Daxa Damodara’s Savitri : A Socio – Feminist Reading

Since times immemorial, ancient India had been dominated by a patriarchal caste system. The discourse of the Indian society was controlled by the powerful center comprising of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The Brahmins controlled the knowledge discourse, the Kshatriyas controlled the political discourse and the business discourse was controlled by the Vaishyas. These three “Savernas” comprised the core of Indian society and the Shudras – labourers, farmers, workers who supported the core or the center, remained on the periphery. In a patriarchal set up, women were also marginalized. These
marginalized groups, the dalits as well as women, remained “voice less” and “identity less” for ages. However with the arrival of torchbearers like Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitri Phule, a new era dawned for the marginals – the dalits as well as women. Gujarati dalit writer Daksha Damodara’s “Savitri” written in 2008, delineates the real life journey of this Maharashtrian dalit couple who withstood all odds to relieve the plight of the dalits, especially women. My paper attempts a socio feminist reading of the novel from the perspective of modern dalit, and feminist critics. It also leads us to the fountainhead of the gender and caste (Dalit) liberation movement which started a century before the country gained freedom.