I am not a part of the whole. I am a part apart. This declaration of B.R. Ambedkar, describing a Dalit's daily experience of ostracism and discrimination, rings throughout Ashok Gopal's new biography. It is a fitting metaphor for the man. Ambedkar was intellectually a part apart-a brilliant, innovative thinker unafraid of smashing idols to pieces. And, of course, he was a part apart in a deeply tragic way, as a lonely voice of a people subject to unspeakable horrors, a man who earned two doctorates but for whom the mere act of drinking from a common well could incite mob violence.
This story is from the May 29, 2023 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the May 29, 2023 edition of India Today.
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