Voices from the margins: Dalit subjective experience in Balbir Madhopuri’s Changiya Rukh

Dalit literature has emerged as a powerful form of resistance against the centuries-old structures of caste-based oppression in India. It provides marginalized communities a platform to narrate their lived experiences, articulate their struggles, and reclaim their identity. Balbir Madhopuri’s autobiography, Changiya Rukh is a seminal work within this genre. It offers an intimate portrayal of Dalit life in Punjab, foregrounding the subjective experience of caste discrimination, social exclusion, and personal resilience. The paper examines Changiya Rukh exploring how the subjective experience of oppressed amid the quotidian rhetoric of humiliation and indignity has formative impact on them. Further, drawing on the works of key Dalit thinkers such as Gopal Guru, Sunder Sarukkai and Suraj Yengde the paper situates the text into the larger framework of resistance and self-assertion as it conveys Dalit experience in the idiom and language of revolt and resistance directed against subjugation and abuse.