A SHUDRA LIFE - Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (Autobiography)
How does a shepherd boy become an intellectual?
Kancha Ilaiah, a leading anticaste feminist thinker, activist and writer, chronicles his life: the difference between his shepherd life and the enclosed classroom, his love for the English language, and love in general, he writes about the Brahminical political left that chose to ignore him, and how the success of his book, Why I am Not a Hindu, changed the way people treated him, his professorship, and finally how he eats, lives and how he wants to die.
The most rewarding thing about the book is that every time Ilaiah mentions his struggles, he also tells us how he overcame them. And when hard work is not rewarded, Ilaiah turns to humour. Humour can be a great weapon against Savarna bullying.
Vijetha Kumar, writer, RumLolaRum & Third Eye Portal
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd takes us from Buddha to Marx to Babasaheb; from the wisdom of grandmothers to the fear of Saraswati; from humiliation and pain to dignity, liberation and hope.
Siddhesh Gautham, illustrator @bakeryprasad
Kancha Iliah Shepherd is a national treasure. He is possibly the bravest shudra of our time. Ilaiah Shepherd invokes anxiety among the caste oppressors; read A Shudra Life to know why that is the case.
Suraj Yengde, scholar, activist, author of Caste Matters
Written with his signature candid humor and sharp honesty, this book is a must read especially for younger dalitbahujan scholars seeking to make sense of their own journey as anticaste thinkers.
Ravikanth Kisana, professor, author of Meet the Savarnas
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s writing continues to have and will have huge impact on the socio-spiritual life of India which is beset by casteism and human untouchability for millennia.
Archbishop Joseph D’souza
Ilaiah's opinions — even at their controversial peak, and I say this as someone who has both admired him and challenged him — demand engagement rather than dismissal. As a foremost political philosopher of our time, his commitment to the democratisation of society is absolutely genuine, and in these pages he lays bare the insidiousness of caste within the academy, the polite gatekeeping that decides who is permitted to think, who is permitted to form and shape opinions.
MEENA KANDASAMY, poet, writer, translator, activist
