The Stomach That Chewed Hunger and Other Stories

Book excerpt: Jealous of the ‘success’ of his hardworking farmhands, the rich farmer cuts off access to their land; a free gift won by a working-class family is appropriated by their rich employer who feels his status entitles him to such benefits, a teacher finds herself rendered speechless by the subtle, insidious ways in which caste operates around her, a pregnant woman dreams of clean toilets for her child. Hard hitting, often unrelenting, the twelve powerful stories in this slim volume have been selected by Bama, a Dalit writer who broke new ground by speaking out publicly against caste discrimination, particularly in the Church. Written in everyday Tamil and in regional dialects, and skillfully translated by Ahana Lakshmi, the stories are firmly rooted in the twin experiences of caste and gender and upend much of the received wisdom about what counts as ‘good’ literature.