Title and Backcover of the book:Prabhakaran

Eklavyas with Thumbs: Selections from Gujarati Dalit Literature

1999

(c) V. Nasini

K M Sherrif (b.1962) writes in Malayalam and English and translates among Malayalam, English, Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil. His publications include "Ekalavyas with Thumbs" the first selection of Gujarati Dalit Writing in English translation and "Kunhupathumma's Tryst with Destiny", the first study of the Malayalam fictionist Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's fiction in English. Sherrif is currently attached to the Dept. of English, University of Calicut.

Contact:
Dr. K M Sherrif, Associate Professor, Dept. of English, University of Calicut, Kerala_ 673635.
Dr K M Sherrif, "Bhakthi", East Hill - Edakkad Road, Kozhikode - 673005, Kerala.
Phone: mob: 9847144563, Landline: 0495=2385881.
e-mail: sherrifkm@rediffmail.com

Acknowledgements

To Prof.K Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademy who first introduced me as an English translator in Indian Literature. Without his unreserved help and encouragement and the special interest he has shown in Gujarati Dalit writing this collection would not have been possible.

To my friends and well-wishers in the Gujarati Dalit Literary Movement whose affection for me and enthusiasm for helping me in my work have overwhelmed me.

To Dr. E.V. Ramakrishnan who gave me timely help and valuable advice.

To Sahity Akademy and Indian Literature for permission to reproduce materials published in its special issue of January-February,1994,devoted to Gujarati Dalit writing.

To Harish Mangalam for persuading the publishers to take up Ekalavyas with Thumbs.

To several friends and colleagues who helped me with the translation, especially Piyush Joshi, Ibrahim Patel, Vasubha Kulshreshta and Manojkumar Bhavsar.

                                                                                                                                       
K.M.Sherrif

Contents

Dalit Literature - An Overview :	K.M.Sherrif
POETRY
Bipin Gohel	To the Fading man I sing To a poet at a Mushaira
Yoseph Macwan	A man of No Consequence A Common Man’s Soliloquy
Kisan Sosa	The Last Man on Golgotha Hanging on the Tree These Men Dousing the Fire in the Heart At the Crossroads
Mangal Rathod	O, Babasaheb  It is Silent My Friends Here                                                                       Jalsaghar
Narsingh Ujamba	Words
Shanker Painter	To Our Paragons of Virtue From Broom to Mouth  A Journey by Bus Down the Countryside
Neerav Patel	Mess The age of transition                                                         Journalistic  apathy Dr. bhaga manga m. s. and Dr. mhera mohan f.r.c.s.                                                  Pimpamma yellamma
Pravin Gadhvi	When Nadir Shah Arrived Shadow
Mohammed Ishaq Sheikh	Reflection
Jayant Parmar	I am a Man Like You
Yeshwant Vaghela	Identity Mummy Accident
LIFE-SKETCH
Joseph Macwan	A Divo for the Family
SHORT STORIES
Madhukant Kalpit	The Unfinished Bridge
Dalpat Chauhan	Measure for Measure
Mohan Parmar	Slave – labourers
Harish Mangalam	The midwife
Pathik Parmar	Naked Feet
Naikal  Gangera	Life and Death
Raghavji  Madhad	Holi
Dasarath Parmar	Broken  Lid
REMINISCENCES
Sahil Parmar	Mother, I Remember
CONVERSATIONS
	“Dalit Literature Has Never Been Sectarian”- Harish Mangalam
	Beyond the Sound and the Fury – Kisan Sosa

Gujarati Dalit Literature: An Overview by K.M.Sherrif

Gujarati Dalit Literature was the product of revolt against the decadent modernism in Gujarati literature modernism in it is hey days in the sixties was a dynamic iconoclastic force in Gujarati literature which swept away the cobwebs  of tradition and effected radical changes in its form and content.  However it had become a spent force by the end mid seventies, when its historical role had already been fulfilled. It had reached the typical situation in which movements having become established tend to be as conventionalised and conservative was the ones they once supplanted. The hour for yet  another radical upsurge  had arrived.

