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In the lanes of Hoshiarpur lives 77-year-old Dwarka Bharti, a rebellious cobbler in whose shop his two worlds collide: one half is dominated by leather and hand tools; the other half is stacked with Dalit (marginal caste) literature, Buddhist texts, the writings of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, and books he has authored. Bharti says, ‘In this country, people tend to see my work through the lens of caste. Had I been elsewhere, I would be recognized as an artisan, not just a cobbler.’ When customers notice the books lining his shop, they ask if he reads, but Bharti rarely mentions that he is a writer as well. Scholars pursuing PhDs at Panjab University regularly cite Bharti’s writings on Dalit literature. Bharti’s work has been incorporated into the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s syllabus. His poem Aaj Ka Eklavya is part of the Master of Arts Hindi Dalit Literature curriculum. His name ranks alongside prominent Dalit writers of Panjab, including Prem Gorkhi, Lal Singh Dil, Lahori Ram Balley, and Balveer Madhopuri. For years, he has spoken passionately about Dalit literature on Panjabi news channels. Yet he prefers to stay away from the limelight. For Bharti, writing is an act of rebellion, one that confronts caste hierarchies, questions nationalism, and imagines a more equal world. Making shoes is just as political. It is a way of breaking the traditional link between work and caste. His motto is to change a culture that has long made life difficult for artisans like him. He worries about the diminishing identity of Dalit literature, as many Dalit writers remain unknown to most of the country, and their works are rarely read or taught. The pioneers of Dalit literature—Madara Chennaiah, the 11th-century cobbler-saint, and Dohara Kakkayya, the 12th-century Vachana (prose-poetry) poet and social reformer from Madhya Pradesh’s tanner community—are slowly fading from collective memory. Furthermore, Bharti is not his birth name. But a name he chose for himself. Bharti means a resident of India. He says, ‘The name Bharti creates ambiguity. You can’t tell what caste I come from. I am just an Indian’ (earlier coverage).
Dwarka Bharti Photo by The Print
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