The demand that is spoken but once, or in a single place, fades on the wind. It must be taken up, it must be transcribed, translated, repeated, and repeatedly tested in political and intellectual contests. But before a demand can be implemented, or the argument found persuasive, it must not only be spoken but also heard.

On the contrary, its translation must involve not only the translation of one language into another, but also of words into deeds at the national level-into policies that protect Dalits from violent atrocities not merely under law but also in fact, into substantive and not merely formal democracy, or into genuine land reform, to name but a few demands of Tamil Dalits. This ‘translation’ cannot be limited simply to the translation of words. What is a good bit more certain, however, is that for the ferment in Tamil Nadu to succeed it must be translatable. 1 Whether the recent upsurge of intellectual and political energy among Tamil Dalits shall indeed prove a model for Dalits elsewhere in India-or whether, on the contrary, there are not still more promising movements already afoot in the Dalit hamlets and urban slums of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, or other places yet unknown-is impossible to say. So writes Gail Omvedt in her introduction to Thol. 1 Although Samya, the publisher of Thirumavalavan’s two translated volumes, has chosen to spell his n (.)ġ With the Dalit movement in Maharastra having grown stagnant, and Uttar Pradesh’s Dalit-led Bahujan Samaj Party possibly reaching the limits of its potential development, the vital forefront of Dalit politics has now shifted to Tamil Nadu.

Venomous Touch by Ravikumar