Round Table India brings together perspectives from Dalit and Bahujan communities.
The Distance Ambedkar Travelled, The Distance We Still Travel
Work and Free Time: Seeing Leisure Through Women’s Everyday Lives
Shruti Patil Leisure, as the Cambridge Dictionary defines it, is a time when you are not working or doing other duties. It is often imagined as time set apart for rest, pleasure, free from responsibilities or obligations. This understanding assumes a clear boundary between work and non-work, where once responsibilities end, leisure begins. However, this …
Savarna directors’ “raw” anti-caste film in the making
Rose At sixteen, I first watched the Tamil film Jai Bhim (2021) directed by Savarna Director T.J. Gnanavel. As someone who was preparing to pursue law, I was excited to see the movie on screen, despite the backlash of its poster, the “neat and clean” saviour lawyer towering over the helpless, brown-faced Bahujan people who need …
A Journey of Awakening: Embracing Ambedkarite Identity
Sanjana I am from Pune and studied at some of the more famous colleges, such as Fergusson College and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. Why mention this? What is the use of this academic information? Maybe I want to portray that as a milestone. Like a few other students in this prestigious college, I …
I am an Indian not Chinese: How India fails to execute the idea of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” in itself
Sikkya Bushan Chakma “Unity in Diversity” is what India represents to the world tactfully. The protagonists and prime movers of the Indian Constitution tactically penned it down to safeguard and dignify the minority communities. To prove oneself as an Indian, appearance should not dominate. It should be about who I am and where I reside …
Performative Caste-Hindus and Non-Assertive Dalits in Progressive Spaces
Ajinkya Sanjay Khandizod I began thinking seriously about the idea of persona not in a classroom or through theory, but by watching how caste operates when power is supposed to change hands. Reservation is often presented as a technical policy or a constitutional safeguard, but in reality, it exposes the deepest anxieties of caste-Hindu society. …
Beyond Sympathy, Towards Citizenship: A Pasmanda Reckoning on Art, Survival, and Mental Well-being
Istikhar Ali The #JusticeMakers Mela at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, held on 6 December 2025, unfolded on a date that remains a raw wound in India’s political memory. It is a day when two sharply contrasting histories converge: the Mahaparinirvan Diwas of Dr B.R. Ambedkar—the architect of constitutional democracy—and the anniversary of the …
Aestheticising Humiliation: The Savarna Gaze and the Politics of Sexual Slurs
Akanksha Shahi The recent controversy on Instagram, initiated by influencer Divija Bhasin, revolves around the hashtag “#ProudRandi,” which has polarised viewers into two different categories. In her video, Divija Bhasin shares her experiences, explaining that due to her bold nature and her willingness to raise her voice against various issues, some people have commented on …
The Psychological Gap Between Northeast and Mainland India: Alienation, Identity, and Recognition
Cheena Khundrakpam The relationship between Northeast India and the Indian mainland is not merely geographical or political — it is profoundly psychological. Despite being an integral part of the Indian Union since Independence, the Northeast continues to occupy a marginal position in the national psyche. The region, rich in ethnic diversity and cultural complexity, is …