I hold a master’s degree in arts and culture journalism from Columbia University. I was deeply aware of whose voice gets amplified and where one needs to be situated in a certain social milieu for a publishing house to think one is worthy of attention. Were you concerned about the publishing process, given the sociopolitical aspects of getting a book deal? I rewrote the book several times to make complex ideas accessible to everyone who reads it.The biggest compliment I have got so far is from my mother, whose first language is not English, and still she said she got my writing. The book gave them the courage to be seen and heard.
The feeling of publishing the book didn’t sink in until I got Facebook and Twitter messages from many people in the community.
But I was far away from the real action in India then. I got a lot of attention as several news portals picked up my story. When I came out as Dalit on Facebook, I was still in New York doing a freelance job. Edited excerpts from a Skype interaction:Ĭan you tell us about your journey, from publishing a Facebook note to publishing a book? In her latest book, Coming Out As Dalit, Dutt elaborates on her story, shining a light on the realities of untouchability, arguments about reservations, Dalit women’s movements, casteism in universities and mainstream media spaces. and founder of Documents of Dalit Discrimination, an online archive, who told the world about her “hidden secret" through a Facebook note-“Today, I’m Coming Out As Dalit"-on 20 January 2016. Among the latter was Yashica Dutt, associate creative director at advertising and marketing agency Admerasia Inc.
In 2016, the death of Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the Hyderabad Central University, caused a stir, especially among people from historically oppressed castes.
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