This important book presents systematic evidence of the incidence and extent of the practice of untouchability in contemporary India. It is based on the results of a very large survey covering 560 villages in eleven states. The field data is supplemented by information concerning associated forms of discrimination which Dalits face in their daily lives./-//-/This study finds that untouchability is practised in one form or another in almost 80 per cent of the villages surveyed. It is most prevalent in the religious and personal spheres. While the evidence presented in this book suggests that the more blatant and extreme forms of untouchability appear to have declined, discrimination is still practised in one form or another. The most widespread manifestations are in access to water and to cremation or burial grounds, as also when it comes to the major life cycle rituals. The survey also found that the notion of untouchability continues to pervade the public sphere, including in a host of state institutions and the interactions that occur within them.

PART ONE1. Dalit: A New Cultural Perspective 2. Past, Future and the New Poetry of 'Untouchables' 3. The Dalit Folklore: The Three Beliefs PART TWO4. Select Pieces of Dalit Poetry PART THREE5. Select Extracts from Dalit Prose 6. Significant Readings Index

Sachin Kamble, a first generation educated Dalit expresses his anguish for deep-seated beliefs about caste, creed, and race in the bourgeois or middle-class society. He describes his sandwiched, restless state of mind due to caste and the multiple humiliations suffered by him as a Dalit on a daily basis. He also provides the internal caste divisions, the conduct of the so-called educated bourgeois, and their sustainable behavior for modern-day untouchability. The book unveils brahminical forces which operate the social hierarchy and points out the caste reality.

Hundreds of people were waiting as the train drew in from Bombay. Waving garlands, banners and lamps they roared as a smiling, orange-robed figure stepped down. The crowds came from the poorest section of Indian society, but the monk they were greeting hailed from Tooting, London. Terry Pilchick (Nagabodhi) was a witness to this crazy reversal of the guru syndrome and other extraordinary results of a revolution begun by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar thirty years earlier. It was then that Dr Ambedkar-champion of India's 60 million Untouchables'-had led a peaceful revolt. Leaving behind the oppression of the caste system, he and his followers had converted to Buddhism. Jai Bhim is a colorful, humorous yet moving meeting with these new Buddhists and the unique revolution they are building in the city slums and remote villages of modern India. A travel book which can extend the moral as well as the imaginative ... horizons of the reader.-Faith and Freedom

Contributed papers.

Born into a middle-class, Sarasvat Brahmin family, Dr Sharada Kabir met and got to know Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar as a patient riddled with life-threatening diseases, and eventually married him on 15 April 1948, getting rechristened as Savita Ambedkar. From the day of their wedding to the death of Dr Ambedkar on 6 December 1956, she aided him in some of his greatest achievements-drafting the Constitution of India, framing the Hindu Code Bill, writing some of his most celebrated books, including The Buddha and His Dhamma, and leading millions of Dalits into Buddhism. Following his death, she was hounded into obscurity by some of Dr Ambedkar's followers, who saw her as a threat to their political ambitions. She re-emerged into public life in 1970 and got back to working on the mission to which her husband had devoted his life-the welfare of the Dalit community. Her autobiography, Dr Ambedkaraanchya Sahavaasaat, was first published in Marathi in 1990. This English translation by Nadeem Khan unearths a much valuable and forgotten account, an intimate portrait of one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. A tenacious fighter, an outstanding scholar and an iconic leader, Dr B.R. Ambedkar was all that and more. Savita Ambedkar brings alive a different side of her husband: a man who wrote romantic letters, dictated what she should wear, whipped up delicious mutton curry, played the violin, and even tried his hand at sculpting. This is a book that humanizes Ambedkar as no other book has done yet.

Padmasuri was an English nurse and midwife who gave up nursing to teach Buddhism among the "untouchable" Hindus of India. In this book she charts her progress as she helps her friends discover dignity, strength and freedom on the Buddhist path of individual and social transformation.

Tracking Bengaluru’s dramatic urban transformation through the entanglements of finance, land frenzy, real estate volatility, and livelihood upheavals Over the past two decades, Bengaluru’s exploding real estate sector and massive infrastructure investments have led to land speculation targeting working-class neighborhoods and agricultural land for development. Chronicles of a Global City turns Bengaluru inside out to examine its “world-city” transformation that stimulated rapid urbanization and unbounded growth. Moving the spotlight away from the urban elites and “new middle class,” this book explores how people caught up in the whirlwinds of change in Bengaluru—from construction laborers, street vendors, domestic workers, and platform delivery workers to small-time property brokers, petty landlords, and local politicians—experience, struggle, aspire, invent, strive, and speculate to make a livable city for themselves. Grounded in long-term ethnographic research and activist experiences, Chronicles of a Global City vividly illuminates the multifaceted entanglements of finance capital, real estate markets, livelihood struggles, and fraying ecologies in urban and peri-urban Bengaluru. Its anchoring concept, “speculative urbanism,” provides a powerful, innovative lens for understanding the risk-laden practices of leveraging land, labor, and resources for the promise of future profit. Contributors: Hemangini Gupta, Pierre Hauser, Priyanka Krishna, Eesha Kunduri, Kaveri Medappa, Usha Rao, Shaheen Shasa, Swathi Shivanand, Vinay K. Sreenivasa.

A collection of seven recent papers by Sangharakshita and Subhuti. Each attempts to follow through the implications of Sangharakshita's statement that the Triratna Buddhist Order is "the community of his disciples and disciples of his disciples, practising according to his 'particular presentation of the Dharma'".The papers included are -* What is the Western Buddhist Order? (including a Note on discipleship)* Revering and Relying upon the Dharma* Re-Imagining The Buddha (and Buddhophany)* Initiation into a New Life: the Ordination Ceremony in Sangharakshita's System of Spiritual Practice (revised 2018)* 'A Supra-Personal Force or Energy working through me': the Triratna Buddhist Community and the Stream of the Dharma* The Dharma Revolution and the New Society* A Buddhist Manifesto: the Principles of the Triratna Buddhist Community

The Power of Portrayal: Movies and Culture" delves into the intricate relationship between cinema and society. This insightful book explores how movies shape and reflect cultural trends, examining various theories and concepts through film examples. It analyzes storytelling techniques, viewing colors as characters and uncovering metaphors that illuminate broader cultural themes. From B-grade cinema's impact on cultural norms to assumptions about male attractiveness and evolving beauty standards, this book reveals the profound influence of film on our understanding of culture and identity. With engaging insights and thought-provoking analysis, "The Power of Portrayal" is a must-read for anyone curious about the dynamic interplay between movies and society.