The recent Made in Heaven series has sparked a range of debates on its portrayal of characters and societal perceptions regarding marriages in India. However, it is the fifth episode of the series, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, which has come to be the heart of a heated debate with a flurry of criticism and appreciation.
It has been appreciated for its portrayal of an assertive Dalit woman character Pallavi Menke, who is an author, academician, and someone who opens up about her caste identity and decides to have a Buddhist wedding on her own terms.
The wedding scene, particularly, garnered much praise for its representation in the mainstream cinematic space, which is considered to be a reflection of the anti-caste and egalitarian spirit rooted in the Ambedkarite movement.
How Did Yashica Dutt Come Into the Picture?
The criticism stemmed after many viewers started drawing similarities between Menke's character and author Yashica Dutt for some particular references made in the episode.
Notable among them are her studying in Columbia University, her grandmother's manual scavenging job, and her interview about 'coming out' as a Dalit identity. These reminded many of Yashica's book Coming Out as a Dalit that coincides with her life and works.
Amid public outcry, Neeraj Ghaywan acknowledged Yashica's book, in an Instagram post, as an inspiration for the interview scene, along with other Dalit personalities, including Suraj Yengde, Sujatha Gidla and Sumit Baudhh. However, no formal credit was given to Yashica who later voiced her demand for acknowledgement that her ideas were borrowed for the making of the series.
The directors 'categorically denied' this, claiming that Menke's character drew inspiration from many from the 'Dalit community' who may have also contributed to the queer discourse of 'coming out' in the 1950s.
While many continue to debate this, there are certain missing points about representation, the 'coming out' polemic, and the significance of Yashica asserting as a Dalit.
The Homogenisation of Dalit Discourse
Moving away from a negative representation of Dalits to a positive one is indeed necessary given the stereotypes that Indian caste society often uses to mock Dalits in everyday life.
It also provides many Dalits a sense of dignity to be seen as assertive, critical, and autonomous. However, the context of the episode being presented in its aftermath almost makes Dalit to be a homogeneous category.
It's pertinent to note that Suraj Yengde, Sujata Gidla, and Sumit Baudhh do not come from the historically manual scavenging castes and neither do Mahars and Mangs in Maharashtra.
So, the claim that the representation could be inspired by them doesn't hold ground sociologically because the stigma of manual scavenging as an occupational history is quite peculiar to only certain castes among Dalits, such as the Bhangis, Valmikis, and Mehtars – and Yashica Dutt belongs to one such community.
Therefore, even positive representation cannot be devoid of the socio-cultural contexts because that tends to make a simplistic prototype of who a Dalit is by checking certain boxes.
It cannot be a mere coincidence that the exact aspects of Yashica's life are being presented on the screen without the foreknowledge of her public presence, writings, and journey for the last six years.
The 'Coming Out’ Polemic
Hiding one's caste due to the fear of being demarcated, and discriminated against in various social spaces, has been and continues to be a part of the Dalit experience. In university hostels, in formal work spaces, and during house-hunting, we often hear many Dalits hiding their caste in order to avoid the stigma that might ensue once they are outed.
When Dr Ambedkar himself went to Baroda to work, he had to hide his caste initially in order to find a house. Baburao Bagul wrote a book Why I hHid my Caste. Those were definitely harsh circumstances back then.
In fact, there are communities such as Pallars in Tamil Nadu who tried to reconstruct their origin history to that of a warrior community, and a section of Bhangis through conversions to other religions have tried to move away from their ascribed caste identity.
Hence, this process of hiding caste, claiming it, and trying to reconstruct one's caste identity is not an elitist concept as a section of Dalit Ambedkarites are making it seem in Yashica's case.
Instead, it is often ridden with compulsions, fear, and hesitations of consequences.
How Yashica’s Dalit Identity Is Distinct
What sets apart Yashica's assertions of 'coming out' both in the anti-caste discourse as well as in the context of the episode is that, in the visible public domain, as a woman from the Bhangi caste, she consistently made reference to the phrase 'coming out as a Dalit' with an entire book and a long list of talks.
Moreover, the stigma attached to all Dalit castes doesn't have the same roots always. Yashica comes from the lowest caste among Dalits – and from the manual scavenging community – with relatives and her grandmother literally picking up human excreta.
And thus, her hiding her caste and then coming out is quite a different task, experience, and bears more depth of stigma than other Dalits outside her community.
Yashica made an effort to popularise a pattern of experience and inhibitions among many Dalits through her phrase 'coming out' in a caste context. Neither Suraj Yengde nor Sujatha Gidla did that as a part of their discourse while Sumit Baudhh made a passing reference to it briefly. And none of them resemble the character of Menke as much as Yashica does in this regard with her interview.
Why Yashica’s Asserting as a Dalit Must Command Attention
Those who are aware of sub-caste contradictions affecting Dalit politics would know that Chamars-Chuhras, Ravidasias-Valmikis differences have emerged time and again in the last hundred years with claims that the former have been sidelined.
Historian Mark Juergensmeyer refers to such differences within the Ad Dharmi movement in Punjab in the 1930s and 1940s which exist even today between the Mazhabis and Ravidasias.
Yashica writing ' Coming out as a Dalit' is a vocal reiteration that even with the differences in sub-caste experiences, she is part of the larger Dalit identity which usually has few castes as its visible faces and narrative makers, due to historical and political reasons.
It is even furthermore a reason to look at this claim with greater sensibility.
Her being a woman, not fitting into the mainstream Ambedkarite framework of speaking and writing, and the lack of visible members from the Bhangi community in discursive spaces have led to lack of support and consideration.
Appropriation of labour and life experiences for the creative purpose has been a contesting issue given how those coming from the bottom caste communities are not mere representative characters but also human beings with a contribution which makes it even more essential to credit her work and give formal recognition.
(Sumeet Samos hails from south Odisha. He recently completed MSc in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Oxford. He is a young researcher and anti-caste activist and his research interests are Dalit Christians, cosmopolitan elites, student politics, and society and culture in Odisha.)
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