Скачать или смотреть Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse by Gurdial Singh: A Discussion

Gurdial Singh was one of the most celebrated writers of Punjabi literature and exhibited the sufferings of the marginalized communities of different social classes, through his writings. ‘Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse’ was originally written in Punjabi and was then translated into English by Rana Nayar. It is set around the 1960s, just like Singh’s other novels, when feudalism was transforming to capitalism in Punjab resulting in socio-economic changes. Through this novel, Singh portrays the struggles of the working class and manifests the plight of the marginalized social communities, such as the Dalits. This book is a significant cultural text, a contemporary classic. It derives its title from an ancient myth associated with the churning of the ocean, in which Lord Vishnu was less than fair in his dispensation of the nectar to the Asuras, supposedly the ancestors of modern-day Dalits. Through this novel, Gurdial Singh stresses on the fact that the Asuras had to depend on the arbitrary dispensation of the Gods, just like the Dalits today must depend on the mercy of their overlords. On the days of solar and lunar eclipses, Dalits still ask for alms in the name of the blind horse (which in the myth, is shown to pull the chariot of Rahu and Ketu, who despite being Asuras, had taken a part of the nectar, while it was being distributed only among the Devtas). Through this novel, Gurdial Singh challenges the myth that a capitalistic society elevates the chances of Dalits towards prosperity and freedom from caste discrimination, poverty, and oppression, however, in reality, it transfers them from one state of oppression, towards another.