For the ongoing Dalit History Month, two Indian Ambedkarite students studying in the United States share their experiences of discussing caste in university spaces, interactions with fellow Indian students and a sense of personal liberty outside India
Vikas Tatad at Columbia University. Image courtesy: Vikas Tatad
“Indians here feel like caste does not exist only. We have to put in our labour to explain everything about our identity and India’s social reality time and again. Sometimes it can evoke an encouraging response and sometimes it can also create problems for us here,” says Vikas Tatad, an Indian Ambedkarite studying International Comparative Education at Columbia University in the United States of America (USA).