Brushing Off the Dirt: Suraj Badtiya on Creating Space for Dalit Literature
Posted on October 27, 2025
In July 2025, WWB’s Jaideep Pandey spoke with Suraj Badtiya, author of the short story “Gujji” (translated from Hindi by John Vater). Badtiya’s “Gujji” traces a Dalit boy’s trajectory from butcher’s son to corporate employee at McDonald’s, illustrating the discrimination he experiences and the sacrifices he has to make along the way. In this conversation, Badtiya discussed his inspirations for the story’s main character and setting, his advocacy work for Dalit literature, and offered advice for young readers. (This interview was conducted in Hindi over Zoom and translated by Pandey.)
