Abstract

Babytai Kamble’s autobiographical work The Prisons We Broke was originally written in Marathi as Jina Amucha and was later translated into English by Maya Pandit. For study point of view, it can be seen as two sections according to manifestation of ideas put into the biography. Firstly, portrayal of Dalit women within their own community. Secondly, the role played by fellow women in upper-caste Hindus in the social order. In The Prisons We Broke, Babytai Kamble uses her life as a source to identify Dalit oppression painting a raw imagery of the crude realities of their world. Growing up in a Maharwada in Maharashtra puts her in prime position to witness Dalit oppression at one of its worst, because Maharwadas are the epitome of the prejudices of the Hindu caste system which are most prevalent in and around Maharashtra. Maharwadas usually consist of close to 15 families belonging to the Mahar caste situated in the outskirts of villages of Maharashtra, which ironically owes its etymological origins to the Mahars who are the original inhabitants of these regions. Maharashtra being one of the states where the caste structure is most prevalent, The Prisons We Broke is justified in being a comment upon Dalit oppression.

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