The vulgarity of caste: Dalits, sexuality and humanity in modern India: by Shailaja Paik, California, Stanford University Press, 2022, 422 pp., $32.00 (paperback), ISBN 9781503644084.

"The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India" by Shailaja Paik explores the cultural practice of tamasha and its significance in Dalit political thought. Tamasha, a form of theater-performance-work, was an inherited caste-occupation of Dalit women and was stigmatized and morally disparaged. The book examines the historical context of tamasha and its relationship with gender, sexuality, and the Ambedkarite-Buddhist movement. It also delves into the complexities of caste-based exclusion, the humanity-vulgarity divide, and the struggles faced by Dalit women performers. Through a feminist and anti-caste lens, the book challenges the determinations of caste, patriarchy, state, and humanity. [Extracted from the article]