FINDING THE FULLNESS OF LIFE

Being a writer often means sitting at the windowside and observing the life beyond. As a woman, a Dalit Christian, and a believer in intersectionality, Christina Dhanuja is absorbing those experiences and cultivating fullness out of it

- DIYA MARIA GEORGE

WHEN one upholds an identity, they are also committing to embrace many opinions and perceptions that come with it. What people often forget or choose not to highlight is how multiple identities can co-exist within everyone. When writer Christina Dhanuja talks about her experiences as a woman, Dalit Christian, an immigrant, and more, she makes it clear that she had to fight stereotypes across these identities. Sticking to a certain identity can demand purity tests from certain people, circles, or even nameless accounts on social media.

Even though who makes all the rules is unclear, the result of not adhering to all the boxes of a particular identity is sometimes an angry X thread or a rant on Instagram stories, followed by an unfollow or block.

And the polarisation of politics on social media forces you to take a stand.

This seeps into real lives, never allowing people to understand the complexities. The one-word solution to this problem is intersectionality, and that is exactly what Christina tries to pen down in the pages of 'Dalit Women and the Fullness of Life' (published by Penguin Random House India).

Through her book, she brings in perspectives from all sides, writes hard-hitting truths of even progressive circles who are "proficient in the language of caste politics," but conceals a "deep disgust for Dalits." Coming out is, as Christina shares, is a risk, the cushioning of which requires one or more of the following: a higher socioeconomic status; anti-caste politicisation; adjacency to savarna or white lineage; and an upbringing in, or migration to, a geographical context that is not caste-contoured. Through her book, she makes it clear that "the savarna's inability to comprehend differences among Dalits is not a burden the latter must bear." Excerpts follow: