Writing Resistance, Writing the ‘Self’: Analysis of the Short Story ‘Thakur ka Kuan: Part Two’ by Anita Bharti
Ms Amrita Anand
PhD Scholar, Department of English and Foreign Languages Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India
Dalit women who are often called “Dalits among Dalits” are a vulnerable population group that experience gender-based inequalities and violence. In addition to that, the narratives involving Dalit women’s lives are filled with victimization, romanticization and absence.
Anita Bharti is a contemporary Hindi writer, critic, journalist, teacher, and activist for social and human rights. In her short stories collection, “Ek thi Kote Vali: tatha anya Kahaniyaan (2012)”, she presents an insight into the recent development of a growing feminist voice in the field of contemporary Dalit literature. As Sharmila Rege has pointed out the need for a “Dalit Feminist standpoint” which takes into account, the multilayered problems and identities of Dalit woman who are at the intersection of gender, caste and ethnicity. (Rege: 1998: 45). The stories bring hope and reiterate the importance of unification to fight discrimination and injustice.
This paper aims to dwell deep into this alternate universe where anger is channelized into resistance and violence into empowerment. I would also argue, how her short stories “Thakur Ka Kuan – Part 2” which opens in medias res ties in with the open end of Prem Chand’s story “Thakur Ka Kuan” (1932).
The researcher’s central goal is to analyze how the sequel of the story ‘Thakur Ka Kuan’ is narrated from the perspective of the feminist Dalit writer Anita Bharti?
Through the short story, Bharti has attempted to reevaluate/revise the prolific Hindi writer Premchand by rewriting his story with triumphant Dalit women characters.
Key words: Dalit Feminism, Dalit Feminist Standpoint, Hindi Dalit Literature, Resistance writing