This is why it is important for citizens to evaluate the aspects of their life that may become tomorrow’s evils. This scenario had me thinking that indeed today’s way of life is part of tomorrow’s despicable evils. During the author’s time, castes were a way of life. The book opened my eyes to how things can degenerate in silence. This is a sign of a bias opinion in the story and the author could have left a little room for counter opinions. Instead, the author focuses on those who bullied and mistreated him (Valmiki 78). The positive aspects of the story, like the story about the boys from the higher castes who befriended him, are not given much airtime. The author chose to dwell only on the negative aspects of his life. The author dwelt too much on his personal story and made the book look like a sympathy-seeking attempt. This book is supposed to be both a personal story and a tool of protest against the caste system. These jobs included heart-breaking tasks such as sweeping the roads and cleaning toilets (Valmiki 23). For instance, he lists all the jobs he and his family were expected to do. Right from the beginning, the author gets through to the reader by printing his most vivid childhood memories. The book has achieved the right balance between emotional narratives and commentaries on inequality. The author’s tone and prose are able to transport the reader back to the Hindu’s way of life in the 1960s. When I was reading the book, I sometimes found myself overwhelmed by emotions.

“Joothan” is a book that affected my emotions in a major way.

This is one example why this book is a solid testimony of the Dalit’s way of life. The Dalits were poorer than the Dronachary but no one seemed interested in their pain. In the book, the author admits to being irked by the teacher’s insistence on Dronacharys’s poverty and that is why he questioned why no one was concerned with the Dalits. For instance, the author writes about the time he questioned a teacher about Hindu literature. The author is able to use his personal experiences to cement his arguments against the caste system. The author’s heritage gives him a formidable advantage over authors who were brought up in a higher caste. Most of the authors who have written books on the caste system belong to the higher castes and their opinion is mostly biased (Valmiki 8).Īfter reading this book, I was amazed by the author’s authority on the caste issue. The author notes that not many books in the Hindu literature catalog can present the real truth about the caste system. The book offers incredible insight into the Hindu’s caste system.

Joothan book in english