Defying Two-Fold Discrimination: The Journey of Kumud Pawde – A Pioneering Dalit Woman Scholar

Abstract

Caste has been a robust instrument to keep the lower-caste majority populace of the sub-continent away from education and power. Through various revolutions and by enactment of Indian constitution, which guarantees equality, the access to learning resources and free right to participate in civil service examinations, paved the way for the downtrodden to accelerate into academic spheres gaining knowledge and become public servants of all capacities. The paper studies the hardship of one such oppressed women, Kumud Pawde, who was the first dalit Sanskrit women teacher, an ice-breaker for the future dalits to trod in the path she had carved, which was forbidden for millenniums. As a pioneer, the discrimination and resistance she faced was intense and discouraging. Though, she managed them all and achieved no one has ever done before,securing her place in the annals of dalit literature.