The Outcaste, a first-person narrative, is an emotionally violent autobiography of a half-caste growing up in the Mahar community, and the anguish he suffers from not belonging to it fully. A numbing account of the humiliation of a community at the hands of an unthinking privileged class, it is a reflection on the darker side of Indian society. The work brings to light [through bitter critique] the lack of compassion that the lower castes have endured for centuries in our caste-ridden society. First published in 1984, the Marathi original went through four editions, and was acknowledged as a true milestone that publicized the Dalit cause.

Translated by: Santosh Limbale