Studying Bama's Karukku as a Bildungsroman.

Bama (born 1958) is considered a significant Dalit woman writer from contemporary India. In her seminal work, Karukku (1992), Bama records her most traumatic experiences in the Convent, Church, seminary, and the Christian community that become the centres of discrimination based on caste. Besides the narratives about the separate human settlement in the village, lower caste people working for upper castes on low wages, the tradition of leftover, hierarchical possession over natural resources like water of lakes, rivers or pastures showcase the mindsets of society. This research paper discusses how Karukku is a Bildungsroman while tracing the growth of the protagonist from childhood into maturity imparting moral and social values through this novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]