What is the impact of
upward mobility on Dalits? They have changed their names and surnames. They
have started living in tenements and apartments, fully furnished, equipped with
washing machines and refrigerators, air conditioners and hair conditioners.
Their parents used to live in crowded chawls with common roofs and toilets.
When they lived in chawls, they used to drink tea made up of jaggery, now they
have discarded Jaggery, a symbol of cultural backwardness. In chawls they
gluttonously devoured mutton of big animals like cows and bullocks, bade ka
ghost. Now, they prefer mutton of sheep and goats, chhote ka ghost.
Their language was rude and rustic, heavily influenced by accent of their colloquial
dialects. Now, they speak urbanised, sophisticated Gujarati. They have been
civilised ready to take on the world. I would not have been saddened if they
have stopped here. But, quite disgustingly, they have started building their settlements
on lines of their paraganas (not just sub castes), like patanwadas and two
eighty twos, like chhedals and chuwals. They were more united in their chawls,
the so called hell. Now, in their heaven, they are divided, intentionally and
intuitively!
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