There seems to be disagreement on what this book is. My library has it classified as a biography. Maybe it is narrative nonfiction, a classification that I haven't been able to get my mind around. The book is about the author's parents. They were Dalit (Untouchables) Indians who grew up in small villages, moved to Mumbai, were involved in the political movement to bring equality to the Dalits. The father, Domu was only semi-literate. The mother, Sonu, never learned to read. The author has them take turns telling their story. It is a glimpse into rural India in the early 20th century and the migration into the large cities. We see them struggle with jobs, living conditions and discrimination. We have the perspective of an under-class Indian family as the country attains its independence from the British and sets up its government. We see the father's determination to see that his children get educated. And we see the children thrive.
It almost reads like a novel and I learned a lot about India and the Dalits.

Inspirational. The passages describing Damu's fascination with Babasaheb are deeply moving.

It is nice presentation of how untouchables are suffering due to caste system. Also, struggle of family is really inspiring.

I learned quite a bit about the Dalit, or downtrodden, of India. This book is about a family whose father refuses to accept their position in the caste system, and successfully climbs out of it.

I feel the title is a little misleading as this book is more of a memoir of his mother and father who also happened to be social activists. Much more focus on everyday family life than anticipated. Enjoyable, but I'd like to have an indepth biography that provided more context. Also, a fair warning that there's a first person narrative about the consummation of his mother's child marriage which I was somewhat unprepared for.

Easy read wrt language and living the story although this is nowhere all about historical background and coming of age story for a hero. It is real, humane and imperfect example of a Dalit family with the husband leading the family through transition. I liked the book better for the family portrayal than what it exposed me towards untouchables plight.

Though Jadhav always wanted to be a writer, he has also served as the principal adviser and chief economist for the Reserve Bank of India and served 4 years as the adviser to the executive director at the International Monetary Fund.

This is surprising because Jadhav is a Dalit, an "Untouchable," a member of a group so low that they are not even part of the normal Hindu caste system. His family was consigned to the lowest of roles in society, and were considered so "polluted" that even their shadow on something could destroy its value. His family was the lowest of the low, certainly not allowed into Hindu temples or any schools. They were considered sub-human.

His father, however, believed differently. His father considered himself, his wife, and his people human beings.

A revolutionary stance.

This is the story of Jadhav's father, a story that is utterly overwhelming and inspirational. How could he see things so differently? How could he have the courage to stand up for what he believed? How could he demand -- and get -- education for his children?

What an amazing man…and what an amazing story of a life in a place and context so completely different from my own.

The greatest thing about this biography is that it educated me on a deeper level on India's Untouchable caste. I had never heard of Babasaheb Ambedkar before, but I'm glad I got a chance to learn about this EXTRAORDINARY man who challenged both the cultural and religous system of India. Also, Untouchables unintentionally helped provide foundation for my dislike for Gandhi. Before I didn't like him mostly off of a gut feeling based upon his actions, but Jadhav's bio helped ground my intuition. Gandhi historically did not support the Dalit equality movement, and held a pitying and slightly condescending view of them. I have no respect for a man who refused to acknowledge an entire population essentially because of their existence. On the other hand, the Untouchable Ambedkar proved himself to be the true hero of India as he awoke the conscious of thousands of Dalits and endlessly strove to secure them equal rights.

If you're hazy on the history of the Untouchables in India, definitely check this biography out. It'll open your eyes to the struggle thousands of Dalits underwent to free themselves from caste slavery, including the incredible personal journey of Jadhav's father.

Tear-jerking... my first non-fiction exposure to cultures outside the U.S. My aunt had me read it.

This surprised me by being a straight memoir rather than a sociological explanation of one family's experience. As it is, Jadhav tends to get bogged down in personal recollection, to the neglect of showing how those personal experiences typify life under the caste system as a whole. This is a decent book, though I don't know that anyone not already familiar with the concept of caste would find this the best place to start.

Judged as a memoir, this was just okay. Jadhav is honest, eloquent and not given to self-pitying, nor does he gloss over or melodramatize the hard realities of living under caste. Still, I'd recommend starting off with a good sociological study of caste before reading, as too little conceptual background is given.

Quickly gives a good but simplistic view of how 1/6 of a population can be kept oppressed by lack of education, and religion. The personal stories interesting and adds understanding to the reasons why so large a population has accepted and still accepts abuse.

Very nice. I suspect the original may have been a bit better written than the English translation, but I still enjoyed this quite a bit. It was interesting to get an "on-the-ground" perspective of the ideological conflict between Gandhi and Babasaheb, too; like most Westerners, I'd heard a lot about the former and very little about the latter, and feel that this book filled some important gaps in my knowledge. The real-life characters were interesting, and their human dramas compelling, so this wasn't like reading a history text at all.

I'd especially recommend this to anyone who has already read The Toss of a Lemon, which tells the story of several generations of a Brahmin family living in an overlapping time period. The two together make for a better understanding of life in this time and place, and the comparison is intriguing.