[Book review of Gogu Shyamala’s “Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only a Small Basket, But…”]
Gogu Shyamala is a noted Dalit academician, gender rights advocate and writer. Born into a family of agricultural labourers in Telangana, she is the only one of three siblings who escaped being forced into bonded labour and managed to obtain higher education. The intriguingly named “Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket, But…” is collection of short stories translated from Telugu by various translators.
Perhaps it would not be right to call them short stories- they are slice of life vignettes, which invite you into the world of the Madiga community in rural Telangana. Most of the stories are told from the perspective of children, adolescents or youth, and though the stories may not be autobiographical, it is clear that they are based on what the writer experienced as a young girl before being sent off to a boarding school to study. Each of the stories show how deeply entrenched the caste system is, and of how families live in constant fear of reprisals from the upper caste reddys and velamas if they are displeased in any way. Yet, the stories are not about gloom and oppression; Shyamala describes the games people play, the songs they sing and ways they snatch joy from everyday living.
The stories which spoke of Ellamma brought out the many aspects of the goddess. The upper caste people refer to Ellamma as ‘their goddess’ (‘their’ implying she belongs to the Dalits). Yet, they believe that Ellamma brings them good fortune-
Everyone in the village believes that Ellamma’s hands, her feet and her words, all possess the gift of good fortune. Even people from the next village say the same thing. No upper caste woman has this gift. When a girl comes of age or gets married, her relatives call Ellamma and fill her lap with grain and fruit.
But though the practice has now been outlawed, Ellamma could also be considered the property of the village, and in one story, a family is willing to face the wrath and violence of the upper caste in order to protect their daughter from being made an “Ellamma”. Nothing is as it seems, and the only thing that remains constant is how the caste system continues to be imposed despite it being outlawed.
Perhaps my favourite story was the one where the narrator was the water tank. Environmentalists write about how traditional patters of land and water use conserved natural resources, and of the danger of interfering with them in the name of development. Shorn of jargon, the story said exactly the same thing!
It is hard to read the book and not come away with a deeper understanding of the life lived by Dalits in rural Telangana. The translations may not capture the nuances of the Telugu dialect used by the writer, but they do capture the people and places.
I read the book during #DalitHistoryMonth, soon after meeting Gogu Shyamala at an event and being blown away by her understated power and charm.
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