Reviews

This is my first time reading a memoir and has encouraged me to try and find some more to read. This was also my first non fiction read of the year and was a nice break from all the fantasy that I’ve been reading recently.

I found this incredibly insightful, particularly as it tells the history of modern India but from the bottom up. It’s centred around Sujatha’s family being untouchable and what this means for them, in all aspects of their lives. Independence promised freedom for all but this did not translate into freedom for those belonging to lower castes.

I found this so incredibly easy to read and follow. It read like a story which makes sense because it’s Sujatha’s life story but you wouldn’t know it until the end. Saying it reads like a story does not take away from the fact that this was just life for Sujatha and her family. Only having left India to move to America, does she recognise the weight of her life story and history. She talks about her uncle becoming a revolutionary and how her mother was trying to gain her freedom via her education. It’s a significant yet haunting weaving of a narrative that spans many decades and touches many people.

At times, I found myself getting lost and confused with the political climate and how complex it was. Political allegiances were rampant and they were necessary for survival. I definitely will be doing more research into this era of India and the widespread consequences that occurred, as a result.

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of caste and I even chose it as the topic of my undergraduate dissertation. As a British-Indian, my caste is part of my identity but not as important as it would be, were I living in India. As a Brahmin, I’m at the “top” of the hierarchy but this means nothing, living in the United Kingdom. My undergraduate dissertation focused on introducing caste legislation for those belonging to lower castes, like the untouchables, in the United Kingdom and how this would offer protection against caste-based violence and discrimination.

kashmiras's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

cherbear's review against another edition

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2.0

**1/2

avanioniava's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

To situate ones family within a historical context and to do it with so much care and honestly is gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Left me sobbing at the end.

holly_ed_'s review against another edition

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4.0

Ants Among Elephants by Sujatha Gidla shines a light on the experience of growing up as a Dalit in India, telling the story of her lower-caste family, who are still in many ways considered ‘untouchable’.

Shockingly, Gidla’s life seems to have been better than most Dalits, since she was educated, and as a Christian also didn’t feel like a typical untouchable, but the story of how her parents and grandparents were treated is humbling and appalling. As the author notes, even today “every day in an Indian newspaper you can read of an untouchable beaten or killed for wearing sandals, for riding a bicycle” – her community are not allowed to eat or drink from the same utensils as other castes, live in the same places, do the same jobs, attend the same schools, sit in the presence of other castes… the list goes on. The most difficult parts of the book to read are when these attitudes are extended towards the children, often by their schoolmates.

The book also shone a useful light for me on the development of Maoist factions in India, explaining how this was tied up with land grabs and the caste/feudal systems of villages. While I wasn’t able to warm to, or indeed understand the decisions of, a lot of the characters portrayed here, the social and political context couldn’t have been more clearly explained – no mean feat in a country with such intricate social norms.

tinythunders's review against another edition

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"Kadupu chetto pattukoni vacchina vadini kadayya,
Kadupu kottataniki.

(Attack those who deprive your stomach,
Not those who came here for their stomachs’ sake.)"

— K.G. SATYAMURTHY

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