Meena Kandasamy: The Voice of the Unvoiced (With special reference to her poetry)

Abstract

India is a country of vast diversity, immersed in various traditional institutions that pose a challenge for the country. Though all cultures with time are open for transitions, yet some rigid norms do not let the time govern itself. Every society, religion, region, class continuously strive to emerge, without even noticing the same need for the female folks. Resultantly, Indian women have always faced the societal oppressions in multi-dimensional ways, this class, undoubtedly, is a part of the marginalized India. The society is further partitioned on the basis of caste, creed, and sex. In the light of new free India, the paper intends to depict the pitiable condition of the Dalit women in free India with special reference to Meena Kandasamy’s poetic excellence in The Touch and Ms. Militancy.  She has effectively been the spokeswoman for her sex in dalit society. She has not left any stone unturned to bring in the changes in the lives of the marginalized class of the society through her works.  Her portrayal of the lower strata is an eye opener for the so-called civilized country. Meena writes for a magical transformation with in the country that can only be possible in the “dreams of our India”. She discusses the plight of the women and reasons behind the unjust treatment given to them. Meena cleverly uses her literary genius to explore the darker side of society for the betterment of dalit. The paper is an attempt to study the writings of dalit female writers for better understanding of the marginalized section’s universal sufferings.