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Vultures
Gujarat, 1964. The agrarian system of renewable annual contract mandates fulltime labour on the houses and farms of landlords. In these bleak circumstances, Iso, a tanner by birth, graduates from being a child labourer to an adult serf on the estate of Mavaji.
His life is one of humiliation, hunger and drudgery, and the only respite comes in the form of Diwali, Mavaji’s daughter. Between them exists a physical relationship that is shrouded in secrecy, shame and fear. Even as Iso creates distance between them, a chance encounter turns to violence and tragedy, and he faces the brutal sword of caste patriarchy.
Based on the blood-curdling murder of a Dalit boy by Rajput landlords in Kodaram village in 1964, Vultures portrays a feudal society structured around caste-based relations and social segregation, in which Dalit lives and livelihoods are torn to pieces by upper-caste vultures.
The deft use of dialect, graphic descriptions and translator Hemang Ashwinkumar’s lucid telling throw sharp focus on the fragmented world of a mofussil village in Gujarat, much of which remains unchanged even today.
His life is one of humiliation, hunger and drudgery, and the only respite comes in the form of Diwali, Mavaji’s daughter. Between them exists a physical relationship that is shrouded in secrecy, shame and fear. Even as Iso creates distance between them, a chance encounter turns to violence and tragedy, and he faces the brutal sword of caste patriarchy.
Based on the blood-curdling murder of a Dalit boy by Rajput landlords in Kodaram village in 1964, Vultures portrays a feudal society structured around caste-based relations and social segregation, in which Dalit lives and livelihoods are torn to pieces by upper-caste vultures.
The deft use of dialect, graphic descriptions and translator Hemang Ashwinkumar’s lucid telling throw sharp focus on the fragmented world of a mofussil village in Gujarat, much of which remains unchanged even today.
328 pages, Hardcover
Published April 29, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 18, 2022
"It was not long before his digging picked up speed and grew almost frenetic. He was trying, it seemed, to retrieve the fossils of his past from the relics of Ghemar's unbuilt house. His frail frame shook violently as he poked and jabbed like one possessed, burrowing away for something precious, a treasure trove perhaps, that he had buried in the darkest recesses of his heart all these years."
Gidh, in Hemang Ashwinkumar's translation as Vultures, originally came out in 2000 making it unfortunately ineligible for the 2022 JCB prize. One can tell when a book about a community is written by a person who belongs to it. Although I wouldn't stress on in-group authenticity, it certainly makes a difference. Dalpat Chauhan's historical fiction novel is reminiscent of Baby Kamble's memoir but its ethnographic project is less central to the narrative though it brings alive the quotidian practices of Gujarati Dalits in astonishing detail without glossarizing it.
The story comes to us through a frame: Bhalo or Bhalabha hears news that sends him down memory lane, remembering his friend from his youth, Iso, a victim of caste violence. Based on the very horrific murder of a Dalit boy by Rajput landlords in Kodaram village in 1964. Vultures are a double metaphor. They stand in for Dalits themselves, turning the cultural imposition of scavenging into a natural order, dehumanized for their labour, exploited, and forced to live on scraps. The upper castes are vultures too in a sense: bloodthirsty, flesh-loving and violent.
Trigger warnings for extreme caste violence. Chauhan's way of showing how caste gets internalized within the Dalit community itself and how hierarchies get established, transgressions punished and policed, is brilliant. In this way, caste is further legitimized/naturalized. I loved how he integrated songs and storytelling traditions within a narrative whose strong prose retains a good amount of untranslated/untalicized non-English words. My only complaint is that Diwali could have been more well-rounded but then she's not the only female character, rare as they are, who is one note.
(I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
April 28, 2022
A young boy and girl drawn to each other by the first rush of physical attraction, both straining to push against social proprieties:— this has been the basis of numerous love stories on screen and in print. And yet, in the hands of Gujarati Dalit literary icon Dalpat Chauhan, this template takes off on a fiery tangent, one that lacerates the comfort of the world you know, by taking you to another, where one’s caste determines how you live, breathe and die.
