2409:4042:208E:BE7C:BD05:C145:EB28:F13C at 12:09, 19 September 2021

2021-09-19T12:09:14Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gogu Shyamala 
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| known_for = Dalit short stories
| occupation = Writer, activist
}}

'''Gogu Shyamala''' is a [[Telugu language|Telugu-language]] writer and women's activist<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Z5LgI2jhMZaTFL7ZY1L2sN/Book-Review--Twists-in-the-old-tales.html | title=Book Review | Twists in the old tales| date=2012-03-02}}</ref> and a prominent [[Dalit]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-29/special-report/30675737_1_dalits-writers-arab-spring | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103072009/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-29/special-report/30675737_1_dalits-writers-arab-spring | url-status=dead | archive-date=2013-01-03 | work=[[The Times of India]] |title = First impressions by the second sex}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/hyderabad/31349530_1_beef-festival-abvp-students-eflu | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530012632/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/hyderabad/31349530_1_beef-festival-abvp-students-eflu | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-05-30 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title=Osmania University Beef Festival sparks violence, 2 vehicles torched | Hyderabad News}}</ref>

==Biography==
Gogu Shyamala was born in 1969 in Peddemul village in [[Ranga Reddy district]] (now part of [[Telangana]]). Her parents are agricultural workers. She was also the leader of a vetti (unpaid labour) team that worked for the local landlord.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tharu|first1=Susie|last2=K|first2=Satyanarayana|title=Steel nibs are sprouting: New Dalit writing from South India|date=2013|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|location=India|isbn=9789350293768}}</ref><ref name="Satyanarayana2013">{{cite book|author=Susie Tharu/ K. Satyanarayana|title=STEEL NIBS ARE SPROUTING: New Dalit Writing From South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JbbjAAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT778|date=31 July 2013|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-93-5029-542-7|pages=1–}}</ref> She has stated that her brother Ramachandra was forced into agricultural labour, but she was the only one of her three siblings who obtained higher education.<ref name="NM1" /> Financial constraints initially prevented her from enrolling in college, however she eventually obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the [[Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University]].<ref name="NM1" /> Around that time, she became an activist with the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)]], but insists that she never let the politics overshadow the education. <ref name="NM1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/gogu-shyamala-being-dalit-and-woman-survival-beyond-victimhood-and-outside-it-41396|title=For Gogu Shyamala, being Dalit and woman is survival, beyond victimhood and outside of it|date=9 April 2016|first=Nitin|last=B|publisher=The News Minute.com|access-date=21 February 2020}}</ref>

== Activism ==
In an interview in 2016, Gogu Shyamala described her awakening consciousness to [[Caste|casteism]] and discrimination in India as an adult, noting "I never realized that there was any discrimination as a kid. It was after growing up that I discovered it."<ref name="NM1" /> As a student leader, she protested living conditions and food provisions in her hostel.<ref name="NM1" /> In college, she became an activist with the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), but since parted from them following the [[Tsundur massacre]].<ref name="NM1" /> It was at this point that Shyamala began to question the Left. "I slowly began to read [[B. R. Ambedkar|Ambedkar]] and understood how deep-rooted caste was in Indian society. That's also when I understood that [[communism]] may have removed religion, but the caste divide still existed. Even today, if you see any Dalit parliamentarians, it is only because of reservation," she says. <ref name="NM1" /> She identifies herself as a [[Dalit feminism|Dalit feminist]].<ref name="NM1" />

Following the suicide of a Dalit student at the University of Hyderabad, [[Rohith Vemula]], Gogu Shyamala made several statements in support of Vemula and his family, calling for greater participation from the English media on questions of caste and [[Feminism in India|feminism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theladiesfinger.com/gogu_radhika/|title=Seven Questions with Gogu Shyamala about Radhika Vemula, Solidarity and Dalit Rights|website=The Ladies Finger|access-date=2016-04-18|date=2016-02-27}}</ref>

She represented Anveshi and Dalit Women’s Forum in the World Conference against Racism held in [[Durban]] in 2001. She is a member of the Anveshi Executive Committee. Her current work at the Anveshi Centre for Women's Studies focuses on creating biographies of significant Dalit female political leaders. She is presently leading an Oxfam funded research project on domestic violence and dalit women.{{Citation needed|date= June 2020}}

== Writing ==
A review of some of her stories in translation described Gogu Shyamala's writing as having "an evidently oral quality," which created detailed and authentic portraits of the people and situations she describes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-book-review-father-may-be-an-elephant-and-mother-only-a-small-basket-but-1703041|title=Book review: 'Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket But...' {{!}} Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|website=dna|language=en-US|access-date=2016-04-18|date=2012-06-17}}</ref> This "oral quality" has been described as "the most striking thing" about her collection of short stories, ''Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket, But...''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://navayana.org/products/father-may-be-an-elephant-and-mother-only-a-small-basket-but/|title=Navayana {{!}} Father May Be an Elephant and Mother Only a Small Basket, But…|language=en|access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref> which is a landmark in Telangana dalit literature in translation. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Z5LgI2jhMZaTFL7ZY1L2sN/Book-Review--Twists-in-the-old-tales.html|title=Book Review {{!}} Twists in the old tales - Livemint|website=www.livemint.com|access-date=2016-04-18|date=2012-03-02}}</ref> This was part of her work on a project titled ‘Dalit Women’s Biographies,(movement perspective of [[Dalit feminism]]) This project is part of the Dalits and Minorities Initiative. Her earlier volume Nallapoddu (Black Dawn) is a collection of Telangana Madiga poetry and literature that has one critical acclaim in literary circles. Shyamala is a prolific short story writer, and regularly publishes in journals such as Bhumika, Prasthanam, Pratighatana, Mana Telangana, Praja Kala Mandali and Nigha. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anveshi.org.in/the-people-of-anveshi/fellows-2/gogu-shyamala/|title=Gogu Shyamala|website=www.anveshi.org.in|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-14}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

=== Fiction ===
* Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket, But ...<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-other-india/933557/ | title=The Other India - Indian Express}}</ref> (New Delhi: Navayana, 2012)
* Tataki Wins Again & Brave Heart Badeyya (Kottayam, DC Books, 2008)<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/04/19/stories/2009041950280500.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424103236/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/04/19/stories/2009041950280500.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=2009-04-24 | newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |title = Stories from the margins|date = 2009-04-19}}</ref>

=== Non-Fiction ===
* ''Nene Balaanni:'' ''T.N.Sadalakshmi bathuku katha'' (Hyderabad: Hyderabad Book Trust, 2011)
* Vaada pillala kathalu (Hyderabad, Anveshi, 2008)
* "Gender Consciousness in Dalit Women’s Literature." Gender Pratiphalanaalu. Gender Consciousness and its Consequences (Warangal: Kakatiya University, 2005)

=== Edited Volumes ===
* Co-editor, ''Nallaregatisallu: Maadiga, Maadiga Upakulala Adolla Kathalu'' (Furrows in Black Soil: Short Stories of Maadiga and Sub-castes’ Women) (Hyderabad, Sabbanda Maisawa Publications, 2006) .

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120331021448/http://www.anveshi.org/index.php/people-mainmenu-26/fellows-mainmenu-31/23-gogu-shyamala Profile]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shyamala, Gogu}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Ranga Reddy district]]
[[Category:Telugu women writers]]
[[Category:Telugu writers]]
[[Category:Dalit women writers]]
[[Category:Dalit writers]]
[[Category:Ambedkarites]]
[[Category:Indian women short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from Telangana]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]

Gogu Shyamala - Revision history

2409:4042:208E:BE7C:BD05:C145:EB28:F13C at 12:09, 19 September 2021