As a literature of protest the nature and direction of Gujarati Dalit Literature were initially determined by the dalit movement in the Gujarat.  The movement provided a platform for dalit writers whose creativity received no attention from a parochial literary establishment there were some attempts to insist upon commitment to the movement as  the first pre requisite for a dalit writer and the classical battle between purists and utilitarians was re-enacted once the sound and fury died down.  However Gujarati Dalit Literature set for itself the task of defining itself in terms of a new form - content dialectic.

The launching of the occasional panther edited by  Rameshchandra  Parmar in 1975 marked the advent of Dalit literature in Gujarati. Following this in a short time a number of publications devoted to dalit writing began publication the chief among them being Akrosh, Kalo Sooraj, Garud, Dalit Bandhu,  Naya marg and Disha the first collection of Gujarati Dalit poetry. Dalit Kavita edited by Ganpat Parmar and Manishi Jani was published in 1981. This was immediately followed by the collection Vishphot edited by Balkrisna Anand and Chandu Maheria in 1983. Gujarat Khet  Vikas Parishad brought out Asmita,  a collection of poems culled from issues of Naya Marg published from, August 1981 to January 1983 with a controversial preface by Joseph Macwan.   

Though Dalit literature represents a parting of ways with modernism two Gujarati Dalit poets,  Joseph Macwan and Mangal Rathod are essentially modernists but attempts to temper the modernist idiom and techniques to suit the new themes is often apparent in their poetry. Poem like jasaghar, maun che mitro (it is silent, my friends) and sandarbh vinano manas (a man of no consequence) bear testimony to this change of direction.

The radical transformation of traditional poetic forms is a marked characteristic of Gujarati dalit poetry the thematic potential of ghazal for instance which was as limited as that of the sonnet. In English literature in the sixteenth century before the advent of Shakespeare has undergone a seachange in the hands of poets like Kisan Sosa, and Bipin Gohel the a ghazal has been liberated from its  filded, pseudo romantic confines and revitalised to  express the agony the ecstasy the hopes and the frustrations of a poetic sensibility tuned into the struggles of oppressed  humanity. “Your poetry owes nothing to the  cacophopony  of any mushaira”  writes Bipin Gohel alluding to the petrification of traditional poetic forms under centuries of feudal patronage. Kisan Sosa,  one of the most distinguished  poets  in Gujarati shows  no predilection for any particular from he is equally at home with ghazal, najhm, geet the Japanese haiku and free verse for him any form is nothing more than a vehicle for what he wants to say. 

Gujarati Dalit poetry has drawn substance extensively from the folk literature of  Gujarat . The rustic rhythms and tunes  of folk songs give to many of poems a unique strength and vitality which are   difficult to reproduce in translation. Shankar Painter’s  poetry relies heavily on them. Raju  Solanki, Yashwant Vaghela, Kisan Sosa and Harish Mangalam have occasionally used them effectively . There is also a tendency to parody folk songs and bhajans , ruthlessly debunking there idyllic settings and nostalgic reveries.  The result may be devastating satire, as in Nirav Patel’s Maro Shamalio ( My dark skinned Lord) which turns a legend about the Bhakti Poet Narsinh Mehta on its heads. 

Dalit writing as  been described as one of the manifestation of post modernism in Indian literature. However the acquisition of the post modernist idiom, modes and attitude has not been uniform in Gujarati Dalit Literature. In poetry Nirav Patel is perhaps the only one to have made a completely break. The persistence  of modernist perception and techniques is apparent in some poets. There is even a harking back to the pre modernists “progressive literature” days. Especially in the poems of “ poet- activists “ . But there are unmistakable signs which show they have chosen the road not taken. When Narsijnhi Ujamba laments that “ emtpy carts which such fancy names – crush a beautiful word like my Penis, or notices “ the tart called language waiting for ages at the portals of the academy worehouse”. staring wrathfully at the eunuchs passing by (words) . One discerns strains of Allen Ginsberg’s  “howl “at the American establishment. Raju Solankli paying homage to the martyrs of the Navnirman Agitation rise like the pot –belly  of the shethia sitting in his sari store in Manek chowk – slums has spilled over the river side. (“To the martyrs of Navnirman). When Shankar Painter stretches  poetry to its limits by  resorting to prosaic narration , or even belligerent sloganeering it becomes a quest for a new form  to embody a new experience. There are also a few poems like Mangal Rathod’s Jalsagar and Pravin Gadhavi’s Nadirshah Avya tyare ( when Nadirshah arrived )  which reach out to a wider post colonized experience. 

