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4.66 AVERAGE
4.66 AVERAGE
Wow. I've read about the caste system but never such a deep analysis of the harm it causes Indian society, nor the notion to uproot casteism in its entirety.
Gone is Gandhi's "Harijan" - Ambedkar doesn't want just intermingling, dining together or even just intermarriage among caste.
He is bold enough to argue against the sacred Hindu texts like the Vedas.
Hindus should consider what value the religion and religious practices provide, what traditions, if any, to carry forward, leave the past behind and revolutionise the present to have a casteless society.
Only the annihilation of caste can aid in attain self rule or Swaraj for India.
More to follow.
Gone is Gandhi's "Harijan" - Ambedkar doesn't want just intermingling, dining together or even just intermarriage among caste.
He is bold enough to argue against the sacred Hindu texts like the Vedas.
Hindus should consider what value the religion and religious practices provide, what traditions, if any, to carry forward, leave the past behind and revolutionise the present to have a casteless society.
Only the annihilation of caste can aid in attain self rule or Swaraj for India.
More to follow.
“The best of men cannot be moral if the basis of the relationship between them and their fellows is fundamentally a wrong relationship. To a slave his master may be better or worse. But there cannot be a good master. A good man cannot be a master and a master cannot be a good man. The same applies to the relationship between high caste and low caste.”
Amazing text by Dr. Ambedkar. Before economic or political reform, he argues, social reform must come first. This was my introduction to Ambedkar and I am excited to read more from him.
Amazing text by Dr. Ambedkar. Before economic or political reform, he argues, social reform must come first. This was my introduction to Ambedkar and I am excited to read more from him.
Truly glad I was able to read a chunk of it in one go, the academic language+ citations were a little too unwieldy for me to grasp but thanks to the YouTube audiobook I finally finished it. What a life changing book. What a considerate look at reformation of Hindu religion for the sake of its people + India
Read this if you want to break the shackles of brahminised history fed to us since childhood. Read this to break the imposed normalcy. It took 20 years to break my delusion.
http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7283:an-open-letter-to-ms-arundhati-roy&catid=119&Itemid=132
5 stars is for the Ambedkar essay. It was also good to read this letter alongside and keep in mind when reading Roy's "intro" which is really just half the book.
5 stars is for the Ambedkar essay. It was also good to read this letter alongside and keep in mind when reading Roy's "intro" which is really just half the book.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
True eye-opener for anyone who wants to learn more about caste and how it operates.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I read AOC first instead of starting with Roy's essay on the recommendation of a friend. I'm glad I did. I was blown away by Ambedkar's fearlessness. His 'radical intellect and searing insolence' like Roy said in The Doctor and The Saint.
Roy's essay was a much needed history lesson that was a treat to read after AOC. I learned so much about caste struggles and context about Gandhi that I certainly didn't know before.
Roy's essay was a much needed history lesson that was a treat to read after AOC. I learned so much about caste struggles and context about Gandhi that I certainly didn't know before.
"For every act of independent thinking puts some portion of an apparently stable world in peril."
Dr. Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste is a must read, and is chock-full of independent thinking. Though "The Doctor and the Saint" is interesting and gives some historical context, I would suggest reading Ambedkar's text on its own merit. Ambedkar posits that social reform must precede any sort of political reform, which the Congress party at the time was aching to enact disregarding pressing social factors. His distinction between a religion formed out of principles, and one out of rules is insightful. He draws on forms of caste that have existed across historical periods and religions. He compares them to the caste system in Hinduism, and proceeds to skillfully dismantle its cruel fallacies.
His ultimate conclusions regarding the Hindu religion are powerful. The only way to annihilate caste would be to discard the authority of the scriptures that also propound caste. This would allow us to build a religion on principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Although the necessity of a religion to form a state (or to give some sort of a foundation to a state) is something I don't necessarily agree with, the way Ambedkar formulates his ideas is inspiring as he talks mostly of principles, rather than rules.
There are many ideas I did not cover in this review. Overall, this is a short but immense read, which I recommend everyone to go through at least once.
Open yourself up to the ideas it presents and this book will shake you out of your stupor