Manasa Yendluri: Unveiling the Dalit Christian Advocate

Image source : https://www.newindianexpress.com/

Manasa Yendluri, a Telugu writer, is an intersectional voice for Dalit Christian women. As a woman with concerns for the LGBTQ+ community and belonging to a minority group based on gender, caste, and religion, she understands the complexities of being an Andhra Dalit. Yendluri’s family background is an example of how Andhra Dalits are more progressive, aggressive, and advanced. Her paternal grandfather was a Madiga, and her grandmother was a Mala from Maharashtra, and they belonged to the BCC. On the other hand, her mother’s family was in touch with the British and were part of the Salvation Army, higher cadres of the Christian community. Yendluri has faced discrimination and marginalization throughout her life. She recalls how her Christian identity was used against her, and she was singled out as the only Christian girl in her class after getting the highest marks in Economics. Despite her father’s fame as a poet and her mother’s skills as a researcher, Yendluri believes that her identity as a Dalit Christian writer helps her fight for her community, but it can also become problematic when used in a derogatory and insulting manner. For Yendluri, writing is an outlet to express the complexity of her identity, as her characters emerge from her own intermixed identities. However, there is still a lack of understanding and acceptance of Dalit expression and experience. Yendluri emphasizes the existence of Dalit patriarchy, male domination, and subversion of Dalit women by Dalit men. She highlights the need to share experiences and voices of unheard individuals.

Re-reported from the story originally published in https://www.newindianexpress.com/