The Doctor and the Saint by Arundhati Roy

The Doctor and the Saint is a nonfiction essay, a theoretical debate between two towering figures in Indian history: B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi. The "doctor" refers to Ambedkar, jurist, economist, and the chief architect of India’s Constitution, while the "saint" is Gandhi, the internationally revered leader of India’s independence movement.

Roy challenges the sanitized image of Gandhi often taught in mainstream narratives, especially regarding his views and actions on caste. She contrasts this with Ambedkar’s radical anti-caste politics, his lived experience as a Dalit, and his demand for dignity and structural change. The book not only examines their ideological rift but also asks hard questions about how we remember history, who gets to tell it, and what justice really looks like.

In the book, Arundhati Roy writes:

For a writer to have to use terms like ‘Untouchable,’ ‘Scheduled Caste,’ ‘Backward Class,’ and ‘Other Backward Classes’ to describe fellow human beings is like living in a chamber of horrors.

That line lands hard.

And no, it’s not dramatic. It’s just the truth.

It hits especially hard when you come from

a family that has to spend money to apply for an OBC certificate so they can apply for a job or take an exam. And even then, they rarely get selected. And even if they do, there’s no money to pay the bribes “required” to access those opportunities. Some of us aren’t willing to play that game.
a community made up of people constantly identified by labels—SC, ST, OBC.
a place that’s been burning in violence for over two years, and still not a single word from the Prime Minister. No visit. Not even acknowledgment. (Did he?)
a state that’s now underwater, literally flooded—and yet, you can’t help but wonder if anyone in power really notices or cares.

Roy names what so many try to silence. And if you’ve lived even a piece of this reality, you know it’s not an overstatement. It’s survival.

Yeah, that and anyway, I think this will be an interesting read for

Those interested in Indian history, social justice, or decolonial thinking.
Readers who want to understand caste beyond surface-level discussions.
Anyone ready to rethink what they were taught about Gandhi.

🤍🤍🤍

Comments

Books I read in 2024. I found my new favourite

I think 59 is a decent number; no speed-reading here, just enjoyment. Here's my list of 59 books I read in 2024. How many do we have in common? ;) A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara 😭 Pachinko, Min Jin Lee 😍 Yellowface, R F Kuang Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 😍 Post Office, Charles Bukowski The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 😍 Kafka On The Shore, Haruki Murakami🙂 Middlemarch, George Elliot To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 😍 Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones🙂 A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles The Catcher in the Rye, J D Salinger🙂 Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie Later, Stephen King Notes from the Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky All Systems Red, Martha Wells The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut Piranesi, Susanna Clarke🙂 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain To the Lighthouse, Virginia Wo...

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

So I recently watched the 2017 Russian adaptation of Anna Karenina , an eight-part series by Mosfilm (one of the largest and oldest film studios in the Russian Federation and in Europe, according to Wikipedia). This one takes a unique narrative approach, presenting the story from Vronsky’s perspective. Let me tell you—I was absolutely enthralled. From the acting to the costumes, the sets to the overall production quality, I liked almost everything about this adaptation, except for a few scenes and bits here and there. The performances felt authentic and moving, capturing the essence of the novel’s characters with remarkable fidelity. So satisfying was this adaptation that I’m not eager to seek out others. Somehow, I feel that no other version could match the artistry of this one. I’d like to explore more films and series by this studio, and I most certainly will. And I don't know why it's got such low ratings: 6.3/10 on IMDb and 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. It DESERVES much higher!...

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Opening Line: "Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself." I read Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan , and there’s one thing I need to talk about: the chrono-synclastic infundibulum . In the novel, the chrono-synclastic infundibulum is described as a region of space where different truths coexist simultaneously, and all perspectives are equally valid. It's a sort of cosmic zone where time, space, and reality bend in such a way that contradictory ideas can exist together without conflict. Within this region, the linear, singular perspective of time and reality breaks down, allowing for multiple realities to overlap. The character, Winston Niles Rumfoord, becomes permanently stuck in a chrono-synclastic infundibulum while on a space journey. As a result, he is no longer a solid being in one place or time but exists as a wave that can materialize on Earth, Mars, and Titan whenever these planets align with his wave trajectory. This gives Rumfoord ...

Miss Clueless

Search This Blog