Overview

A young girl is sent away to school to save her from being declared the sexual property of the village’s upper-caste men. The village water tank laments to a passing child. A Brahmin boy is considered ‘polluted’ by the touch of a Dalit girl – the same action that saved his life. Rendered with idiomatic vitality, humour and lightness, these stories revel in rural childhood without nostalgia or romanticism, forcing the reader to question their expectation of violence in the representation of certain lives, and of what the short story can be and do. Shifts in tone and perspective reveal relationships – between the different castes that make up a village, between an individual and the wider community, between identities and the seasonal rhythms of the land. Imbued throughout with a Dalit feminist philosophy that is above all a philosophy of life, to be lived with wit, ingenuity, and defiance. “Shyamala does not moralise or overly politicise grief and suffering…the descriptions possess an astonishing clarity of visual and sensual delight” ‘Luminous, moving and funny … almost deceptive in its lightness of touch, and deftness of language’—Tehelka ‘That Shyamala avoids a bleakness of tone while leaving alive the possibilities of violence is a tribute to her mastery over the short story form’—Mint Lounge ‘Gogu Shyamala uses her expressive prose to convert caste and gender oppression into stories about human dignity’—Outlook

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9781911284741

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"Born in 1969 in Peddemul village, GOGU Shyamala is a philosopher, poet and prolific story writer working in the Telugu language. Hailed as a landmark in Telangana Dalit literature, Father May Be An Elephant… is her first collection, and has also been published in German translation. She has also edited a collection of Telangana Madiga poetry, and works on biographies of significant Dalit female political leaders. Diia Rajan lives in Hyderabad and works on issues of gender and development. She is a born-again foodie and finds spiritual comfort in recipe books. (""Father May Be an Elephant and Mother Only a Small Basket, But..."" and ""Trace It!"") Sashi Kumar has been working with NGOs for over 20 years.(“But Why Shouldn’t the Baindla Woman Ask for Her Land”) A. Sunnetha is a senior fellow at the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies, Hyderabad. (“Braveheart Badeyya” and “A beauteous Light”) N. Manohar Reddy has worked as a lecturer in English in India and Saudi Arabia and has also been guest faculty at the University of Hyderabad. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. (“Jambava’s Lineage”) R. Srivatsan is a senior fellow at the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies. (“Tataki Wins Again” and “Raw Wound”) Gita Ramaswamy works with the Hyderabad Book Trust in publishing alternative, low-cost literature in Telugu. She is the author of India Stinking (2004) and has co-authored Taking Charge of Our Bodies (2001) and On Their Own (2003). (“The Village Tank’s Lament”) Uma Bhurgubanda teaches in the Department of Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. (“Obstacle Race”) P. Pavana has been active in the women’s movement and for many years on the editorial collective of Mahila Margam, a Telugu magazine with a wide circulation. She teaches English in a private college in Hyderabad. (“Ellamma is Distressed”) Duggirala Vasanta is professor of linguistics at Osmania University. (“The Bottom of the Well”)"

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