BOOK REVIEW:

12 WORDS TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF AMBEDKAR

-    S. Gautham Ambedkar

அம்பேத்கருடையை அடிப்படைக் கூறுகளைப் புரிந்து கொள்ள

12 வார்த்தைகள்

Not frequent are the books that can enable the Ambekarites to be the able-captains of the ship that can successfully sail across the Hindutva Sea.  In the midst of the turbulence that deters the Unmarriagebles to understand the mind of Babasaheb, Mr. Gautam Ambedkar has attempted in his own typical style to offer a guide to embrace the learned Doctor better.

Among the 12 words, the internal and external limitations are noteworthy. While talking about the serious limitation that is suffered even by Sovereignty, Dr Ambedkar quotes Dicey in order to explain these two concepts. These are rarely highlighted and understood in the mainstream discourses of the politics of Unmarriageables. As a reader, I am excited to encounter them in the book. One who possesses the ‘Political Power’ is constrained by his internal limitation and also by the external limitation of the governed, warns the author.

Equally important is the last 3 word, introduced by Mr. Gautam Ambedkar, namely Speaker, Audience and Executors. It is crucial to understand each of the Doctor’s work in this light. The Unmarriageables can rightly be deterred from taking up the problem of the Caste Hindus and the Hindu Society by employing these 3 words especially in the present times where reformation of Hindu society is alluring at the cost of the emancipation of the Unmarriageables.

The short and striking manner in which issue of Sri Lankan Buddhism is handled brings a smile of relief. 

The compilation of what is Democracy in chapter 9 is a useful exercise. The author reminds that all the works addressed to Caste Hindus by Dr Ambedkar should be construed as the requisites for the democracy. True. Very True!

Since a lot of references from BAWS is given throughout the book, a compilation of them as endnotes or footnotes would help the readers to distinctively grasp the author’s arguments. The book in order to be internalized in its pith and substance places a restriction on the readers to be well aware of BAWS (Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches). Despite this restriction, the book, on the other hand, also serves as an impetus for the readers to take up BAWS. The author’s commentary on the present socio-politico-religious events as essays and articles by wielding the lens of Ambedkarism (in which he is undoubtedly a reliable expert) would definitely take him closer to the masses. These are my desires rather than suggestions.

The more and more I read and revise BAWS, stronger is my conviction nowadays that it is nearly impossible to have a mastery over his writings and speeches. To conclude with the analogy used in the introduction, not everyone may explore the entire ocean of Ambedkarism but we all can become the able-captains deterring the shipwrecks while sailing in the different seas of Ambedkarism. Not to Misunderstand Babasaheb has become more important than the Need to Understand Babasaheb. With the dangers of shipwreck (the hijacking of Dr Ambedkar and twisting of his principles) existing in the present Hindutva times, Mr. Gautam Ambedkar offers a reliable compass to the captains of the ship. It is for us to make use of it.

'UNCASTE' Is Now Available Worldwide

I am glad to share the recent release of my book worldwide: ‘UNCASTE’ subtitled as ‘Understanding Unmarriageability: The Way Forward To Annihilate Caste’. The book dissects the stigma called Unmarriageability that would prickle even the most progressive minds.

Let us cease our Reactions and cultivate the habit of Actions. It is time to confront the crux of caste instead of reacting to the tantrums it makes.

This is my sincere invitation seeking your time and thoughts in moulding the popular opinion against Unmarriageability.

...

Where can You Buy?

For the Indian Readers, 

the Paperback version is available in Amazon.in, Notion Press 

while the Ebook Version is available Amazon.in

For the Readers outside India,

the Amazon Paperback version is available in the following domains:

.com, .uk, .de, .fr, .es, .it, .jp, .ca, and
the Amazon Ebook version is available in the following domains:

.com, .uk, .de, .fr, .es, .it, .nl, .jp, .br, .ca, .mx, .au, .dp

Few other available sources are:

United States & Canada

Barnes & Noble

Walmart

United Kingdom & Europe

Indigo

Adlibris

Agapea

Blackwells

Bookdepository

Gardners

Alibris

Abebooks

Superbookdeals

Bol

Australia & New Zealand

Booktopia

Fishpond

...

About 'UNCASTE'

'Uncaste' is the stellar outcome of my 8 years of patient and persistent research on India's Caste System and the mystery of how it survives. The book is stellar not only in the sense of decoding the sustaining mechanism of Caste but also in constructing a clear pathway to annihilate it. Hence, what begins as a scholarly exposition passionately progresses in issuing a manifesto to perish the Caste System.