In fiction realism appears to be the predominant mode which is natural, considering the fact that it is universally accepted as the most effective mode for depicting lives and times vividly and comprehensively. Joseph Macwan, the fist Gujarati Dalit writer to receive a Kendra Sahitya Akademy award is a realist par excellent. Fiction and real life overlap  in his works , many of his stories read much  like his life sketches collected in Vyathana Vitak. Macwan‘s style and treatment are simple but sensitive and evocative. Other prominent writer who adopted the realistic method to portray the life of Gujarati dallit vividly include Harish Mangalam, Pathik Parmar , Dalpat Chauhan,  Naikal Gangera and Raghavji Madhad. Depicting life in the roads the realism often verges on naturalism.

There was however the need to go beyond conventional realism to explode new methods and techniques to work out a more dynamic manner of perceiving reality. Mohan Parmar, who is perhaps the most accomplished practitioner of short fiction in Gujarati today was the pioneering figure in this search for new pastures, although several of his outstanding stories show him as a master of realism too. The use of the regional or the caste dialect and the stream of consciousness technique for first person narration, a predilection for this table and allegory and frequent recourse to fantasy are the Hallmarks of this stream of Gujarati Dalit fiction of which the accomplished Madhukant Kalpit and Dashrath Parmar a new comer are to other notable practitioners. The sources of inspiration are unmistakably the rich folk traditions of Gujarati literature, not western models. 

Considering the sparsity of fiction published by Gujarati writers ( in all there are not more than couple of dozen novels and a few hundred stories) The comprehensive picture of dalit life in Gujarat  one gets from them is remarkable. In diligent, all - embracing portrayal  of social life , in vivid characterisation and flair  for detail , they can be compared without fear of exaggeration with the work of the French realist  and naturalist of the nineteen century. ‘Gujarati Dalit Varta’  the selection of the stories edited by Mohan Parmar and Harish Manglam published in 1987 faithfully represents the range and depths of Gujarati Dalit fiction.

The contibutions of the Gujarati Dalit Literature to drama is negligible. the onlyi play  which is distant to survive the vicissitudes of the dalit movement is Raju Solanki’s Bamanvadni Barakhadi 

(  ABC of Brahmansim) which was written and performed   during the anti reservation agitation of 1981. A scathing attack on upper caste attitudes and politicians- criminal- builder nexus which held cities in Gujarat in a vace  like grip. The play had successful performance in the eighties   to its credit . Dalpat Chauhan’s Patan na Gondrethi , One of the prize winning entries in a national drama competition organized by All India Radio is yet to be published. An organized theatre on the lines of IPTA Or Jan Natyam Mandali still remains an unfulfilled dream.

Dalit writing in Gujarati is marked by the unique versatility of many of the writers, quite a few of them at home in more than one genre. The most prominent among them include Harish Mangalam , Pathik Parmar Pravin Gadhavi, Raju Solanki and Dalpat Chauhan. Perhaps this versatilities has resulted in diffusion of their creativity , and impression one is likely together when comparing them with the likes of Mohan Parmar,  Kisan Sosa and Nirav Patel who have resolutely stuck to one genre.

A discernible phenomenon   in Guijarati Dalit Lilterature is the invocation  of a subaltern mythology as a foil to classical Hindu my theology which had functioned as the ideological bulwark of caste hegemony for centuries disfiguring assimilating or marginalising as it suits purpose. Sub-culture outside the pale of the mainstream and concealing the deep divisions in Indian society . Ravan and Eklavya,  don the mantale of epic Heroes. Budha wields the Sudarshan Chakra . The quest of the golden age leads to the ruins of Mohan- jo- dero and Harappa and the caves of Bhimbetka. Undoubtedly there is something regressive about this invocatioin of a mythical past it significance however lies in the fact that it is a form – in fact the most effective form of resistance to the orchestrated glorification of main stream tradition by fundamentalists facilitated to a large extent by the popularity of recent epic based mega serials on television.

