The book is about educated, aspiring Dalits who have made good in different fields. Thirty people students, government officials, university professors, journalists, engineers, doctors and other professionals, and political leaders speak for and about themselves. They talk of their family background, their education, jobs, social life, their fears and dilemmas, and their hopes for the future. Their autobiographical accounts reveal with searing simplicity what it is to be born an Untouchable and how they have battled & are still battling with their environment and their own inhibitions for a better life. Many Dalits try to hide their caste identity or ‘pass’. But they hardly succeed. Despite popular misconception they are quite ‘visible’, not in a crowd, but always to colleagues, Neighbours, customers and clients.
Clearly the stigma attached to their caste persists; colleagues often hesitate to share food with them; landlords in high caste localities refuse to rent house, teachers show contempt towards them, insulting expressions are used with or without the conscious intent to hurt them.
Education, good jobs and privileges of the Dalits have helped but have by no means removed prejudices and stereotypes of the high castes. It is for the reader, however, to judge whether they are more or less than Halfway to Equality.
An intensely human document that will stir all readers, and that every educated Indian ought to read and think about.
Partap C. Aggarwal, Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University (1966 ) taught at Colgate University. In 1971, he joined the Shri Ram Centre in Delhi and devoted his time to research and writing for about 8 years. He is now associated with the Friends Rural Centre in Central India. He has published three other books and a large number of articles.
