Study on Caste, Gender and Patriarchy in Meena Kandasamy’s Works

Exploring Social Injustice and Feminism in Meena Kandasamy's Works

by Jaya Sinsinwar*,

- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540

Volume 16, Issue No. 6, May 2019, Pages 2054 - 2060 (7)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Meena Kandasamy is a developing twentieth-century Dalit poet, fiction author, interpreter, columnist, and social dissident. Her first assortment of poetry, Touch (2006) is a blistering, activist assault on the propagation of the social mistreatment of the Indian ladies. It talks about the issues of caste, gender, sex, and social segregations of the underestimated Indian ladies. Kandasamy is a poet, interpreter and dynamic extremist from Chennai. As a contemporary Indian woman author Kandasamy is anguished to observe the deep-rooted social practices like unapproachability dependent on caste framework existing in Indian society. She voices her displeasure against caste-based shamefulness which has impeded the underestimated to the dehumanized condition as they are exposed to mistreatment and mortification. Her two assortments of poetry Touch (2006) and Ms Militancy (2010) depict the genuine picture of the underestimated in Indian society, as it were, the centre of her work around neediness, persecution, bad form, caste obliteration, phonetic character and aches and difficulties of ladies. Maht, Mohan Lal in his article, Meena Kandasamy's Touch An Articulation of the Voice of the Marginalized watched Casteism is an old social insidious which is utilized to enslave the lower layer of the hierarchal social structure of Indian society.

KEYWORD

Meena Kandasamy, Caste, Gender, Patriarchy, Dalit, Poet, Fiction author, Interpreter, Columnist, Social dissident

INTRODUCTION

Indian English Literature has achieved autonomous status in the area of world Literature. It reflects Indian culture, show, social regards, and even Indian history through the outline of life in India and Indians living elsewhere. Indian young ladiesř journalists have a phenomenal favoured point of view in the midst of this see as they require themselves been introduced to the nerves and thusly the strain to that the ladies square measure oppressed. A basic improvement in present-day Indian compositions and Dalit works is the augmentation of a ladies' lobbyist or woman-focused methodology, a methodology that attempts to broaden and decipher capacity from the perspective of female mindfulness and sensibility. Dalit ladies have been casualties of patriarchy as much as other ladies and still persevere through gigantic impediments to calm nearness. Under these conditions, it is unprecedented to see a Dalit woman in a place of the initiative, regardless of whether in the home, at the workplace or in social or political foundations. It isn't plausible to the likelihood that a Dalit woman ought to have force or essential administration master and be unengaged to rehearse it. Thus, regardless of she makes sense of how to recognize such a reliable equalization, it's a most feeble position-Dalit young ladies sarpanches in panchayat as a general rule stand up to humiliation, threats and physical fierceness, on account of the gathering can't just recognize a Dalit woman as a pacesetter. Meena Kandasamy is one among the most amazing Dalit young ladies journalists in the authentic scenery of Tamil Dalit Literature. She portrays her shock against caste and sexual separation which has disabled the Dalits to dehumanized state as they're exposed to humiliation and abuse. Meena Kandasamy is a rising twentieth century Dalit poet, fiction author, interpreter, columnist, and social extremist. Her first assortment of poetry, Touch (2006) is a blistering, aggressor assault on the propagation of the social abuse of the Indian ladies. It talks about the issues of caste, gender, sex, and social segregations of the minimized Indian ladies. The Indian arrangement of life has a type of social systems, game plans, customs, and organizations that go about as undercover methods of setting up and propagating the enslavement of ladies. India, being a male ruled, male-centric society, prevented ladies from securing their major rights as individuals. A woman was denied close by various rights, the benefit to training and the unequivocal force about her own life. The Indian caste framework likewise has importance to ladies' oppressive status. The highlights of the caste