Known for his powerful commentaries of the oppression faced by Dalits and Adivasis through his plays, novels, poetry, short stories and critical essays; Dalpat Chauhan’s Vultures, translated from the Gujarati (Gidh, 1991) by Hemang Ashwinkumar is a horrifying reminder of the inequalities brought upon by the deeply entrenched caste system in India. The story is based on a real incident, the murder of a young Dalit boy by upper class Rajputs in 1964 — a little less than two decades after India attained freedom— in a village in Gujarat and the title, a nod to society’s deep aversion to vultures; symbolising the way Dalits are treated and perceived.
In the introduction, the bi-lingual poet, translator, editor and critic Hemang Ashwinkumar points out how “the vulture’s memory has been shunted to the margins by the custodians of cultural memory, for it is too stark and too discomforting to confront" alluding to to how literature and publishing perhaps, has given room to more dominant voices at the cost of marginalised ones.
Read the full review on my blog here: https://bookandconversations.wordpres...
A 600 worded review is here @LiveMintLounge : https://lifestyle.livemint.com/how-to...
October 27, 2022
The caste system in India has prevailed for ages, and the people are in social strata and economic
backgrounds. Though this system is similar to racism in western countries, where people are
discriminated against based on their skin colour, people are socially differentiated based on religion and the community in which a person is born in India. Caste, known as Jati or Varna, is the hereditary class of Hindu society. The classification of individuals into varna hierarchy attached to an individual's identity at their birth is barbaric. Following the Hindu shastras, four hereditary castes exist in India: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra. This was developed based on the types of artisans in every aspect. For ages, the discrimination among these varnas has exponentially grown.
A recent incident in Rajasthan showcases that even in this technologically advanced society, here in
India, people are killed, beaten, and molested for the caste they are born into. Anything in life is
unfortunately attached to an individual's caste when a man is aiming to build apartments on Mars and Moon, where people are still fighting the caste system.
Coming to this book, written by Gujarat's famous Dalit writer – Dalpat Chauhan's Gidi, written in 1991, and translated into English by Hemang Ashwinkumar, is an account of an older man, Bhalabha, experience in a toxic casteist, feudal society. The story, with its simple and honest writing, takes the readers along with Bhalabha and the life of the oppressed.
Read this book to understand how casteism is deep-rooted in everything that belongs to a person.
backgrounds. Though this system is similar to racism in western countries, where people are
discriminated against based on their skin colour, people are socially differentiated based on religion and the community in which a person is born in India. Caste, known as Jati or Varna, is the hereditary class of Hindu society. The classification of individuals into varna hierarchy attached to an individual's identity at their birth is barbaric. Following the Hindu shastras, four hereditary castes exist in India: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra. This was developed based on the types of artisans in every aspect. For ages, the discrimination among these varnas has exponentially grown.
A recent incident in Rajasthan showcases that even in this technologically advanced society, here in
India, people are killed, beaten, and molested for the caste they are born into. Anything in life is
unfortunately attached to an individual's caste when a man is aiming to build apartments on Mars and Moon, where people are still fighting the caste system.
Coming to this book, written by Gujarat's famous Dalit writer – Dalpat Chauhan's Gidi, written in 1991, and translated into English by Hemang Ashwinkumar, is an account of an older man, Bhalabha, experience in a toxic casteist, feudal society. The story, with its simple and honest writing, takes the readers along with Bhalabha and the life of the oppressed.
Read this book to understand how casteism is deep-rooted in everything that belongs to a person.
July 21, 2022
Caste is such an encompassing system that atleast in South-Asia it has been able to infect all religions. An oppressive system under which one of the most basic things is taken away from a human being; dignity. Vultures originally written in Gujarati as Gidh (2000) by Dalit icon Dalpat Chauhan tells us the story of a young boy Iso from the tanner community, his journey serving a landlord called Mavaji and the events that took place after Mavaji’s daughter Diwali and Iso fell in love with each other. The story is actually inspired from a real event from 1964 where a young Dalit boy was mercilessly killed by Rajput landlords in Kodaram Village.
Chauhan’s way of telling the story is realistic and aims for the bullseye. The way he has used vultures as metaphor for the way Dalits are considered in the society is eye opening. His story tells us a tale of the deeply entrenched violent streak which is used to keep the social hierarchies in place. Apart from the numerous cases that one can always read about in the newspapers, this story reminded me of the Una incident where Dalits were whipped as they denied to skin carcasses and how it subsequently led to them coming out in the streets to reclaim the basic human right of dignity. Translated very eloquently by Hemang Ashwinkumar, this book is a must read.
Chauhan’s way of telling the story is realistic and aims for the bullseye. The way he has used vultures as metaphor for the way Dalits are considered in the society is eye opening. His story tells us a tale of the deeply entrenched violent streak which is used to keep the social hierarchies in place. Apart from the numerous cases that one can always read about in the newspapers, this story reminded me of the Una incident where Dalits were whipped as they denied to skin carcasses and how it subsequently led to them coming out in the streets to reclaim the basic human right of dignity. Translated very eloquently by Hemang Ashwinkumar, this book is a must read.
June 5, 2022
TW: Violence, gory details
We all are humans, made of flesh and bones but one thing that separates us is the society. Injustice is inflicted on the lower caste by the upper caste who treat them worse than animals.
Love has no boundaries but our society has set up some rules for Love too. You can only marry in your caste, if you go against it you’ll be killed. This book is based on a real life incident that happened way back in 1964 in Gujarat.
The author tells us the story of Iso, a servent in the field of an upper caste,who is identified as a Dalit. He has his own struggles as he can meet his family once in a fortnight, he has to work tirelessly in the farms all day and he can’t touch water or enter into the house of the owner as Iso would pollute it.
Everything in his life was going smooth until he was trapped by Shinoji, another serf. Iso’s landowner suspected him to be the lover of his daughter and was hell bound on killing him.
Will Iso come free of the suspicion? Or he’ll have to bear the grunt of being a Dalit?
This book is a must read. The details were perfect and so the characterisation. The narration is smooth and the book will keep you hooked till the end.
We all are humans, made of flesh and bones but one thing that separates us is the society. Injustice is inflicted on the lower caste by the upper caste who treat them worse than animals.
Love has no boundaries but our society has set up some rules for Love too. You can only marry in your caste, if you go against it you’ll be killed. This book is based on a real life incident that happened way back in 1964 in Gujarat.
The author tells us the story of Iso, a servent in the field of an upper caste,who is identified as a Dalit. He has his own struggles as he can meet his family once in a fortnight, he has to work tirelessly in the farms all day and he can’t touch water or enter into the house of the owner as Iso would pollute it.
Everything in his life was going smooth until he was trapped by Shinoji, another serf. Iso’s landowner suspected him to be the lover of his daughter and was hell bound on killing him.
Will Iso come free of the suspicion? Or he’ll have to bear the grunt of being a Dalit?
This book is a must read. The details were perfect and so the characterisation. The narration is smooth and the book will keep you hooked till the end.
June 9, 2022
The life of Iso, a tanner by birth, who graduates from being a child labourer to an adult serf on the estate of Mavaji. Belonging to caste which was not considered good by the society, he faces a lot issues in his life. Things where not easy for him, and then one day he met Diwali, the daughter of Mavaji. And then things changed for him, he fell in love, had physical relationships with her, keeping everything a secret.
But do the secrets remain secrets?
Obviously, no. And that's when things go down the hill for Iso. The tradegy, violence and brutality everything pours in.
The cruel society kills the hopes of the people who are not previleged enough.
Why I liked the book:
- depicts the real society
- rich characters
- writing style and the dialogues
- and the plot.
The themes of the book like stereotyping, love, violence, caste system and the village life are all beautifully portrayed in the book. The 22 chapters take us to an unexpected ending and make it an incredible read.
