Really Beautiful. Really love the way it is narrated from the mind of Bakha.

The book describes the kind of untouchability which was earlier practiced in India in stark detail. There are some areas in the book where the author very expertly describes the kind of thoughts which occupy teenagers, the simple desires of clothes, delicacies, food, love and respect. These desires are even more difficult for Bakha (the protagonist) to handle as it is not because of his volition that he does not get these things but because he is an outcast (an untouchable sweeper) who only gets the remainders and leftovers of everything.
The book describes the events of a single day, is short, interesting and ends on a hopeful note.

In 1935, Dr. B.R Ambedkar announced in Yeola his decision to convert from Hinduism. He declared that he would convert to some other religion that would treat him as a dignified human being. To thundering applause, he said, “I was born a Hindu but I will not die one.”

Ambedkar’s Yeola Declaration sealed his rift with Mahatma Gandhi, Indian National Congress and Hindu reformism that promised a more equal future for Dalits within Hinduism. It came as the culmination of a series of a political gesture that began with the Prime Minister’s Communal Award. In 1932, the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award which granted Dalits the controversial but much sought after separate electorates. Thus, it fulfilled the outstanding demand of Ambedkar-led Dalit movement for separate political identity. Mahatma Gandhi vehemently opposed this as he believed it would perpetuate the institution of untouchability, wreck the project of Hindu reformism and divide the “house of Hinduism” from within. His fast-unto-death forced Ambedkar to negotiate. It resulted in Poona Pact, the rapprochement by which Ambedkar rescinded the Communal Award and settled for Reserved Seats within General Electorates. Thus, he had to forego the governmental recognition of the Dalit movement and agreed to work along Gandhi in his “crusade” against untouchability to reform Hinduism.

The agreement proved short lived as Gandhi and Ambedkar fell out over the question of how to approach the reforms. For Gandhi the onus lay with the savarna Hindus who had to atone for the sins of their past generations and themselves, whereas for Ambdkar the onus lay with the Dalits to liberate themselves through both agitational and institutional politics. The unbridgeable gap between the “politics of atonement” and the “politics of self-respect” soon matured into a clash that couldn’t be reconciled between personalities. The Yeola Declaration, for its social radicalness, wasn’t unexpected.

Yeola Declaration marked Ambedkar’s radical departure from Hinduism and Gandhism. Never again would the ‘twains meet. But was his project of self-liberation through a politics of self-respect feasible? Could Dalits, living in the villages and the alleys of big towns, make a clean break with Hinduism as Ambedkar did?

Mulk Raj Anand’s debut novel Untouchable (published coincidentally in 1935) explores the complexities of the Dalit self-liberation and the politics of self-respect through an intimate portrayal of everyday Dalit life. A searing indictment of Indian caste system, Untouchable is set in the cantonment city of Bulandshahr. It narrates the story of a day in the life of Bakha, a young man from the Bhangi caste who is deemed untouchable by the savarna Hindus. Bakha lives with his family which consists of his father (Lakha) , his younger sister (Sohni) , and their youngest sibling (Rakha). In his youth Lakha was a scavenger too. Decades of toil, misery and humiliation turned Lakha into a grumpy old man, always cross with his son’s happiness. Reconciled to his fate as an untouchable, like the countless generations before him, Lakha resents the near-impossible dreams Bakha has for life. As the scavenger in the city’s cantonment district, Bakha is raptured by the glamour and the fashion of English sahibs. He dreams of becoming like one of the Tommies with their hats, coats and boots. Bakha tries to imitate them much to the chagrin of his father and to the fun of sahibs. However, many of the Englishmen in the cantonment are appreciative of Bakha for his hard work and ambition who see in him a fine specimen of sturdy masculinity.

Bakha’s dreams are shattered when he accidentally runs into a Marwari businessman who accuses Bakha of ritually polluting him by touching him. In the ensuing fracas Bakha is accosted by a belligerent crowd who throws barbs at him and his caste. He is even slapped by the Marwari businessman before the crowd disperses. Shocked, pained and humiliated Bakha feels the wretchedness of his life’s station and the absurdity of his dream: a life of dignity. Helpless to even avenge his honour (despite his physical superiority) Bakha begins his “hero’s journey” in which he ponders over the state of life as he faces the bewildering options in front of him. What will Bakha do?

In its intimate portrayal of caste and untouchability in India, Anand’s novel, Untouchable, explores the mental life of its central characters. It reveals the deep psychological trauma caste system inflicts upon the oppressors and the oppressed. The combined effect of the caste system, its systemic violence and its ideological hegemony over the minds of people is the dehumanization of both the savarna and avarna who regard each other as anything but human. For both classes, the hierarchy of the caste system feels natural where one is bound to dictate and the other to oblige. Even the entry of colonial British does little more than mildly upset the balance. Under the British, the old hegemony is disturbed as new ideas produced an unstable and tension-filled relation between the castes where the younger generations of the lower and the untouchable castes didn’t take to the idea of caste hierarchy as easily as their forefathers did. The advanced and the backward sections among them aspire to live a more modern and dignified life. Bakha is one among them whose lively imagination is fired up by the regular sight of sahibs. For him, the English epitomize civilization, modernity, and everything else good about life. His honest but mindless imitation of soldiers’ fashion is a subtle but critical gesture in the narrative where the novelist points to the limitations of colonial modernity and its emancipatory potential. It’s good enough only as far as it excites imagination but fails where it has to realize them, as colonialism itself is an oppressive system built on economic exploitation, military subjugation and racial discrimination.

The novelist's evaluation of other modes of liberation is equally critical, conversion for its otherworldliness and Gandhism for its idealism that keeps initiative away from Dalits (for an appreciative take on Gandhi's strategy from Dalit perspective, see Flaming Feet and Other Essays, The). Then, where does he find the solace? Without resorting to easy answers, the novelist hints at the poet named Sarshar. This Nehruvian figure who is a champion of Gandhi, Indian Nationalism, modernity and technological progress swear that the problem of untouchability in India could be solved by the introduction of “flushing toilets”. Bakha is as intrigued by the news of this new contraption as Sarshar’s audience. Bakha isn’t convinced but he is intrigued and curious about the future that this new technology could usher in. Will it change the lives of countless untouchables like Bakha for the better? He is hopeful without being naïve. So is the novelist.

The record of the postcolonial Indian state in Dalit liberation is chequered. While much has been achieved, even more remain to be achieved. Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable wasn’t as much a manifesto for change as it was call for a revolution of empathy in the nation’s mind. His critical evaluation of the various solutions on the table was an exercise in thought and imagination, the spirit of which should inform the contemporary debates to look beyond the politics and methods of the past.

In the introduction to the Penguin Edition Ramachandra Guha says that, in a way, this book is both "Gandhite and Ambedkarite". Gandhite? Yes. But I really can't see the latter designation.

The book isn't *that* bad, and the story of Bakha is told with sympathy (even if I did find it occasionally condescending) and rage. But the way Anand seems to try and neatly resolve the story with a mixture of faith in Gandhi's paternalistic reformism on caste, and a belief in technology's ability to do away with untouchability, really irked me.

"They think we are dirt because we clear their dirt."

The book was published in 1935 and with the prevalent casteism then, the author needed guts to go about writing it and I guess he did a good job in capturing the life and times of lower caste people in words for the coming generation to read it and see/compare how we have failed miserably in changing our country in the last 80 years.
We still have people facing what Bakha, the protagonist, faces as a sweeper in his town and how the perceived 'High Caste' exploit the lower caste people and blame it on them. The book also touches the motives of the missionaries that flooded India and how one character was an utter failure in his goal.

Coming back to the book, it was a quick read but I didn't really like the literal translation of the way one speaks in Hindi, it was a big turn off. The only thing I liked was the musings of the character and rhetoric(couldn't think of a better word) by the author.

Short and touching story on a young untouchable boy navigating his day as a member of the least respected and lowest caste in Hindu society.

More interesting as a snapshot in time than based on literary merit. Authors who came after Anand explore the same themes more evocatively but maybe he was the first. Additionally the cruelty of the caste system does make for compelling reading.

Soul crushing. We in the West know nothing about degradation. The strife and misery of this narrative! And yet the writing is captivating, the modulation of emotion through action and image masterful. A novel of people whose very essence, they’ve been told for thousands of years, is defilement. I must read more on caste and how it came to be. It’s incomprehensible to the Western mind.

Bakha, a strong young man, a sweeper of latrines, has spent time at the British barracks, where he was treated as if he possessed no taint. This has broadened his thinking, shown him the imbecility of the millennia-old system he lived under, and made him feel things could be different than they are. Bakha and his kind are, among other indecencies, deprived of education, fed like swine, denied participation in community, and consigned to wretched quarters. As the story progresses, and Bakha is assailed from all quarters with declarations of “pollution, pollution!” That this handsome and industrious young man should on this day, perhaps for the first time, truly feel the proportions of the terrible trap that is his life, makes for a terrible moment.

He was part of a consciousness which he could share and yet not understand. He had been lifted from the gutter, through the barriers of space, to partake of life which was his, and yet not his. He was in the midst of a humanity which included him in its folds and yet debarred him from entering into a sentient, living, quivering contact with it. (p. 137)

The Mahatma shows up with a message tailor made for Bakha. It’s a subtle bit of didacticism in which one is reminded of certain harangues of Dostoyevsky. Fortunately it’s brief. Untouchability was prohibited by law some 65 years ago. But it is said that Indian elections still reflect a caste consciousness. How could they not, after millennia under such a system? The book, scatological in the extreme, is deeply moving, mainly due to the rage it evokes in the reader. It is also utterly without parallel in my reading experience. That is, I’ve never read anything else that even touches on the subject in the headlong manner this does.

PS Guess who helped Anand with his novel? His initials are M.G.

PPS If you’re going to read this you must also read B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste, fascinating.

I would highly recommend this book but I cannot seem to give it more than 3 stars.

I think that has to do with the GR rating system and the words that pop up. I didn't really like it, I certainly didn't love it. It was not just okay and my sentiments are not that I didn't like it. I can't even say that I liked it. More or less I found the subject matter to be interesting but not really enjoyable. The concept of "untouchables" has bothered me for quite some time and reading a novel in which one is the main character certainly appealed to me. Bakha is a fantastic character. He is haunted by his place in his society. He is tortured by being an untouchable.

The book follows a day in his life, as he cleans the latrines, sweeps the streets and how those around him, mostly from higher castes but even Untouchables who have a higher social standing, treat him.

In the end the novel gets a bit preachy and introduces 3 possible solutions to Bakha's predicament: Christianity, Gandhi's proposal to eliminate "untouchability" or the flush toilet. Bakha is unable to fully understand any of these concepts but it leaves the reader to think about how each one could solve the problem it its own unique way.

I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me of Orwell 's non fiction work. The book was believable and absorbing. It brought you into the intimate world of a lowly young man in 19th colonial India. The story not only gave me great insight into Indian society and customs of the time but also got to the heart of the main character 'bakha'. I felt I could feel what he felt. The author convincingly portrays the ignorance and humanity of the man.

A day in the life of Bakha the Jemadar (sweeper), and an untouchable. The heart of the book is about the social stigma of untouchability affecting India during the 1930s - the period when this book was written and also the time setting for the story as well.

I only remember hearing and reading about the phenomenon of untouchability in Hindu society, when growing up in India during the 70s and early 80s. It still exists to a certain extent in parts of India, or at least spoken about, as I have heard mention of it conversation with others in my family. Gandhiji is attributed to saying in this book - ‘the fault does not lie in the Hindu religion, but in those who profess it’. I couldn’t agree any more.

A short story, and a brief glimpse in the life of an untouchable. A difficult issue simply, sometimes touchingly, described in this story by Mulk Raj Anand, one of the first English writing Indian authors.

Despite what a large number of Indians would like to believe, caste and caste based violence are very much prevalent in the country. This book, written in 1935, offers an incredible insight into the mind of a young boy named Bakha, who is forced to work as a toilet cleaner because he’s born in a lower caste. Even amongst the lower castes, there is hierarchy which relegates him to the lowest of all beings, and he is constantly treated as such. His life is a barrage of humiliation and abuse. The author doesn’t let you escape the boy’s situation for a minute.

At the very end, Gandhi makes an appearance in the story, and since he was an untouchability abolitionist but not a caste abolitionist, listening to his speech leaves both Bakha and the reader confused. Is the author trying to present a solution here? I wish this part wasn’t included, the book would’ve been a straight 5⭐️ for me otherwise.

The high point is the vivid imagery it presents of a day in the life of a boy who is reduced to being an untouchable for no fault of his, and is itching to get out of it. Bakha’s fantasies become the reader’s fantasies, his insults become the reader’s insults, and at the end of the day, the reader moves on just like Bakha does, towards another day, but with a slight understanding of what it must feel like to be ostracised from society every single day. Except, the reader can forget, the ‘untouchable’ cannot.