ABSTRACT
In his introduction to Gujarati Dalit poet Sahil Parmar’s collection of poetry Mathaman (Churning), Dr. G. V. Vankar invokes the American poets Carolyn Rodgers and Allen Ginsberg. Vankar quotes from Rodgers’ The Last M. F. ‘: i say, / that i only call muthafuckas, muthafuckas/so no one should be insulted’ and Ginsberg’s declaration ‘I have achieved the introduction of the word fuck into texts inevitably studied by schoolboys’ to introduce Parmar’s poem ‘Hun jammyo tyaare balak na hato’ (I was not a child when I was born). Parmar’s poem possesses both the wit and excess of Rodgers as well as the abandon of Ginsberg in his attempt to challenge upper-caste patriarchy and masculinity as well to recast both Dalit femininity and masculinity. This challenge to the patriarchal upper-caste male gaze along with a redefinition of the Dalit male gaze is evident also in Parmar’s love poems from Mathaman. This chapter examines the construction of Dalit femininity and masculinity as well as sexuality. Through an exploration of Sahil Parmar’s poetry, it unpacks ideas of the Dalit female body and femininity under the Dalit male gaze leading to a reclaiming of the body.