Any discussion on Gujarati Dalit Literature would be incomplete without a reference to the non dalit writers who have associated themselves  with the movement and made signal contributions to it. The rule of Indukumar Jani, editor of Naya Marg, the premier publication of dalit literature in Gujarati in fostering talented dalit writer has been widely acknowledged. The contribution of Pravin Gadhavi , poet and short story writer  also merits more than a passing reference. A number of story depicting dalit life and attitude from the dalit point of view have   been written by non dalit writers . Dhiraj Brahmbhatt’s controversial story Tame Pabane Joyo ? (Have you  seen Paba?)  A vitriolic satire on upper attitudes written in the back ground of the anti reservation of 1981 has had few parallels in Gujarati Literature.

Despite its credible achievement in poetry and fiction Gujarati Dalit Literature suffers from the absence of a corpus of criticism which could have  expounded the nature and objective created by the movement and codified the aesthetic principles which give significance to it. All great movements which made their  impacts on literature had their  whole schools of criticism. The romantic revival in english literature witness a spontaneous overflow of both creative and critical talent. More than century later new criticism provided the ideological bulwark for modernism. 

A few critical essay on Gujarati Dalit Literature have been collected , the notable collection being Harish Mangalam’s Vidit , Mohan Parmar’s  Ansaar and Samvitti, co authored Harish Mangalam and Mohan Parmar . This critical essays are distinguished more by their  ‘ combat value’ then by  their theoretical strength. Sporadic fleshes of critical inside apart, few attempts have  been made to analyse the form content dialectic peculiar to Gujarati Dalit Literature or to lay down the canons of its aesthetics . it is a case of creative writing having to speak for itself. However without being naïve enough to dismiss criticism as crutches which they are better off without Gujarati dalilt writer can take some consolation from, the fact that there works are eminently competent to speak for themselves. 

Prof.K M Sherrif (b.1962) writes in Malayalam and English and translates among Malayalam, English, Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil. His publications include "Ekalavyas with Thumbs" the first selection of Gujarati Dalit Writing in English translation and "Kunhupathumma's Tryst with Destiny", the first study of the Malayalam fictionist Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's fiction in English. Sherrif is currently attached to the Dept. of English, University of Calicut.

"Dalit Literature Has Never Been Sectarian ": Conversation With Harish Mangalam

                                                   

              

KMS: (K.M. Sherrif)	You have defined Dalit literature as literature written about Dalits. This appears to be the most reasonable definition because it takes into consideration a significant segment of literature written by sympathizers or ‘fellow travellers’ who are themselves not Dalits. Could you elaborate?
HM:  (Harish Mangalam)	Yes literature written about Dalits is Dalit literature.  But only literature written by writers who come from the Dalit communities has the authenticity of experience and the ring of truth. There is a saying in Gujarati : jode jene danke, enej vednani khabar pade‘only the one who wears the shoe knows where it bites’.this is true of Gujarati Dalit literature too. The works of non-Dalit writers, though sympathetic to Dalits, are always likely to have a hollow ring. Fellow travelers will always be fellow- travelers!
KMS	You have also stated, “If there can be a Gujarati Jain literature and a Gujarati Parsi literature, then why not a Gujarati Dalit  literature?” This seems to me a negative reaction. Could you give a positive reason for the existence of a separate body of Dalit literature? Is it the result of the assertion of a submerged Identity?
HM	I would like to ask you whether there has ever been such a hue and cry over Jain literature or Parsi literature as there has been over Dalit literature. Obviously not. We are, therefore, quite justified in having our doubts about such orchestrated opposition. If you can take these doubts as pointers to a naked truth, then what you describe as my ‘negative reaction’ is also such a positive. For us, it is not a negative reaction, but a positive one. It someone taken your response to be a ‘reaction’, you would naturally assume that it has had some impact. It is an assertion of the dignity of the fact is that it is easier to flog Dalit literature than to compete with it!
KMS	Do you think that the birth of Dalit literature is the result of the failure of the progressive literature movements (especially those with Marxist orientation) to bring into proper perspective the socio-cultural identities of Dalits and other deprived sections of society?
HM	I don’t think this is true of Gujarati Dalit literature nor of Marathi Dalit literature. The writers who belong to progressive movements of literature uphold the same basic human values that Dalit  writers do. In fact many of the strands of the various progressive literary movements have been woven into Gujarati Dalit literature. Gujarati Dalit literature is a socio-literary movements deeply  influenced by the thoughts of Mahatma Jyoti  Phule and Dr. Babasaheb  Ambedkar. It is indebted to the mass movements they led. In my collection of essays, Vidit, I wrote: “Any work of literature which seeks to express in words, the pulses of those sections of humanity which are oppressed and which are engaged in struggles for their existence deserves to be called, in the broadest sense, Dalit literature.”
KMS	Gujarati Dalit literature has not been able to make as much of an impact on the literary scene as Marathi Dalit literature. In fact much of Gujarati Dalit literature  shows the strong influence of Marathi Dalit literature. Can you explain why this happened?
HM	Dalit literature is now a powerful influence In Gujarati too. Marathi Dalit literature had its beginning before independence. It has thus had a head-start over Gujarati Dalit literature. On the other hand, Gujarati Dalit literature can be said to have taken off only with the anti-reservation agitation of 1981. But it has already made a mark of its own. Guajarati Dalit literature is cast in its own mould. As for its relation to Marathi Dalit literature, inspiration is a factor, but not influence. For one thing, very little of Marathi dalit writers have had little direct contact with it. Influence or imitation is out of question.
KMS	Mangal Rathod once remarked that in much of Dalit literature, “The situation is there, but not the inspiration.” Though much of Gujarati Dalit literature does not bear this statement out, don’t you think there is an element of truth in it; especially with regard to those poets and writers whose works are merely reflex action, resisting the pomposity and hollowness of the ‘academy culture’?
HM	Mangal Rathod might have remarked that “the situation is there, but not the Inspiration. “But I would like to point out that Dalit writers are more concerned with ‘perspiration ‘than ‘inspiration’! in its pre-occupation with fostering upholding human values, it cannot afford to be a decorative piece or a consumer article. Dalit literature is not Dalit literature for entertainment.
KMS	Will it be correct to say that the most significant  works in both poetry and fiction in Gujarati literature in the Eighties have come from Dalit writers,but remained unrecognized? I am thinking of Kisan Sosa, Mohan Parmar. Mangal Rathod, Yeshwant Vaghela, Narsingh Ujamba, Dalpat Chauhan, Harish Mangalam. . . and a host of others.
