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Untouchables: My Family's Triumphant Journey Out of the Caste System in Modern India

narendra jadhav

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Every sixth human being in the world today is an Indian, and every sixth Indian is an untouchable. For thousands of years the untouchables, or Dalits, the people at the bottom of the Hindu caste system, have been treated as subhuman. Their story has rarely been told. This remarkable book achieves something altogether it gives voice to India's voiceless.
In Untouchables, Narendra Jadhav tells the awe-inspiring story of his family's struggle for equality and justice in India. While most Dalits had accepted their lowly position as fate, Jadhav's father rebelled against the oppressive caste system and fought against all odds to forge for his children a destiny that was never ordained.
Based on his father's diaries and family stories, Jadhav has written the triumphant story of his parents -- their great love, unwavering courage, and eventual victory in the struggle to free themselves and their children from the caste system. Jadhav vividly brings his parents' world to light and unflinchingly documents the life of untouchables -- the hunger, the cruel humiliations, the perpetual fear and brutal abuse.
Compelling and deeply compassionate, Untouchables is a son's tribute to his parents, an illuminating chronicle of one of the most important moments in Indian history, and an eye-opening work of nonfiction that gives readers access and insight into the lives of India's 165 million Dalits, whose struggle for equality continues even today.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,1993

This edition

Format
320 pages, Hardcover
Published
September 27, 2005 by Scribner
ISBN
9780743270793
ASIN
0743270797
Language
English

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About the author

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narendra jadhav

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Narendra Damodar Jadhav is an Indian economist, educationist, public policy expert, professor and writer in English, Marathi and Hindi. He is an expert on Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Jadhav has been a Member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament. He previously served as member of the Planning Commission of India and the National Advisory Council. Prior to this, he worked as Vice Chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and headed economic research at the Reserve Bank of India.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 58 votes)
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58 reviews All reviews
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yann-chan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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This book is nice for reasons apart from casteim discussed for it shows the effect of historic events on the lives of protagonists, and there are two protagonists telling their stories one after another.
But on a negative the book is quite verbose, it could have been shortened to less than 200 pages for good.
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TechMoura
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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This book was so well written, I kept forgetting this was a true story.
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Wuprrr
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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This was a good story but, sadly, I am not proficient enough in Indian history or vocabulary to fully appreciate it, I think. :( I got too lost in the foreign words, which came about 2-3 every sentence. It was too tiring for me to pick through. :(

I wanted to like it, though. :(
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Zi-gege
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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The author writes simply, and there's no great description, etc. but the book works. I think it helps to have been in India and understand the country and her people. The addendum by his daughter was a joke.
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MK_Alex
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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The personal memoir guise of this book is used largely as a framework for political history of the Dalit struggle for equality in Indian society between the 1920s and 1950s. The book added to my shallow understanding of Indian history; for example, independence and partition were not the defining moments of this book, and I learned that Gandhi was not universally beloved among the poor (who weren't Hindu nationalists either). The glimpses into village life in the 1920s were really interesting too, and the author's mother was a well-developed character. However, the writing was simplistic (I assume due to translation) and the political play-by-play wore thin.
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MP_001
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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a very moving book about the power of courage and conviction to overcome the most unimaginable deprivation and humiliation
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Smeasmy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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very good insight into the culture and rules of the caste system in India. very enlightening.
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DexterDerp
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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This collective memoir of a Dalit couple during pre and post Independence written by their son.
This book give a very intimate picture of systemic hardships, breaking the shackles of limitations put on them by cast system and the road map of inspiration and imagination Dr. Ambekhar lay down for his people.
Even though this book is few decades old it is still relevant and it has reasserted my interest in learning more about the father of Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambekhar.
I would recommend this to anyone who is interested to learn more about systemic oppression, cast system and other forms of oppressions.
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