was different. Most of the people have two meals daily, one is at morning and second one is at evening. The Dalits depend on the upper caste people for

food. They have no work or land to farm; because of poverty these people can't eat once in day, therefore, they ate green leafs or bhakari and also they collects leftover food. In the picnic we see the whole high castes boys and girls sit near the teachers in a circle under a banyan tree, but the

Mahar boys and girls were asked to sit under another tree. They opened their bundles and were embarrassed in front of their upper- caste classmates by their stale dry rotis, chutney and dried fish. But they can smell the delicacies from the other group. When they have eaten, the teacher asks the Dalit boys to collect the leftovers, which they attack soon. The pathetic situation is that when Sharankumar returns home he is rebuked sourly by his mother for not bringing some of the leftovers for the rest of the family to taste. This shows the poor condition of Dalit for their living. The extract is taken for the autobiography “Akkarmashi, The Outcaste” in which the saga of sorrows, miseries, poverty and hunger has been very differently explained. Limbale gives a good picture of the caste-ridden society of India and how the lower caste suffered the tyrannies inflicted on them by the higher castes. Sharankumar Limbale is trying to rebuild society on the principles of human dignity, equality and respect through this “Akkarmashi, The Outcaste”.

2. Discuss how Limbale's “The Outcaste” is filled with pathos and anger.

             Limbale's “The Outcaste” is filled with pathos and anger. The extract shows how the caste of an individual determines everything, including the clothes they wear, the marriage, and the food they eat. The extract describes the life of Dalit, who suffered on account of being born in low-caste or out-caste. We see how Bhiwarabai comes to school holding the stalk of a dry jowar plant and pulling Parshya from where he was standing in the row, because she want him to go to

home to take food for their father, who went to work without eating anything otherwise their father will starve the whole day. So Parshya can't go for a picnic with them, he cried while returning home.

             Then we see Harya, who was gazing the cattle along the banks of the stream. He looked restless when the children move in a single group. His father had taken him away from school and

put him to work on Girmallya's farm. For his hard work he received food and hundred rupees a year. His mother did not have proper clothes. Most of the time everyone in his home was only half fed. Since Harya was working he became an asset to the family. At the end of the year he would get his wages. With that money clothes would be bought for everyone. As the students on picnic passed, Harya, sitting on a buffalo, was singing. Then we see the games they played during the picnic different, high-caste children play

kabbadi. The Mahar children could not join them because the play involved catching the opponent. So, naturally the high caste children did not want to play that game with the low caste children. So Mallya, Umbrya, and Parshya, all from the Mahar caste played touch-and-go.

                 The eating scene definitely disturbs us showing how the food differed between the high caste children and the Dalit children. In the end we see the high caste children giving the leftovers of their food to the Dalit children and how they greedily eat it. The climax comes when the

narrator tells this to his mother she asks him why he did not bring some leftover food for her. To her, leftover food was like nectar! 

         By giving these pictures Limbale lashes against the system that discriminates people because of their birth. Limbale revealed a world of poverty and discrimination in which the Dalits

had lived for thousands of years. He raises some valid questions to be answered by people who consider themselves civilized and modern- ‘How is a person born with his caste? How does he become an untouchable as soon as he is born? How can he be a criminal?’ and son . Although it is banned by law, in the minds of many people it still reigns.