HM	You are absolutely right there. The field of Gujarati literature has been ploughed deeply by these writers and poets. Their contributions have been substantial. Joseph Macwan, Dalpat Chauhan, Mohan Parmar, and B.N. Vankar have kept the flame of Gujarati fiction burning. Joseph Macwan’s collection of life-sketches, Vyathana Veetak has received the Kendra Sahitya AKademy Award. Gujarati Dalit Varta, the collection of stories edited by Mohan Parmar and me                               has Mohan Parmar’s collection of stories, Nakalank. There are a few more names worth mentioning: Pravin Gadhvi, Madhukant Kalpit, Pathik Parmar, Raghavji Madhad and myself. In poetry, we have Kisan Sosa, Sahil Parmar, Raju Solanki, Dalpat Chauhan, Shanker Painter and Nirav Patel. They all have the intensity of expression. What they lack, perhaps, is the energy drawn from mass movements. But things are changing for the better. As for recognition, Gujarati Dalit writers have never banked on it much.
KMS	Being the creators of a body of committed literature, Dalit writers obviously have to involve themselves in Social and political activities to a large extent. How significant has been the role of Gujarati Dalit writers in this regard?
HM	Gujarati writers have reinforced the saying, Darpan jhoot na bole (A mirror tells no lies) by faithfully reflecting our vain, pretentious, ritualistic and cosmetic society. They are by nature involved in socio-political activities. In Gujarat, the cradle of the anti-reservation agitation, where the strangle-hold of casteism is still to be broken, the voices of Dalit writers have been courageous and undeterred. The role of Dalit writers in suuffing out the anti-Reservation of 1981 was remarkable. That was perhaps their greatest achievement.
KMS	We have seen that considerable contributions have been made by Dalit writes in both poetry and fiction. But haven’t they lagged behind in drama, even street-plays being few and far between?
HM	The contributions in drama or even the performance of street plays have not matched the achievements in poetry and fiction. There were some significant efforts by Dalpat Chauhan whose plays for radio have received awards from Akashawani. What is lacking is an organized theatre. Plays have to be taken to the masses. In this regard, Raju Solanki deserves our Commendation. Solanki, who has always been an activist first and a writer next, has organized about twenty five performances of his street play, Bahmanvadni         Barakhadi (The ABC of Brahmanism), most of them in North Gujarat, which is still haunted by the spectre of untouchability. I feel that Dalit writers should realize the potential drama holds out to them.
KMS	What do you think have been the drawbacks and failures of Gujarati Dalit literature during the two decades of its existence?
HM	Not anything worth discussing, as far I can see. Dalit writers, if they have the determination and unity in thinking can make a tremendous impact on society with their works in which Man is always the centre.
KMS	Is the existence of Dalit literature a temporary phenomenon? Will it join the so-called ‘mainstream literature’ in the near future, or will it continue to maintain a dialectical relationship with it (as it appeats to be doing now) for a long time to come?
HM	Looking at societies which have a democratic culture, I feel that our Dalit literature is become a permanent phenomenon. If it continues to be a force to Reckon with, Dalit literature will soon become the mainstream and other streams will join it.
KMS	Do you think the formation o ‘Bahujan Sahitya Sankul’ by a group of Gujarati Dalit writers in 1990, and the decision to give up the term, ’Dalit’ for the more comprehensive term, ‘Bahujan’, covering the bulk of the backward , oppressed section of society, a step in the right direction? Do you think that this really reflects the polarization of social forces underway in the country? Or is it too pre-     mature, a mere replay of the old alignments with their inherent short-coming?
HM	There is no specific issue which can be said to have led to the formation of ‘Bahujan Sahitya Sankul’. The term , “Dalit ‘ has a wide significance. Dalit literature has never been sectarian. It can take care of all such ‘sankuls’. Dalit is certainly more appropriate and effective than ‘Bahujan’. Such a formation would not be able to represent the real Dalit literature effectively. The potential for a total polarization of social forces in the country is already inherent in Dalit literature. There is no need to augment it. Such an attempt will merely lead to             augment it. Such an attempt will merely lead to a replay of old alignments, as you put it.
KMS	Do you foresee a conglomeration of progressive literature forces in the country-Secular, Marxist, Dalit, Environmentalist, Feminist – converging to become a formidable cambating the forces of obscurantism and fascism threatening to engulf the intellectual atmosphere of the country?
HM	Yes, it is certainly possible. All these forces were associated, directly or indirectly, with Dalit literature right from the beginning. Secular, Marxist, dalit, feminist and environmentalist movements are integral parts of our social revolution.
KMS	There have been hardly any woman writers in the Gujarati Dalit movement. For a movement which seeks to overthrow traditional values, this seems to be a serious drawback. Can you explain why this happened? Does this mean that there will one day be a feminist movement within the Dalit movement at large?