The title of the book is indicative of the fuedal society which is structured around caste-based relations and the social segregations. The upper caste and the lower caste are treated differently, live in a different condition and what not. The cruelty creeps into the social chain via all this which made the lives difficult.
The book cover is also apt and intense. The book was written by Dalpat Chauhan in 2000 in Gujarati and was translated into English by Hemang Ashwinkumar. So, yes it's a translated book too.
But do the secrets remain secrets?
Obviously, no. And that's when things go down the hill for Iso. The tradegy, violence and brutality everything pours in.
The cruel society kills the hopes of the people who are not previleged enough.
Why I liked the book:
- depicts the real society
- rich characters
- writing style and the dialogues
- and the plot.
The themes of the book like stereotyping, love, violence, caste system and the village life are all beautifully portrayed in the book. The 22 chapters take us to an unexpected ending and make it an incredible read.
The title of the book is indicative of the fuedal society which is structured around caste-based relations and the social segregations. The upper caste and the lower caste are treated differently, live in a different condition and what not. The cruelty creeps into the social chain via all this which made the lives difficult.
The book cover is also apt and intense. The book was written by Dalpat Chauhan in 2000 in Gujarati and was translated into English by Hemang Ashwinkumar. So, yes it's a translated book too.
June 20, 2022
I had heard of Dalits in the news but before reading this book I had no in-depth knowledge about what it actually entails. Although blatant casteism and atrocities associated with still exist very openly in our country, this story throws a totally raw dimension to it.
.
Starting from Bhalabha's reminiscences to Iso s self thoughts Chauhan's powerful views translated equally potently by Ashwinkumar will throw you into the severe oppression and cruelty that this system brings into humane life. Child marriage, the feudal system, and the gaps in life due to it are written starkly.
.
Iso is a character I will remember strongly! His spirit I think even in death stays undiminished. That the upper class were and are privileged is well seen via Diwali s approaches. The constant use direct and metaphoric of vultures is symbolically put on the cover page and I think aptly sums up the book.
.
For me, this is a magnificent translation, relevant even two decades after its first publication and six decades after the actual incident in 1964 on which this is based. I think in the seams of our country where the towns go on to villages, this casteism still evidently exists, if not physically as sturdy, mentally definitely.
.
There is no justice, no peace to the minds facing it and no answers delivered.
.
.
Starting from Bhalabha's reminiscences to Iso s self thoughts Chauhan's powerful views translated equally potently by Ashwinkumar will throw you into the severe oppression and cruelty that this system brings into humane life. Child marriage, the feudal system, and the gaps in life due to it are written starkly.
.
Iso is a character I will remember strongly! His spirit I think even in death stays undiminished. That the upper class were and are privileged is well seen via Diwali s approaches. The constant use direct and metaphoric of vultures is symbolically put on the cover page and I think aptly sums up the book.
.
For me, this is a magnificent translation, relevant even two decades after its first publication and six decades after the actual incident in 1964 on which this is based. I think in the seams of our country where the towns go on to villages, this casteism still evidently exists, if not physically as sturdy, mentally definitely.
.
There is no justice, no peace to the minds facing it and no answers delivered.
.
February 4, 2026
This is a Gujarati novel by Dalpat Chauhan, who is a prominent Dalit writer. I read the English version translated by Hemang Ashwinkumar. The book is set in a rural Gujarat village and narrates the plight of untouchables amidst rampant casteism. For me, what stood out about the novel was the intricate manner by which the author describes the day-to-day lives of people in the village, especially the lower castes. He goes into great depths to show how they subjected to work under upper caste landowners, the paltry sums and watery food they receive, the constant fear they live in, and yet, stay obligated to the caste structure with the belief that they are fated to live such a life. A very interesting chapter is on how a dead buffalo is skinned and cut before the meat is distributed. Another interesting aspect is the raw sexuality between Iso and Diwali, two leading characters. What I really liked reading was the English translation of common Gujarati phrases - those got me to chuckle. The book is called Vultures to signify how humans are akin to the birds: hungry for blood and revenge.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews