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How Are You Veg? Dalit Stories from Telugu
Translated for the first time into English, Subhadra's stories expose the lives of Madiga women, the most oppressed among the Dalits in Telangana. The stories are drawn from lived experiences.
240 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 25, 2026
If you have even a slight doubt about your own privilege, read this book.
It is a collection of short stories rooted in the everyday experiences of Dalit women, particularly from oppressed Dalit communities in Telangana. Women from different occupations but the same caste location speak through these narratives.
The book shows how caste and class privileges quietly govern our food habits, work, dignity, and life choices. Dalits, historically excluded even from the four-fold Varna system, were treated as the “outside.”
Subhadra makes it clear that this exclusion continues today, merely disguised under the language of modernity.
The stories are short and unsettling.
It is a collection of short stories rooted in the everyday experiences of Dalit women, particularly from oppressed Dalit communities in Telangana. Women from different occupations but the same caste location speak through these narratives.
The book shows how caste and class privileges quietly govern our food habits, work, dignity, and life choices. Dalits, historically excluded even from the four-fold Varna system, were treated as the “outside.”
Subhadra makes it clear that this exclusion continues today, merely disguised under the language of modernity.
The stories are short and unsettling.
April 7, 2023
A collection of 23 wonderful stories. Some thought provoking, some painful, some extremely moving.
Each story has a female protagonist, which is so rare.
The female perspective rings loud and clear!
It also brings to light casteism in its various forms: poverty, discrimination, oppression, violence.
As the title suggests, food is also a recurring theme in some of the stories. It begs the question- is there really something called 'lower-caste/untouchable/impure food'? What is food but what one loves and enjoys? What is food if not what gives strength to the human body?
The narratives are impressive with smart social commentaries. It's not heavy handed. These are stories of people told in the most humane ways possible. For readers like me who are not familiar to the peoples and places in these stories, it's also very educational.
I loved every bit of this book. I ate up the pages. I will take my own sweet time to digest them!
Each story has a female protagonist, which is so rare.
The female perspective rings loud and clear!
It also brings to light casteism in its various forms: poverty, discrimination, oppression, violence.
As the title suggests, food is also a recurring theme in some of the stories. It begs the question- is there really something called 'lower-caste/untouchable/impure food'? What is food but what one loves and enjoys? What is food if not what gives strength to the human body?
The narratives are impressive with smart social commentaries. It's not heavy handed. These are stories of people told in the most humane ways possible. For readers like me who are not familiar to the peoples and places in these stories, it's also very educational.
I loved every bit of this book. I ate up the pages. I will take my own sweet time to digest them!
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October 18, 2021Translated from the Telugu by Alladi Uma and M Sridhar, How are you Veg? by Joopaka Subhadra is a compilation of 23 short stories that the author says reflects the lives of the Madigas, most oppressed amongst the Dalits of Telangana. The stories make you think and look deeply within at how we can even barely comprehend that in this day and age, there are people who are not treated as equal in society, communities that are marginalized because of what they eat and what work they are restricted to doing across generations.
The beauty of this collection is that the stories, the tone of the characters are not restricted to voicing the injustices that are heaped on them, the oppression they face from others but also talk about the oppression within and how that plays out under the weight of patriarchal norms and belief systems, the abuse of people with physical disabilities.
The stories are then a mix: there are those that make you examine where each of us would stand in case we come across someone who has lived through generations of caste trauma and violence. For after all, don't many of us even equate food habits with pure/impurity without looking at where that privilege comes from, looking down at those who eat non vegetarian fare and further equating it to morality?
Joopaka Subhadra's writing has a strong narrative voice, one that makes you feel you are in the thick of things. Her subtle yet strong positioning will make you just a bit aware of how our own entitlements and privileges comes at the cost of the suffering of others.Make this a must read!
Full review here: https://bookandconversations.wordpres...
The beauty of this collection is that the stories, the tone of the characters are not restricted to voicing the injustices that are heaped on them, the oppression they face from others but also talk about the oppression within and how that plays out under the weight of patriarchal norms and belief systems, the abuse of people with physical disabilities.
The stories are then a mix: there are those that make you examine where each of us would stand in case we come across someone who has lived through generations of caste trauma and violence. For after all, don't many of us even equate food habits with pure/impurity without looking at where that privilege comes from, looking down at those who eat non vegetarian fare and further equating it to morality?
Joopaka Subhadra's writing has a strong narrative voice, one that makes you feel you are in the thick of things. Her subtle yet strong positioning will make you just a bit aware of how our own entitlements and privileges comes at the cost of the suffering of others.Make this a must read!
Full review here: https://bookandconversations.wordpres...
January 20, 2026
An anthology of 23 short stories that deals with the dalit society, especially women, it's a very real portrayal of their plights and makes you rethink society. Very visceral, poignant and brilliant. The English translation has issues with translating the original telugu details but it's still such an important piece of literature.
December 25, 2021
Bangaram short stories.
Very heartwarming to read the words in Telugu slang.
So well done, translation.
Very heartwarming to read the words in Telugu slang.
So well done, translation.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews