Vijila Chirappad (born 1980 or 1981)[1] is an Indian Dalit poet who writes in Malayalam.[2]
Vijila Chirappad | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980 or 1981 (age 42–43) Kozhikode, Kerala, India |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Malayalam |
Life and work edit
Born in Kozhikode, Kerala, Chirappad's poems speak of the experience of living life as a Dalit woman.[3] Her poetry explores how the double burden of gender and caste shapes the lives and struggles of Dalit women in Kerala in distinct ways than women of dominant castes.[4][5][6][7] Her work also discusses how, despite Kerala's communist history, casteism pervades everyday life there.[3]
In our home
There is no TV
No fridge
Neither mixer
Nor grinder
No LPG
Not even an iron-box.
Yet my mother knew
How to operate these
Much before I did.
Because
Like in Madhavikutty’s stories
And the novels of MT
She is Janu-
The servant.— She Who Flew Afore, Vijila Chirappad
Chirappad's work includes three collections of poetry in Malayalam: Adukala Illathaa Veedu (A Home without a Kitchen, 2006), Amma Oru Kalpanika Kavitha Alla (Mother is not a Poetic Figment of our Imagination, 2009),[8] and Pakarthi Ezhuthu (Copied Notes, 2015).[9][6] Her poems "A Place for Me", "Can't Grow My Nails" and "The Autobiography of a Bitch" have also been included in the 2012 Oxford India Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writing.[10]
chandrika chechi of the Wasteland
talks
about the homes one enters
only through the back door.
of the flats
where one enters
through the front door —
the ones with the porch light on.
returning daily from the marketplace
both the fish and she share
the same path —
the one through the back door.
entering through the very same route,
while hearing the television
blare the pledge aloud on August 15 —
all Indians are my brothers and sisters.— Wasteland, Virila Chirappad
Chirappad has participated in the Kerala Literature festival[11] and also in the prestigious Hay Festival of Literature and Arts as part of an event on Dalit Poetry in Malayalam.[12]
References edit
- ^ "Wasteland". The Third Eye. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ "Vijila Chirappad - Hay Festival Artist Profile". Hay Festival. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ a b Anil, Chintha Mary (18 April 2016). "For all its communist history, casteism inherent in Kerala society: Dalit poet Vijila Chirappad". The NewsMinute. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ Ibrahim U, Shiji (September 2017). "The Burning Embers: Poems of the Dalit Writer Vijila Chirappad as Works of Caste and Gender Discriminations". International Journal of English Language. V (IX): 596–605 – via Academia.edu.
- ^ Gumpenapalli, Sanjeev (11 January 2018). "5 Dalit Women Poets Who Remind Us That Caste And Patriarchy Are Not Exclusive". Feminism India. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ a b Mahurkar, Vaishnavi (18 April 2017). "6 Books By Dalit Women Writers Exploring Lives Lived On The Margins Of Caste And Gender". Feminism India. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Priya N., Lakshmi (August 2018). "Poetry is Protest: The Contemporary Dalit Female Experience in Kerala" (PDF). Annals of Art, Culture & Humanities. III (II): 1–8 – via S.R.S.D. Memorial Shiksha Shodh Sanstha.
- ^ Chirappad, Vijila (2009). Amma oru Kalpanika Kavithayalla. Thiuvananthapuram: Maithri Books.
- ^ Chirappad, Vijila (2014). Pakarthiyezhuththu. Chintha Publishers. ISBN 9789385018121.
- ^ M. Dasan; V. Pratibha; C. S. Chandrika; Pradeepan Pampirikunnu, eds. (2012). The Oxford India Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writing. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 37–39. ISBN 9780198079408.
- ^ "FIRST SATURDAY @ KLF". DC Books. 3 February 2017.
- ^ "M.B.Manoj, Vijila Chirappad, M.R. Renukumar, Sunny Kapikkad, S.Joseph. We Sing of Earth: Dalit Poetry in Malayalam". Hay Festival. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2019.