An Introspection of Struggle and Threat to India Indigenous people in Sujatha Gidla's Ant among Elephants.

This paper attempts to apply Diaspora and Indigenous life theories to look at the work of Aboriginal/Dalit writer: Sujatha Gidla. It also explores how complexities of discriminations and Aboriginal/Dalit's struggles representation may be analysed by viewing untouchables as members of intra-national diasporas, with the mission sites being fashioned as diaspora spaces. Sujatha Gidla whose recent memoir, Ant among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and The Making of Modern India," speaks of her life and her family and the plight of 300 million Dalits. Ant among Elephants is the memoir of an Indian woman who was born a so-called untouchable, and now works as a conductor on the New York City Subway. Gidla's story is one of personal struggle and a certain freedom she has found in America today. She writes that caste is an accursed state in India, especially for Dalits: "Your life is your caste, your caste is your life." With her memoir, Gidla joins the ranks of India's many aboriginal writers who are telling stories to be heard and counted in a system that seeks to keep them down by tradition. Gidla hails from the Dalit community of Kazipet, a small town in southern Telangana state, India [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]