This is a true story of how one couple, Damu and Sonu Jadhav dedicated their lives to help their children break free of the shackles of India's caste system. And behind their commitment is the towering inspiration of Babasaheb Ambedkar whose call to educate Dalit children became the motto of their lives. This book goes up along with Mistry's A Fine Balance and Sainath's Everybody Loves a Good Drought in helping me better understand the condition of Dalits in India. I want to record some of the

The greatest thing about this biography is that it educated me on a deeper level on India's Untouchable caste. I had never heard of Babasaheb Ambedkar before, but I'm glad I got a chance to learn about this EXTRAORDINARY man who challenged both the cultural and religous system of India. Also, Untouchables unintentionally helped provide foundation for my dislike for Gandhi. Before I didn't like him mostly off of a gut feeling based upon his actions, but Jadhav's bio helped ground my intuition. Ga...

There was a LOT of rough language, mostly at the beginning, from men of upper castes heaping abuse on those of the Dalit caste. The story is heartbreaking but also hopeful, and it was interesting to learn of Babasaheb and his work to improve life for the people enslaved by the Hindu caste system. There is much detail about Hindu rituals and worship practices, and a bit about Buddhism.Anyone seeking to understand Hindu culture and help provide humanitarian relief to the poverty-stricken lower cla...

If you never understood India’s 3,500 year old caste system, this memoir by Narendra Jadhav is a must read. Building from Jadhav father’s diaries and family stories , he writes this story of his family journey and struggles to free themselves and their children from the caste system. “Just as independence is necessary for India, change of religion is necessary for Dalits.Hinduism made us untouchables, and giving up Hinduism is the only way to bring touchability to our lives”. These are the words...

This surprised me by being a straight memoir rather than a sociological explanation of one family's experience. As it is, Jadhav tends to get bogged down in personal recollection, to the neglect of showing how those personal experiences typify life under the caste system as a whole. This is a decent book, though I don't know that anyone not already familiar with the concept of caste would find this the best place to start. Judged as a memoir, this was just okay. Jadhav is honest, eloquent and no...

The personal memoir guise of this book is used largely as a framework for political history of the Dalit struggle for equality in Indian society between the 1920s and 1950s. The book added to my shallow understanding of Indian history; for example, independence and partition were not the defining moments of this book, and I learned that Gandhi was not universally beloved among the poor (who weren't Hindu nationalists either). The glimpses into village life in the 1920s were really interesting to...

A book that shook me to the core at the age of 16 and gave me the first and strongest reason to dislike my country- the evil caste system. The book made me realize how casually this system is being carried on in the modern India and the struggles it creates for the country's significant population to go through. There are scenes from the book I just cant forget.

DNF (made it to page 52), but enjoyed what I did read. Still giving this 3-stars because it's not the book's fault that I ran out of time, book club happened and I just couldn't go back to finish this. Subject was something I knew nothing about and learned a lot from the little I read. Some of the more memorable passages are below. "The untouchables themselves were indoctrinated in the theory of karma, which stated that they were burdened with demeaning tasks only because of their own misdeeds i...

This collective memoir of a Dalit couple during pre and post Independence written by their son. This book give a very intimate picture of systemic hardships, breaking the shackles of limitations put on them by cast system and the road map of inspiration and imagination Dr. Ambekhar lay down for his people. Even though this book is few decades old it is still relevant and it has reasserted my interest in learning more about the father of Indian Constitution, Dr. Ambekhar. I would recommend this t...

This book is nice for reasons apart from casteim discussed for it shows the effect of historic events on the lives of protagonists, and there are two protagonists telling their stories one after another. But on a negative the book is quite verbose, it could have been shortened to less than 200 pages for good.

Easy read wrt language and living the story although this is nowhere all about historical background and coming of age story for a hero. It is real, humane and imperfect example of a Dalit family with the husband leading the family through transition. I liked the book better for the family portrayal than what it exposed me towards untouchables plight.

This was really good. It's so interesting to learn more about the plight and journey of the Untouchables. It was also fascinating to hear firsthand about what Dheekshabhoomi was like!

One of the best Dalit biographies I have ever read. Loved the way it was presented.

To think that this account took place a mere hundred years ago. In retrospect, understanding the value of the courage these people demonstrated in taking a stand for themselves.

Inspirational. The passages describing Damu's fascination with Babasaheb are deeply moving.

It is nice presentation of how untouchables are suffering due to caste system. Also, struggle of family is really inspiring.

