R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Paperback
eBook
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Growing up Untouchable in India

A Dalit Autobiography

Vasant Moon; Gail Omvedt and Eleanor Zelliot

'In this English translation, Moon's story is usefully framed by apparatus necessary to bring its message to even those taking their first look at South Asian culture...The result is an easy to digest short-course on what it means to be a Dalit, in the words of one notable Dalit.'-Journal of Asian Studies
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Features
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 224 • Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-7425-0881-1 • Paperback • December 2000 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
978-0-585-39406-0 • eBook • July 2002 • $47.00 • (£36.00)
Series: Asian Voices
Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General
Vasant Moon is a retired civil servant and Dalit activist. He is the editor of 17 volumes of Dr. AmbedkarOs writings and speeches in English. Gail Omvedt is a freelance writer and frequent visiting professor of sociology. Eleanor Zelliot is Laird Bell Professor of History emerita at Carleton College.
Chapter 1 The Neighborhood
Chapter 2 Fearless
Chapter 3 Callousness and Clouds
Chapter 4 The Heat and Rain of Childhood
Chapter 5 Dev Master's Curse Falls
Chapter 6 Religious Hymns
Chapter 7 Shooting Star
Chapter 8 Chickpeas and Parched Rice
Chapter 9 The Unconquered
Chapter 10 Parade of Lions and Tigers
Chapter 11 Foreshadowing
Chapter 12 Holy Victory
Chapter 13 Robust and Rollicking
Chapter 14 Sports and Study
Chapter 15 Pigeons and Politics
Chapter 16 Climax
Chapter 17 Wrath
Chapter 18 Cultural Transformation
Chapter 19 An Unspoiled Picture
Chapter 20 The Welfare of the World
Chapter 21 For What? For Books!
Chapter 22 I Begin to Write
Chapter 23 The End of Umar Khayam
Chapter 24 Rising Moon
Chapter 25 The Vows of Religion
Chapter 26 Falling Star
Chapter 27 Tying the Knot
Chapter 28 The Spinning Top
Chapter 29 Summing Up
There are few such autobiographies, especially in English, which makes Moon's memories of sleeping on village roads side by side with neighbors, of his mother waking at 4:30 a.m. to work in the mill and of the kindness of certain teachers particularly valuable....
— Los Angeles Times


Omvedt's translation is true to the original Marathi.
— Ravi Shenoy; Library Journal


This book is a welcome first step towards increasing our understanding of a much-neglected aspect of Indian life.
— Times Literary Supplement


Offer(s) an accessible glimpse of the life and times of one Dalit and the people he grew up with.
— Journal of Asian Studies


His [Moon's] autobiography, written in his native Marathi and translated into English, vividly describes life in an urban Indian slum and gives a glimpse of the internal politics that accompanied the independence movement.
— Pacific Reader


Vasant Moon's powerful memoir of youth in the slums of central India is by turns disturbing, entertaining, engrossing, and deeply inspiring. Moving beneath Moon's sharply etched tale of material deprivation, caste conflict, and neighborhood politics is the inexorable rise of Dalit (Untouchable) militancy and spirituality—illuminated by the towering figure of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, champion of the poor and leader of the Buddhist revival in India. This book puts living flesh on the bones of recent Indian socialhistoriography.
— Christopher Queen, Harvard University


There are few such autobiographies, especially in English, which makes Moon's memories of sleeping on village roads side by side with neighbors, of his mother waking at 4:30 a.m. to work in the mill and of the kindness of certain teachersparticularly valuable.
— Los Angeles Times


A powerful personal and collective memory of caste oppression and struggle in India from the 1930s to the 1950s. . . . Both as a historical and as a literary document, there is much to consider in this thought provoking and intenselymoving memoir.
— Shalini Ramachandran; Race & Class


-an engaging and accessible life story covering the sweep of twentieth-century India

-the authentic narrative voice draws students into primary source material -vivid descriptions of daily life bring India alive

Growing up Untouchable in India

A Dalit Autobiography

Cover Image
Paperback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • 'In this English translation, Moon's story is usefully framed by apparatus necessary to bring its message to even those taking their first look at South Asian culture...The result is an easy to digest short-course on what it means to be a Dalit, in the words of one notable Dalit.'-Journal of Asian Studies
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 224 • Trim: 6 x 9
    978-0-7425-0881-1 • Paperback • December 2000 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
    978-0-585-39406-0 • eBook • July 2002 • $47.00 • (£36.00)
    Series: Asian Voices
    Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General
Author
Author
  • Vasant Moon is a retired civil servant and Dalit activist. He is the editor of 17 volumes of Dr. AmbedkarOs writings and speeches in English. Gail Omvedt is a freelance writer and frequent visiting professor of sociology. Eleanor Zelliot is Laird Bell Professor of History emerita at Carleton College.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Chapter 1 The Neighborhood
    Chapter 2 Fearless
    Chapter 3 Callousness and Clouds
    Chapter 4 The Heat and Rain of Childhood
    Chapter 5 Dev Master's Curse Falls
    Chapter 6 Religious Hymns
    Chapter 7 Shooting Star
    Chapter 8 Chickpeas and Parched Rice
    Chapter 9 The Unconquered
    Chapter 10 Parade of Lions and Tigers
    Chapter 11 Foreshadowing
    Chapter 12 Holy Victory
    Chapter 13 Robust and Rollicking
    Chapter 14 Sports and Study
    Chapter 15 Pigeons and Politics
    Chapter 16 Climax
    Chapter 17 Wrath
    Chapter 18 Cultural Transformation
    Chapter 19 An Unspoiled Picture
    Chapter 20 The Welfare of the World
    Chapter 21 For What? For Books!
    Chapter 22 I Begin to Write
    Chapter 23 The End of Umar Khayam
    Chapter 24 Rising Moon
    Chapter 25 The Vows of Religion
    Chapter 26 Falling Star
    Chapter 27 Tying the Knot
    Chapter 28 The Spinning Top
    Chapter 29 Summing Up
Reviews
Reviews
  • There are few such autobiographies, especially in English, which makes Moon's memories of sleeping on village roads side by side with neighbors, of his mother waking at 4:30 a.m. to work in the mill and of the kindness of certain teachers particularly valuable....
    — Los Angeles Times


    Omvedt's translation is true to the original Marathi.
    — Ravi Shenoy; Library Journal


    This book is a welcome first step towards increasing our understanding of a much-neglected aspect of Indian life.
    — Times Literary Supplement


    Offer(s) an accessible glimpse of the life and times of one Dalit and the people he grew up with.
    — Journal of Asian Studies


    His [Moon's] autobiography, written in his native Marathi and translated into English, vividly describes life in an urban Indian slum and gives a glimpse of the internal politics that accompanied the independence movement.
    — Pacific Reader


    Vasant Moon's powerful memoir of youth in the slums of central India is by turns disturbing, entertaining, engrossing, and deeply inspiring. Moving beneath Moon's sharply etched tale of material deprivation, caste conflict, and neighborhood politics is the inexorable rise of Dalit (Untouchable) militancy and spirituality—illuminated by the towering figure of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, champion of the poor and leader of the Buddhist revival in India. This book puts living flesh on the bones of recent Indian socialhistoriography.
    — Christopher Queen, Harvard University


    There are few such autobiographies, especially in English, which makes Moon's memories of sleeping on village roads side by side with neighbors, of his mother waking at 4:30 a.m. to work in the mill and of the kindness of certain teachersparticularly valuable.
    — Los Angeles Times


    A powerful personal and collective memory of caste oppression and struggle in India from the 1930s to the 1950s. . . . Both as a historical and as a literary document, there is much to consider in this thought provoking and intenselymoving memoir.
    — Shalini Ramachandran; Race & Class


Features
Features
  • -an engaging and accessible life story covering the sweep of twentieth-century India

    -the authentic narrative voice draws students into primary source material -vivid descriptions of daily life bring India alive

ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Paekpom Ilchi: The Autobiography of Kim Ku
  • Cover image for the book Rethinking Racial Capitalism: Questions of Reproduction and Survival
  • Cover image for the book In Sheep's Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism
  • Cover image for the book Sisters and Lovers: Women and Desire in Bali
  • Cover image for the book Critical Mixed Race Philosophy: Rethinking Kinship and Identity
  • Cover image for the book Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Asian American Sexual Politics: The Construction of Race, Gender, and Sexuality
  • Cover image for the book Red Is Not the Only Color: Contemporary Chinese Fiction on Love and Sex between Women, Collected Stories
  • Cover image for the book Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race, 6th Edition
  • Cover image for the book Latino/a Thought: Culture, Politics, and Society, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture
  • Cover image for the book NATO, the European Union, and the Atlantic Community: The Transatlantic Bargain Challenged, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937
  • Cover image for the book Racial Profiling: Research, Racism, and Resistance
  • Cover image for the book Popular China: Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society
  • Cover image for the book Euro-Jews and Afro-Arabs: The Great Semitic Divergence in World History
  • Cover image for the book The Second Generation: Ethnic Identity among Asian Americans
  • Cover image for the book Narratives of Mexican American Women: Emergent Identities of the Second Generation
  • Cover image for the book The Fall of the God of Money: Opium Smoking in Nineteenth-Century China
  • Cover image for the book Rereading Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Political Economy of Gender
  • Cover image for the book Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawai'i, KDenn
  • Cover image for the book Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry
  • Cover image for the book Webs of Smoke: Smugglers, Warlords, Spies, and the History of the International Drug Trade
  • Cover image for the book Vision and Time: Historical Perspective of an Africa-Centered Paradigm
  • Cover image for the book Public Secrets, Public Spaces: Cinema and Civility in China
  • Cover image for the book Visual Cultures of the Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia
  • Cover image for the book Everyday Forms of Whiteness: Understanding Race in a 'Post-Racial' World, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Ethnic Community Builders: Mexican-Americans in Search of Justice and Power
  • Cover image for the book The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, 1917-1919
  • Cover image for the book Uighur Stories From Along the Silk Road
  • Cover image for the book Ethnic Studies Research: Approaches and Perspectives
  • Cover image for the book Struggle for Ethnic Identity: Narratives by Asian American Professionals
  • Cover image for the book Tong Shao-Yi and His Family: A Saga of Two Countries and Three Generations
  • Cover image for the book The Outsider Within: Ten Essays on Modern Japanese Women Writers
  • Cover image for the book History of Israel's War of Independence: The First Month, Volume II
  • Cover image for the book The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity
  • Cover image for the book Paekpom Ilchi: The Autobiography of Kim Ku
  • Cover image for the book Rethinking Racial Capitalism: Questions of Reproduction and Survival
  • Cover image for the book In Sheep's Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism
  • Cover image for the book Sisters and Lovers: Women and Desire in Bali
  • Cover image for the book Critical Mixed Race Philosophy: Rethinking Kinship and Identity
  • Cover image for the book Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Asian American Sexual Politics: The Construction of Race, Gender, and Sexuality
  • Cover image for the book Red Is Not the Only Color: Contemporary Chinese Fiction on Love and Sex between Women, Collected Stories
  • Cover image for the book Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race, 6th Edition
  • Cover image for the book Latino/a Thought: Culture, Politics, and Society, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture
  • Cover image for the book NATO, the European Union, and the Atlantic Community: The Transatlantic Bargain Challenged, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement, 1932-1937
  • Cover image for the book Racial Profiling: Research, Racism, and Resistance
  • Cover image for the book Popular China: Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society
  • Cover image for the book Euro-Jews and Afro-Arabs: The Great Semitic Divergence in World History
  • Cover image for the book The Second Generation: Ethnic Identity among Asian Americans
  • Cover image for the book Narratives of Mexican American Women: Emergent Identities of the Second Generation
  • Cover image for the book The Fall of the God of Money: Opium Smoking in Nineteenth-Century China
  • Cover image for the book Rereading Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Political Economy of Gender
  • Cover image for the book Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawai'i, KDenn
  • Cover image for the book Voicing Concerns: Contemporary Chinese Critical Inquiry
  • Cover image for the book Webs of Smoke: Smugglers, Warlords, Spies, and the History of the International Drug Trade
  • Cover image for the book Vision and Time: Historical Perspective of an Africa-Centered Paradigm
  • Cover image for the book Public Secrets, Public Spaces: Cinema and Civility in China
  • Cover image for the book Visual Cultures of the Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia
  • Cover image for the book Everyday Forms of Whiteness: Understanding Race in a 'Post-Racial' World, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Ethnic Community Builders: Mexican-Americans in Search of Justice and Power
  • Cover image for the book The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia, 1917-1919
  • Cover image for the book Uighur Stories From Along the Silk Road
  • Cover image for the book Ethnic Studies Research: Approaches and Perspectives
  • Cover image for the book Struggle for Ethnic Identity: Narratives by Asian American Professionals
  • Cover image for the book Tong Shao-Yi and His Family: A Saga of Two Countries and Three Generations
  • Cover image for the book The Outsider Within: Ten Essays on Modern Japanese Women Writers
  • Cover image for the book History of Israel's War of Independence: The First Month, Volume II
  • Cover image for the book The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...