The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs

Urmila Pawar

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July, 2009
Cloth, 320 pages, 15 black and white photos
ISBN: 978-0-231-14900-6
$35.00

"I would recommend this engaging and well written (and translated) narrative to missiologists . . .It provides a rich case study from many different angles. " — Nancy Thomas, Quarterly Journal of the American Society of Missiology

"The English translation by Maya Pandit is quite successful in bringing out the ethnic flavor of the Marathi original." — Basavaraj S. Naikar, World Literature in ReviewKarnatak University

"Through the descriptions of her early family life, Urmila Pawar skillfully takes the reader through a rich archive of Dalit history. Remarkable in many ways, her autobiography demonstrates the deep fissures between the feminist movement and movements for the uplift of lower castes. Pawar's own experiences as a Dalit Buddhist female activist abound in the difficulties she faced while joining these different causes." — Rochona Majumdar, University of Chicago

Related Subjects

• Asian Literature
• Race and Ethnicity
• South Asian Studies

About the Author

Urmila Pawar (b. 1945) received an MA from the University of Bombay and for many years worked in the department of labor welfare for the government of Maharashtra. She is the author of two acclaimed short story collections, Sahava Bot and Chauthi Bhint, and, with Meenakshi Moon, coauthored a book on the role of women in the Dalit movement. She is also a former actor of radical Marathi theater and a playwright.Maya Pandit is pro-vice chancellor of the English and Foreign Language University, Hyderabad. She is an experienced translator of women's writings from Marathi and an activist in the women's movement and alternative theater.Wandana Sonalkar teaches economics at Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, and is director of their Women's Studies Centre. She has also translated and written a comprehensive introduction to Urmila Pawar and Meenakshi Moon's Amhihi Itihaas Ghadavila on the participation of women in the Ambedkar movement.

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