"contamination," which isolate individuals from one another and direct portability of ladies belittle the issue of gender correspondence. The current paper centres around how Kandasamy poetry focuses on caste obliteration and the issue of ladies' equity comparable to a man. It likewise depicts that Dalit ladies not similarly as the survivors of the desire of the higher caste men, however as dissidents battling against the bad form propagated against them and champions the reason for the fairness of ladies. Consequently, this section helps the underestimated individuals who argue for freedom, uniformity, society, and Justice to lead their existence with respect and pride. Kandasamy is a poet, interpreter and dynamic extremist from Chennai. As a contemporary Indian woman essayist Kandasamy is struggled to observe the deep-rooted social practices like distance dependent on caste framework existing in Indian society. She voices her annoyance against caste-based foul play which has weakened the minimized to the dehumanized condition as they are exposed to persecution and mortification. Her two assortments of poetry Touch (2006) and Ms Militancy (2010) depict the genuine picture of the minimized in Indian society. At the end of the day, the centre of her works around neediness, persecution, shamefulness, caste demolition, semantic personality and aches and difficulties of ladies. Maht, Mohan Lal in his article, "Meena Kandasamy's Touch: An Articulation of the Voice of the Marginalized " watched "Casteism is an old social underhanded which is utilized to oppress the lower layer of the hierarchal social structure of Indian society and to maintain separation just as increase an out of line advantage over the 'others,' underestimated. The primary assortment of sonnets of Kandasamy named Touch incorporates 84 sonnets is distributed in 2006. It is boiling, lobbyist animosity on the reproduction of the social sick treatment of the Indian ladies. It talks about the issues of the unrefined conduct of ladies. She shows the issues of ladies, explicitly underestimated ladies not as the casualties of the desire of the upper-caste men yet as dissidents battling against the maltreatment executed against them and champions the reason for fairness of ladies. Gender means socially built jobs, practices, exercises, and properties that a specific society thinks about fitting for people. It is chosen by cultural, social, political and financial powers which impact the social conduct of people. The gender distinction is the establishment of basic imbalance between a man and a woman. The segregation dependent on the gender of an individual is sustained through the social-cultural and mental instruments predominate in society. The subject of social underestimation and the issue of gender imbalance are indistinguishable. Meena Kandasamy, the main Indian woman poet emerges not out of her perusing and information, yet out of her own understanding and dynamic commitment with the reason for advocating caste and gender correspondence. Contact (2006), she previously distributed an assortment of poetry, is a discerning, unafraid and a blistering assault on the propagation of the social male-centric persecution of ladies when all is said in done and the Dalit ladies specifically. Meena Kandasamy, the poet, presents the fundamental thought of 'casteism' in Indian Politics presented by M. K. Gandhi. At the point when Mr. Gandhi contemplated it and actualized giving chances to the advancement of Harijans, he simply needed to give those 'down-trodden' individuals a phase and backing socially. In any case, subsequently, it got difficult to expel that belief system of outline thus 'Dalit' individuals turned into a significant focal point of governmental issues in India. The ideological groups won and lost with or without the help of Dalits ordinarily; and guarantees were given them for a steady life, financially, socially, strategically and intellectually. Kandasamy stands one of a kind from other contemporary Indian ladies essayists who are gotten in the midst of dualities, because of the difficulty between what they require and what they should compose; she depicts the subjects like caste segregation and gender imbalance with a genuine exactness. Kandasamy analyzes wisely the convoluted arrangement of ceaseless concealment of the Indian woman in her works. She speaks to ladies, explicitly underestimated ladies not likewise as the setbacks of the craving of the higher caste men yet as nonconformists fighting against the bad form kept up against them and champions the purpose behind the parity of ladies. The current paper centres around how Kandasamy poetry focuses on caste demolition and the issue of ladies' fairness comparable to a man. It likewise depicts that Dalit ladies not similarly as the casualties of the desire of the higher caste men, however as agitators battling against the treachery executed against them and champions the reason for the uniformity of ladies. Subsequently, this paper helps underestimated individuals who argue for freedom, correspondence, club, and equity to lead their existence with respect and nobility. Gender imbalance has more than once been taken up as a topic by the Indian authors in their innovative undertakings. Be that as it may, the issue of the defamation and abuse of ladies isn't spoken pretty much all things respected. The issues identified with ladies have seldom been viewed as noteworthy either by political pioneers or journalists until starting late. The reasons may Indian essayists like Kamala Das, Arundhati Roy, Sivakami, Bama, and Kandasamy, voice out their tensions regarding the sexual governmental issues and sexual direction in their works. Caste and Gender correspondence writing are absolutely weaved around the Dalit people group and their background, particularly of the individuals who have a place with the lower layers of the society. There is a genuine character that is fundamental behind the speculative character that is clarified in the story. This story depends on the genuine story that will reveal about the arrive at occurrences occurring around the society and in each class of Dalit writing. The scholarliness and fictionalization be it identified with poetry or composition is completely founded on genuine episodes and circumstances. A developing poet, fiction author, interpreter, writer and a social extremist, Meena Kandasamy keep up her centre, in all through her composition, on caste demolition and the issue of a woman ‟ s fairness comparable to a man. She is hailed as the primary Indian woman poet composing Dalit poetry in English. Dalit writing is an opposition sort of writing. It is significant for a woman to address (or) present the issues that are experienced by the ladies in society. It is likewise imperative to energize authors, particularly ladiesř essayists from the underestimated class to have a spot in writing. The society is commanded by guys at each level. There are numerous male scholars having a place with an underestimated class are blamed for not giving equivalent opportunity for ladies Dalit journalists to introduce their works. The current Chapter has assessed gender fairness and caste issues as reflected underway of Meena Kandasamy.