By completely tilting the perspective of the readers and compelling them to look at the caste system through the institution of marriage and family, 'Uncaste' succeeds in prickling the most progressive minds that deceive to be Casteless.

The stigma of Unmarriageability expounded in the book glaringly challenges the intellectual acumen of the Sociologists and Scholars in rightly studying the system of Caste. Academicians are forced to enter into the bloated vacuum that they have so far bypassed in their study. And, Law-makers are cornered to bring in Abolition of Caste into the Constitution.

For the Young generation that yearns for an ideal society but casually overlooks the stains of discrimination that it makes, this book means a spearhead into their conscience.

Close to 80,000 words in total, two chapters of this book have already found its place in International Journals.

...

Initial Reviews

To gather your attention, the following is some of the initial reviews about my book 'UNCASTE' in which I have expounded the stigma of Unmarriageability:  

V. Geetha (Author and Feminist Scholar): This is a very intriguing manuscript, with a great deal of potential for being developed into an original treatise on caste and untouchability. 

The marking of untouchables as 'Unmarriageables' is an important departure - in that it shifts the argument about separation, abjection and suffering, from civil and social spheres, to that of family and kinship. While sociologists, anthropologists and anti-caste political thought are all agreed that endogamy sustains the caste system, very little work has been done on utilising this as a theoretical principle, to build arguments or movements. Each time a so-called 'honour' killing happens, or a khap panchayat delivers a horrific verdict, we pay attention to the crossing of sexual conjugal boundaries. But seldom do we treat these deaths as emerging out of the 'unmarriageable' status that the caste order has accorded to untouchables. 

What might we achieve by re-christening dalits as 'Unmarriageables' - as the author suggests, we would point to the essential poignancy of the Dalit situation. And the hope is that society will take note of this poignancy, and rethink its options. In terms of social action, legal reform, state policy making, what might this name change achieve, beyond what has been achieved by existing movements that have taken on board the problem of endogamy? How might we distinguish flexible endogamous practices today, which allow for both hypogamous and hypergamous marriages amongst castes, but not between any of these castes and those marked as 'untouchable"? The manuscript I am sure will address these important questions... 

Double-Blind Peer Review of Chapter 3 in JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES:

The paper puts forth a rather novel argument: that the word untouchable or indeed its other semantic cognates do not convey the horror of what it means to be a victim of untouchability. This is because these words are descriptive rather than analytical, and while they have served important purposes, they yet need to be replaced by a term that captures the essence of an untouchable existence and by that token the caste order. The author considers unmarriageability, as he calls, it to be this essence – and he uses the notion of caste endogamy to explain why this is so.

This is an interesting approach to the question of names and whether they encourage or impede social critique and action. The author invokes Babasaheb Ambedkar’s important observations in this context, and draws on them to argue his case for a new name for an old practice.

Secondly, the author refines the given understanding of endogamy by pointing to two sorts of inter-caste marriages: between members of different castes, which, even if not liked, is not considered entirely inadmissible; and between an untouchable and anyone else. This latter, he asserts, is the key to understanding the caste system, in its psychological, religious and social aspects, for this is where the entire psyche of caste comes into play. This is an argument that is not always made when inter-caste marriages are discussed.

Double-Blind Peer Review of Chapter 3 in the JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES:

I enjoyed reading the article. It is a powerful argument that combines Dr. Ambedkar's "Annihilation of Caste" and "Castes in India". The focus on 'naming' seems to have properly identified Dr. Ambedkar's challenge to the clichéd remark "what is there in a name?". The writer of the article developed his argument "everything is in the name" into a methodology of studying caste. It is very much relevant in the present context of the increasing honor killing across the country. The argument is placed within the wider context of the scholarships on Caste and Dalit Studies. In the future, the argument could be developed accommodating the studies on Indian Feminism. The article added a socio-psychological dimension to the existing sociological discussion of caste. 

Bhatkal & Sen (Publisher): Certainly, this is an original way to understand the very real situation of untouchability as it comes to inter-caste marriage. Not much has been done on these issues focusing on kinship and family.

Cambridge (Publisher): The area of your work appears to be quite interesting.

SAGE Publications (Publisher): This is an interesting subject area.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat(Author and Columnist): This work looks enormous and highly impressive as well as essential.

Suraj Yengde (Author, 'Caste Matters'): It is an exciting concept and needs serious attention. I enjoyed the Author's style. 

Kalpana Kannabiran (Director, Council for Social Development): The book looks very interesting.