Haunting the Spectre of Caste

In contemporary India, caste-based violence continues to manifest in deeply disturbing ways. There are recurring incidents where Dalits are brutally assaulted or even killed for actions as simple and dignified as wearing good clothes, riding a horse, keeping a smartphone, sporting a moustache, or wearing a gold chain. These acts, which are ordinary expressions of identity and self-respect, provoke hostility because they challenge the entrenched caste hierarchy. Such violence stems from the upper-caste imagination, which still clings to a regressive image of Dalits as poor, untidy, uncivilised, and servile—an image that has been reinforced for centuries and continues to be perpetuated by mainstream media.

This equestrian self-portrait is a deliberate act of reclaiming space and dignity. It symbolises how education can be a powerful tool for Dalits to live a life of self-respect, to assert their rightful place in society, and to partake in all that was once denied to them—be it knowledge, mobility, or self-expression. Riding a horse, in this context, becomes more than an act of defiance; it becomes a statement of arrival.

An educated Dalit disrupts the logic of caste. They challenge the foundations of Brahmanism not by violence, but by excellence—by thinking, questioning, and leading. And it is precisely this disruption that threatens the oppressive social order. This portrait, therefore, is not just a personal assertion—it is a political act, a vision of dignity, and a challenge to casteist hegemony.