The nonfiction biography, Untouchables, by Narendra Jadhav is an awe-inspiring story set around the 1900s in India. It is about the journey of an untouchable family breaking out of the oppressive caste system. Jadhav writes this true story based on his father’s diaries and many family stories, which talks about his parents’ struggle for equal rights and justice in the low times of India. For thousands of years, Dalits (untouchables) have been treated harshly and not only by the gore (British) bu...

You are born into a society in which you cannot exercise your free will. Not because you don't have the ability or resources. But because its a consequence of history. That's how it has always been and that's how it will always be. Choose to break these centuries old traditions and you will be ill-treated, raped, ostracized or even lynched. Is it your fault for being born an untouchable or the society's for perpetually making you believe so? Untouchables (or Dalits) around India took the fault u...

A very inspiring account of a man's struggle to gain freedom, independence and dignity; to break free from the shackles of the Hindu caste-system. Thinking back, almost all my Hindu friends have brought up the caste-system to justify another Hindu's ill behavior, their misfortunes or ill-treatment by the government officials/general public. I never could understand any of it; the divide between the privileged and the untouchables, the underlying hatred and the ever-present shame. Suffice to say,...

Though Jadhav always wanted to be a writer, he has also served as the principal adviser and chief economist for the Reserve Bank of India and served 4 years as the adviser to the executive director at the International Monetary Fund. This is surprising because Jadhav is a Dalit, an "Untouchable," a member of a group so low that they are not even part of the normal Hindu caste system. His family was consigned to the lowest of roles in society, and were considered so "polluted" that even their sha...

There seems to be disagreement on what this book is. My library has it classified as a biography. Maybe it is narrative nonfiction, a classification that I haven't been able to get my mind around. The book is about the author's parents. They were Dalit (Untouchables) Indians who grew up in small villages, moved to Mumbai, were involved in the political movement to bring equality to the Dalits. The father, Domu was only semi-literate. The mother, Sonu, never learned to read. The author has them t...

Untouchables is actually a revised version of a book published in 1993, which I have not read and can therefore make no comparison. However, the story of the Jahdavs’ journey out of the caste system in India is intriguing. The book itself is more of a collective memoir, with alternating pieces by Narendra Jahdav’s parents. This gives a very unique voice to their situations and shows several perspectives on the events that occur in their lives.In the United States, we tend to think that the battl...

Very nice. I suspect the original may have been a bit better written than the English translation, but I still enjoyed this quite a bit. It was interesting to get an "on-the-ground" perspective of the ideological conflict between Gandhi and Babasaheb, too; like most Westerners, I'd heard a lot about the former and very little about the latter, and feel that this book filled some important gaps in my knowledge. The real-life characters were interesting, and their human dramas compelling, so this

i'm amazed. brilliant editor. story of family unfolds through chapters--perspective changes back and forth from husband to wife. gandhi v. ambedkar. hinduism v. buddhism. feels like i'm right there. nagging mothers. bhakris day in day out. overthrowing tradition--some traditions. marriage age 10. how to galvanize and organize a population that is poor and overworked and bound to the religion and social order that maintains they are irrevocably LOW? this is one family's story.

I feel the title is a little misleading as this book is more of a memoir of his mother and father who also happened to be social activists. Much more focus on everyday family life than anticipated. Enjoyable, but I'd like to have an indepth biography that provided more context. Also, a fair warning that there's a first person narrative about the consummation of his mother's child marriage which I was somewhat unprepared for.

This book was not what I expected from the description. I felt that it was more a description of rising from an impoverished life in India and the limitations that that imposed rather than the ongoing struggles of a family against their caste. The challenges of the parents were caste-related but it was less clear to me how caste affected the lives of the children.

This book describes a family who seeks to overcome the unspeakable horrors of being an untouchable in India in the early 1900's and providing an education for their children, who have become scholars and successful professionals. I found the book fascinating and would highly recommend it. It seems sad that societies so often choose to discriminate between one group or another.

I loved how Jadhav brought the reader right into the daily lives of those in the untouchables caste, but I had a really hard time staying with this book. I appreciated the perspectives and light that was given to the struggles of the lower caste people in India, and it was very well described, but it was hard to stay interested when so much of it was just recounting various childhood memories.

Interesting read. Have been curious about the Dalit (“untouchables”) movement in India. The author’s parents lived through the early days and much of the book is seen through theirs eyes and lives. Marriages were arranged and women taught to obey their husbands even as the husbands were activists for equal treatment. Would recommend for readers that like memoirs or have an interest in India.

The author writes simply, and there's no great description, etc. but the book works. I think it helps to have been in India and understand the country and her people. The addendum by his daughter was a joke.