HM	It is that there have been hardly any woman writers in the Gujarati Dalit literary            movement. Perhaps a poet like Usha Makwana  may be mentioned, but not anybody of note. The reason is not far to seek. Most of the Gujarati dalit writers of the present generation belong to north Gujarat, notorious for its casteism, where the thrust of the Dalit movement was to get education to get out of the quagmire of socio-economic backwardness. The men among the Dalit communities registered Phenomenal success in this, making effective use of their newly acquired education to combat untouchability and casteism. They women were not so lucky. They continued to languish in the obsolete customs and tradition of orthodox Hinduism. Early marriages, restrictions on going out of the house etc. are still widely prevalent among them. A feminist movement among Dalits will certainly be born – sooner or later. If it gains momentum, it is also certain that the first women writers in Gujarati Dalit literature will also emerge from North Gujarat.
KMS	Among Gujarati Dalit writers, among Gujarati writers in general, the trend is to dabble in several genres at the same time-poetry, fiction, prose, drama. There have been very few who have stuck to any one genre. Would you say this has made many of them jacks-of-all-trades and masters of none?
HM	I would say it shows their versatility. And many of them are masters in their trades. I hope more such versatile writers would appear on the literary scene.
KMS	What were the seminal influences in your career as a writer? I understand that you have actively participated in various social and political agitations related to the Dalit movement. Do you feel that this has given a certain dynamism to your works, which is lacking in the works of your contemporaries who are mere academic poets?
HM	The most seminal influence is the fact that I was born in a small, obscure village of north Gujarat in a socially, economically and politically backward community, oppressed by a murky social order. The ruthless atrocities perpetrated on innocent workers are still fresh in my memory. I still remember the nature of my illiterate father who never succumbed to injustice. His determination and perseverance were extra-ordianary. Jethabhai (that was his real name) knew well that farmers did not lag behind the rest in exploiting the poor. He brought up our large family on what he earned by weaving on a handloom. Poverty loomed large before me in my childhood ,and its many manifestations have made me weep uncontrollably. Now when I write, all these drips on the paper. Then came      the anti-reservation agitation which was a traumatic experience to me. Hectic days followed. I became associated with ‘Dalit Adhikar Manch’,           ‘Sangharsh Sahitya Sangh’ and ‘All India Bank of India SC/ST Employees Federation’. Then there were the literary societies for social action: ‘Literature Study Forum’, ‘Saraswati Sewa Samaj Trust’, ‘Kavya Ghoshti’ etc. I was compiler of ‘Akshay’ magazine with Mohan Parmar . Being always active, my enthusiasm was unbounded. Everything was so dynamic. Some of my contemporaries have remained mere academic poets, as you call them. But most of my friends and contemporaries-Dalpat Cahuhan, Raju solanki, J.K.Barot, Ashwin Desai, Sahil Parmar and Kardam Bhatt, to name   just a few – have always been active and their works have retained the original dynamism.
KMS	Have you ever found your position as a civil servant a hindrance to your creative activities?
HM	Government service is a hindrance to creative activities. I would go further and say that is an imprisonment and a burden. The pen is shackled; the words which well up from your depths are frozen. What good are my hands, I often think. Being an officer is the last straw. Naturally, I have to restrain myself. I murder my words. This is one of the reasons why Dalit literature, as it is written by me and several of my fellow-writers who are in Government service, has not been as aggressive as it should be. Its impact on society often gets watered down.
KMS	Would it be correct to say that your poetry is more urban and sophisticated   than that of many of your   Contemporaries in Gujarati Dalit literature and has drawn more from the contemporary socio-political milieu rather from the folk traditions of rural Gujarat?
HM	I think I have written poems of both types. If you read my collection of poems,   Prakamp, you will find that poems like ‘Damiyal Local’, ‘Gameni Geet’ and ‘Mer   Bhoondina’ can be related to the folk tradition. The majority of the poems,however, were born in the more sophisticated contemporary socio-political milieu.
KMS	Are you involved in the composition of any  major work now?
HM	There are a lot of things in my mind. But I don’t have as much time as I would like to have. I am now working on a study of Dalit literature and a long novel.
KMS	Do you think you have received the recognition that you deserve? Or do you think academic distinctions don’t matter?
HM	Like other writers in the Dalit movement, I too have never bothered about recognition. The extent of our commitment to the cause is what really bothers us. That is what sets us apart from other writers.