And since I also write in the same field, I must confess that the critique levelled against the book – that it lacks a structure and not always successfully rambles between personal memoir and critical analysis – is merited to a great extent. Having had two or three opportunities to discuss a number of issues with Yengde in the recent past, I conclude that he is quite a grounded and organic intellectual. I may add that the same holds for the reviewer.
I read the book with an open mind, very conscious that any self-reflexive project, as Suraj has attempted, carries the risk of being misunderstood, even maligned and criticized severely, as much as being appreciated and applauded. Positive responses came from a wide spectrum: The Wire’s review hailed it as setting a new agenda for the Dalits in India and Roundtable India, an online platform for mostly young Dalit–Bahujan Ambedkarite scholars, also carried a negative response by five research scholars from the Jawaharlal Nehru University to an excerpt carried in The Hindu as well as an article in “defense” of the book and its author. Though some of the more prominent Dalit voices have been very critical of the contents as well as the form, others have written in favor of it. Suraj Yengde’s latest book, Caste Matters, has received a very mixed response.
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