OBJECTIVE

1. To study the Feminist Critique in the novels of Meena Kandasamy

Gender Issues in Meena Kandasamy Works Kamala Das, one of India's preeminent poets, in her foreword to "Contact" (2006) acclaims the poet as:

Passing on and afterwards restoring herself over and over in a nation that will not overlook the horrible legends of caste and maybe of religion, Meena conveys as her twin self, her shadow the dim negativity of youth that must assistance her to endure. Her first assortment of poetry, Touch (2006) is a scorching, activist assault on the propagation of the social persecution of the Indian ladies. It talks about the issue of the inappropriate behaviour of ladies. Meena Kandasamy, not at all like different poets and scholars managing this subject, depicts ladies, especially the Dalit ladies not similarly as the champions the reason for the uniformity of ladies. A woman is viewed as an asset by the male-commanded society. Men everything being equal and classes plot in making certain principles of conduct and outline the direction of female development and keep her to the four dividers of her home. In one of her sonnets in Touch (2006), entitled 'Melodies of Summer', Meena Kandasamy reprimands the male-centric society for regarding the woman as its slave and the ideal object. The Poet additionally scrutinizes society for not regarding a woman as a woman. The male-overwhelmed society perceives a woman as a sister, a spouse, a mother and furthermore a goddess, however never as a woman herself. Woman's decency is reviewed upon her level of accommodation and subjugation to her dad, spouse, siblings, children and pretty much every other man in her family and society. She fervently denounces the generalization male-one-sided custom of a young lady seeing rehearsed in the Indian society, planned for making a decision about her so as to evaluate her capability of being a potential lady of the hour to a man. A future lady of the hour is decided on records of her womanliness, training, excellence, physical wellness, her character, her good manners and accommodation and so on. Then again, the kid who wishes to get hitched to her isn't decided on every one of these tallies. A young lady who wishes to get ensured as a lady of the hour by the kid who comes to see her and his family is required to carry on with a specific goal in mind so as to secure herself true to form by the eventual man of the hour's family which supports the belief system of the male-centric society.

Ladies in our society are exposed to different abominations and Sexual wrongdoings against ladies continue expanding alarmingly. Given that the dread and the disgrace that ladies (casualties of rape) experience and the indifference of the concerned specialists to record such wrongdoings, ordinarily the rapes on a woman by man don't get announced and recorded. Aggressive behaviors at home and endowment passingřs likewise contribute a great deal to the exploitation of ladies in our male-one-sided society.

The Inhuman treatment given to ladies in Indian society is identified with the caste as a foundation. Endogamy goes about as a social boundary which outlines the upliftment of the lower caste individuals. Then again, exogamy, whenever rehearsed over all castes, classes, and societies, can help rise above the hindrances of caste, statement of faith and race. Since a woman is

Dalit ladies who set out to adore the upper caste men are fiercely ambushed and killed as a component of the retaliation for their demonstrations. This predicament of a Dalit woman is pertinently portrayed by Kandasamy, 2006.

