Government Brahmana

Details : 

Author : Dharani devi Malagatti
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orient BlackSwan
Puiblisher : 1 January 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 148 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8125032169
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9788125032168
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 250 g

About the Book

"Government Brahmana" is the English translation of Aravind Malagatti's Kannada autobiography, offering a glimpse into his childhood and youth through episodic narratives. These episodes serve as "epiphanic moments" in a caste society, reflecting on specific instances that illustrate the author's experiences. Translated by Dharani Devi Malagatti, Janet Vucinich, and N. Subramanya, the book provides insight into the author's life and societal observations. 

Back of the Book

Government Brahmana is the English translation of the kannada autobiography of Aravind Malagatti. The autobiographical narrative is in the form of a series of episodes from the author’s childhood and youth. These episodes function as what G.N. Devy calls “epiphanic moments” in a caste society. The author reflects on specific instances from his childhood and student days that illustrate the normative cruelty practised by caste Hindu society on dalits.
We encounter all the tropes of (male) dalit life: isolation in school where even drinking water is an ordeal; life in the village where dalits perform the filthiest tasks but are denied access to common wells, lakes, where they cannot step into shops and therefore have their purchases thrown at the, where they have to cut their own hair because no barber would touch it; consuming dead-animal meat and innards; doomed love affairs with ‘upper’ caste women.
A painful, disturbing, thought- provoking memoir, this text is conversely full of vitality, even tenderness. In its structure and purpose – as a series of notes towards a dalit autobiography – Government Brahmana appears to be anticipated by Ambedkar’s own autobiographical sketches.

Translator’s Preface

I was privileged to be involved in the translation of this text into English. In this case, translating from Kannada to English and widening the readership required thinking about cultural differences, what needed to be explained, and what was understood. Footnotes were added. I appreciate the language and syntax of the original because it reflects the multiple worlds Dr. Aravind Malagatti lives in and its spoken languages.

In telling our stories, we create and recreate ourselves, seeing ourselves in the eyes of others, explaining ourselves. Each time the storyteller tells his/her story it is slightly different with his/ her audience shaping the emphasis. Written texts are different- the audience more an abstraction, the text fixed. When we write narratives, we are taking others in, sharing perceptions and interpretations of the world. We are breaking down the boundary between self and other, dissolving borders. Dr. Aravind Malagatti’s stories in Government Brahmana have spoken to the people of Karnataka and have now been translated for a larger community These stories invite the reader into both the pain and the integrity of his life; they involve us in his process of creating meaning from a world that can be both ugly and beautiful.