A Chandalini Speaks is a first-of-its-kind collection of Kalyani Thakur Charal’s selected non-fiction texts in translation. Ranging from the journalistic to the anthropological and punctuated by Charal’s poetic turn of phrase, these essays offer an intimate glimpse into the issues that have shaped her life and writing—the vanishing traditions of her community, the many Dalit women whose voices have long been ignored or undocumented, the place of a Dalit woman within feminism, the plight of working class women in urban areas, and the ecological and cultural implications of caste in Bengal. Through them all, her voice shines through fierce and undimmed, translated with meticulous attention to nuance and context by Anurima Chanda.

The Author

Kalyani Thakur Charal  is a prominent voice in Dalit literature. She publishes Neer Ritupatra, a platform dedicated to Dalit women’s writings. A member of the Bangla Dalit Sahitya Sanstha, she also serves on the editorial board of Chaturtha Duniya and is associated with the Dalit Sahitya Academy, Government of West Bengal.

The Translator

Anurima Chanda is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Birsa Munda College, University of North Bengal. She was a pre-doctoral DAAD fellow at the University of Würzburg, a SUSI 2023 Fellow at the University of Montana, and was awarded the Charles Wallace 2024–25 Visiting Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements
Introduction/Translator’s Note
Interview with Kalyani Thakur Charal

1. Yet, Consciousness Evades
2. Problems – Shelter
3. Hostel Samachar
4. Women Development and Guruchand
5. Hyanchra Pujo in the East Bengal Tradition and a Few Wedding Songs
6. The Societal Position of Namashudra Women
7. Matua Philosophy and Today’s Politics
8. How Applicable is Western Feminism in a Caste-Divided Society?
9. Dalit Women in Revolutions and Literature
10. A Few Dalit Women in Bengali Literature and Music