Investigation of Caste Violence in Meena Kandasamy

Dalit Literature is the compositions about Dalits whose essential rationale is the freedom of Dalits. Dalit essayists have given valuable bits of knowledge on the topic of Dalit personality through their sonnets, short stories, books and self-portrayals. They have given a stately status to the Dalits freeing them from the sub-human parcel forced on them by the Hindu social request. They utilize the language of the out-castes and under-special in Indian society, with their sharp articulation. Ladies over the world and particularly in country India have met difficulties to get themselves instructed and for a Dalit woman, it's doubly hard. A couple of ladies who got themselves instructed and composed came out with work in types of books which were generally self-portraying, inclining towards women's liberation and furthermore were considered for the most part as a development of the ladies to come out of the severe standards. One among them is Meena Kandasamy a famous Dalit ladiesř essayist who works intimately with issues of caste and gender and how society places individuals into cliché jobs based on these classifications. Lavenia Meena Kandasamy is a prominent poet, fiction author, interpreter and dissident who is situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. A large portion of her works are fixated on woman's rights and the counter caste. Caste Annihilation Movement of the contemporary Indian milieu. Meena has distributed two assortments of poetry to be specific, Touch and Ms Militancy. Two of her sonnets have won honors on the whole India poetry rivalries. She altered The Dalit, an every other month elective English magazine of the Dalit Media Network. Her books were The Gypsy Goddess and When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife. Aside from her abstract works, she is vocal about different contemporary policy centered issues identifying with caste, defilement, viciousness, and ladies' privileges in a greater number of ways than one. She has a powerful and standard online life nearness. She likewise composes sections for stages like Outlook India and The Hindu, at times. The Dalit slaughter of 1968 was a despicable scene in India's history. The extremist Meena Kandasamy, who distributed The Gypsy Goddess in 2014, discloses to us why she felt constrained to describe the catastrophe and how the caste framework despite everything pulverizes lives. Meena Kandasamy debut novel "The Gypsy Goddess" is a 'Foundation', 'Battleground' and 'Cemetery', Meena portrays a dim bend that in the long run and unflinchingly uncovers how 44 disappointed Dalit workers, including ladies and youngsters, came to be copied alive by their proprietors, and what reprisal tailed it, "the single greatest caste outrage in India". At that point, the Marxist belief system was picking up notoriety among disappointed Dalits, or untouchables, who worked away on rice paddies in ruthless conditions. The Gypsy Goddess is similarly vivified, bristling with thoughts and controlled by dark cleverness and equitable resentment. Elaborately, it disrupts numerous norms. The account is determinedly non-straight. Rather than a focal character, we get a collection of occupied voices. This resolve appears to have been there from the start. One of the champion entries in The Gypsy Goddess is the depiction of the butcher that unfurls more than five pages in a solitary unflagging and unpunctuated sentence. Meena realizes that to pass on the full power of the repulsiveness implies keeping a foot on the pedal and strengthening, not decreasing. Meena depicts the furthest point of brutality by classifying the destiny of each casualty, particularly the youngsters. "The passing of kids is a tremendous cultural thing. Youngsters are never one's characterized adversary, they are with no perspectives, thus the slaughtering of kids is specific severity and one needs to discuss it. Yet, Meena's tale is more than a fictionalized record of a national catastrophe. The tale in our grasp is "Tamil in taste, English on the tongue, liberated from all poetry and prosody, handed out in dandy composition". The distinct and ruthless symbolism is impeccably investigated in this novel. In the creator's fictionalized adaptation of this catastrophe, which draws on authentic records and survivor interviews, farmworkers are protesting after proprietors murder a famous communist pioneer. The landowners attempt to menace them back to work. They force weakening fines, utilize the police to threaten them, and brutally attack Dalit ladies. Yet, the ravenous individuals of Kilvenmani town are steadfast in their requests for equity. At last, the landowners send a goon crew to assault Kilvenmani, who corner many residents into a solitary cottage and set light to it. They wind up slaughtering numerous locals, transforming their bodies into scorched, unrecognizable bodies, but the majority of the culprits are let free. In the meantime, a large number of the residents who have lost friends and family in the slaughter are sent to prison. The sickening succession of occasions is told with choice language and creative manners of expression. Dew doesn't simply fall on the ground, Meena, a widely praised poet, is endeavoring to deify the narrative of a whole network's battle, and maybe an all the more generally character-driven novel would have sabotaged this aspiration. Meena utilizes a variety of maverick account voices. One section is a short of breath single sentence that brings out the slaughter with clear, frequenting portrayals. Different parts appear as a communist leaflet condemning disparity, or a letter from one of the proprietors. A segment told in the subsequent individual, about a writer looking to recognize the disaster years after the fact, battles with the uselessness of archiving such catastrophes by any stretch of the imagination.

