The Bengali Face in the English Mirror: Reflection of Dalit Consciousness in Shyamal Kumar Pramanik’s The Untouchable & Other Poems

Abstract

Shyamal Kumar Pramanik, who belongs to Poundra Kshatriya community, is a significant Bengali Dalit poet with a mission of establishing equality and fraternity among the people. His poetry collection The Untouchable & Other Poems, translated by Jaydeep Sarangi and Anurima Chanda into English, demonstrates him as a poet of Dalit consciousness. Without being violent, he raises the Dalit consciousness so that Dalits may come together and unite themselves in order to break the shackles of exploitation and oppression. He wonders how the non-Dalit authors can express the experiences of Dalits. He envisions the fourth world coming out of the darkness. He makes the untouchable Shambok his representative in voicing Dalits who have always been marginalized. He loves nature and makes her his companion and friend for sharing his feelings. He is a poet of hope and future and, so, continues to sing the song of a casteless society despite the feelings of pains, insults and sufferings. His Bengali face reflects the Dalit consciousness in the English mirror, i.e. The Untouchable & Other Poems.