About
Indian Marathi writer and Dalit activist, known for writing the first female Dalit autobiography. She speaks for the Dalit, the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Her autobiography, Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha (The Kaleidoscope Story of My Life) was published in 1986. In 1990 it was tele-serialized as Najuka. It is included in the University of Mumbai syllabus, shedding light on the history of marginalization and oppression.
Before Fame
As a child, education was prohibited for the members of her community. She was also barred from learning as a female. Nevertheless, her parents saw her potential and sent her to school anyway.
Trivia
She was not technically allowed in the classroom and so had to pick up what she could from sitting outside. She went on to work as a teacher. It was after she had retired that she began to write her autobiography. She died in her daughter's home in January 2023, at the age of 99.
Family Life
She was born in Mahud, Solapur, India. She was from a poor family and a community with a low status. She dedicated her book to her parents, writing "To my Aaye-Appa [mother and father] who worked the entire day in the hot glaring sun, hungry and without water, and through the drudgery of labor, with hunger pinching their stomach, educated me and brought me from darkness into light." Her son, Arun Krushnaji Kamble, was an Indian Marathi language writer, professor, Politician, and Dalit activist. She also had a daughter.
Associated With
Kalabhavan Mani is a Dalit actor and singer.