Gender Equality and Caste Issues

Meena Kandasamy keeps up her centre, all through her composition, on caste obliteration and the issue of ladies' fairness comparable to a man. She is hailed as the main Indian woman poet composing Dalit poetry in English. The essayist, as Gopal Guru who has written in one of his works that: Dalit male scholars won't pay attention to writing and crafted by Dalit ladies as well and in this way excuses every one of their works. The normal inquiry that is raised by each Dalit woman is the reason they are not given or recruited for top situations in the writing establishments and meetings. It is truly overwhelming for one to comprehend about this caste and gender system. In any case, the truth of the matter is that being a Dalit female essayist and a female author isn't the equivalent. There are a couple of female authors having a place with upper caste would feel that ladies of different networks, particularly who have a place with low caste are segregated by the male essayists and particularly Dalit ladies and in this way, they would fall casualty of this separation. These experts won't really think about the works of the Dalit ladies. Essentially, ladies are arranged dependent on their caste and class. Along these lines, it has gotten simple for the male essayists to discover the distinction between, the scholars having a place with the privileged and Dalits. Ordinarily, Dalit writing works of Tamil ladies are misled by the guys, for example by their spouses, fathers, and children. You can take the case of a couple of books like Sivakami's tale Pazhayani Kazhidalum (1989) alongside the collection of memoirs Karukku (distributed in 1992) on Bama. In the Dalit people group, numerous ladies would confront the challenges. Notwithstanding, there is no Dalit development or women's activist development in Dalit people group can truly help Dalit ladies. The current age of Dalit ladies isn't prepared to unrest like the ladies in the more established period. Bela 1988, in which the youthful to old essayists have occurred where one of the youthful scholars expressed that the youthful age isn't prepared to endure the separation appeared on them. This is the genuine reality that is looked by Meena Kandasamy who introduced the brutal real factors in the metropolitan city of Chennai, both in her poetry just as a fiction novel. This paper will overwhelmingly concentrate on the poetry work of this essayist where she is depicted as the forceful, difficult and brave Dalit woman who is speaking to the Dalit gathering. She has a decent affinity for poetry and is likewise a popular female poet who is in the late '20s. In any case, when you investigate the poetry that is weaved by this essayist, you could never feel that a beginner or young lady has written it. Indeed, it causes you to feel like it was woven by an accomplished poet. Her poetry would fundamentally concentrate on cast, society and love. She has sound information on how ladiesř journalists were dealt with before and have a decent hold on poetry. This will show the truth in her works.

Caste, Gender and Patriarchy in Meena Kandasamy‟s Novel

Caste, gender and patriarchy, these ideas are identified with inequality, foul play and misuse. Caste chain of importance isolated the society into four gatherings: Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Caste chain of importance not just separated the society into four gatherings it likewise partitioned each gathering works and obligation. Caste gets people by birth. An individual never escapes from the caste framework. In this automated mechanical and worldwide period, Indian government see the fantasy about creation in India and Digital India caste, still, the casteism, gender inequality and patriarchy exist in the Indian social framework. Such things are shown now days likewise, in every single field, for example, training and business. Except if and until we don't expel caste and gender name from the rundown of instructive declarations and business commercial, the mindset of casteism, inequality and lacks of interest won't be quit the Indian social framework. Presently day's informed individuals have gotten increasingly cognizant about the caste awareness. Be that as it may, this caste cognizance doesn't set out to stop the casteism and gender inequality. The extreme women's activist, and Indian Dalit poetess, Meena Kandasamy shows the casteism, gender inequality, shamefulness and exploitative demeanor of individual's psyche in her Touch compilation. In her notable sonnet, "Ekalaivan" we discover casteism and inequality in the accompanying poetic:

Kandasamy uncovers present day Dronacharya's treatment to the Dalit competitors. Dronacharya was the image of a perfect instructor who has given a decent information on human qualities to every single up-and-comer with no lack of interest among the students. With no aims, expectations and desires he gave his toxophilism information to his all students. In any case, the distant Ekalaivan learnt arrow-based weaponry information just by watching the demonstrations and activities of pandavas without going to the class. By birth Ekalaivan a keen youngster. This splendor of Ekalaivan, Dronacharya didn't care for exceptional insight and his brilliant future in an arrow based weaponry field. The main explanation was that he had a place with lower caste. Dronacharya realized that Untouchables/Dalits are passionate; they are not useful so to dishearten and to lose the certainty of Ekalaivan Dronacharya requested the left-gave thumb, in light of the fact that the left-hand thumb assumes an indispensable job in bows and arrows, with no reasoning Ekalaivan gave his left thumb to Dronacharya. For an episode the equivalent Dronacharian was the image of good educators is likewise present in this advanced India who never needs the scholarly advancement of lower caste understudy. They generally need immersion rather than scholarly, financial and social advancement of Dalits. The caste separation and inequality, feeling of inadequacy and shameful acts are shown in Omprakash Valmiki's collection of memoirs Joothan. At whatever point I set out to request that my teachers answer my questions, I got rebuffed. They beat me up, gave me lower marks in the assessments. The insults of my educators and individual understudies penetrated me profoundly. 'Take a gander at this Chuhare ka, claiming to be a Brahmin.ř

CONCLUSION

India is one such society, where prevailing conventions make their own middle pushing others towards the edge. The nation has seen the twofold resistance of caste, class social orders as upper-caste Brahmins and the lower caste untouchables. The authority of the Brahminical culture dependent on the strict practices, customs and conventions are injurious to the point that the lower caste Shudras and Ati-Shudras seriously endure for the sake of religion. It is very fitting to state that the historical backdrop of Indian human advancement is the historical backdrop of mastery, abuse, concealment and misuse of the Dalits, the then untouchables. The severe thoughts of the matchless quality set somewhere near the Aryans become the decision plan. The Varna was supplanted by the caste, which censured characteristics of the individual and and Shudras. These standards filled in as partitioning lines in the society which worked in all social statuses. The Ati-Shudras, who were denied the option to live as indicated by their desire, were outcasted. The social set-up resembled a water-tight compartment where no adaptability was seen, and no change was conceivable. The untouchables and ladies were the last classifications of the society who carried on with their life in a steady clash under the weight of the upper castes. The adventure of untouchables (Dalits) is the adventure of despondency, edginess, discrediting, corruption and degeneration. They were living with the revile as a smear on society. Truth be told, there was no legitimate hypothesis or explanation behind their avoidance from the primary society, with the exception of the virtue contamination thought which additionally was unseemly. The immaculateness contamination thoughts were utilized to perpetuate bad form upon Dalits and named them debased, monstrous, subhuman, second rate and evil. The caste-bound framework, the Brahmanical belief system and the controlled religion forced social, cultural and mental limitations on Dalits through notions, concealments, fantasies and physical disciplines. Their physical contact was carefully kept away from on account of the mediocre, monstrous and undesirable nature of work and even their shadows were viewed as abhorrent and dirtying by the higher castes. The history saw that the Dalits were so coldheartedly rewarded that the individuals persevering through that agony was prepared to offer any forfeit so as to free themselves from this deep-rooted jail.

REFRENCES

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Corresponding Author Jaya Sinsinwar*

PhD Research Scholar, School of Languages, Literature and Society, Jaipur National University, Jagatpura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

jaya12july@gmail.com