3 Review(s)

This volume collects seventeen stories of women and men who, simply because they were born poor, or a particular gender, or into a certain caste or religion, fell prey to the many atrocities and indignities endemic to contemporary India. Some resisted, survived and soldier on. Some did not. Lachmi Kaur lost almost all the male members of her family in the anti - Sikh riots of 1984. She then overcame despair to singlehandedly bring up her children and grandchildren with fierce love and pride. With great courage of conviction, Krishan Gopal, a Dalit man from Nimoda in Rajasthan, decided to build his own shrine to Hanuman after being forbidden from the village temple by his upper-caste neighbours. What followed was persecution, violence and exile from the village which lasted all his life. At twenty-eight, Dandapani defied his family-which could not accept him for what he was-left home and underwent a sex-change operation. Now known as Dhanam, she lives with her extended family of eunuchs in a Chennai shanty. And, in a chilling first-person account, Raheem tells of his village in Muzaffarnagar which, after cynical political manipulation, went from amity to a communal conflagration in just a week. Fatal Accidents of Birth is a powerful, challenging book. It tells us of the many ways in which we inflict violence upon each other-most of all by choosing to not see. and as it does so, this necessary book ensures that these stories will find their rightful place in our consciousness. About the Author : Harsh Mander, writer, human rights worker, columnist, researcher and teacher, works with survivors of mass violence and hunger as well as with homeless persons and street children. His books include Looking Away - Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India, Unheard Voices - Stories of Forgotten Lives, The Ripped Chest - Public Policy and the Poor in India, Fear and Forgiveness - The Aftermath of Massacre, Fractured Freedom - Chronicles from India�s Margins, Untouchability in Rural India (coauthored), Living with Hunger and Ash in the Belly - India�s Unfinished Battle against Hunger. He regularly writes columns for The Hindu, Hindustan Times and Mint and contributes frequently to scholarly journals. His stories have been adapted for films, such as Shyam Benegal�s Samar and Mallika Sarabhai�s dance drama Unsuni.