'The lesson to learn from this is if you are a Dalit who reads and writes in English, who may not be as willing to share her pornography of caste violence with the world, who chases joy deliberately, persistently, madly ā then there is a line of people waiting to take away your SC certificate. Itās a funny, funny world. If you want to survive, you have to prove to one set of savarna cabbages that your merit is hard earned and real. And to the other set of cabbages that despite your merit- you are still suffering. Any evidence of joy, confidence, stability means you are brahmin.
Either way, you are more convincing as a Dalit if you are dead. Donāt be alive, thatās all they are asking. And by chance, if you are alive: donāt look happy, donāt read, donāt write, and definitely not in English. Then, when they are satisfied that your suffering is authentic, then they will give you a real Dalit certificate.'
This is a cartoon of Dr. Ambedkar that I return to very frequently these days. In it, Dr. Ambedkar is making way for sweepers (I assume this
