Yashica Dutt

Yashica Dutt or Yashica Dutt Nidaniya is an Indian writer and freelance journalist who has written on topics including fashion, gender, identity, culture[1] and caste.[2] Following the response to her 2016 blog post, ‘Today, I’m coming out as Dalit‘, Dutt published "Documents of Dalit Discrimination" on Tumblr and the book Coming Out as Dalit, which received a Sahitya Akademi award.

Yashica Dutt
Born
Yashica Dutt Nidaniya

(1986-02-05) 5 February 1986
Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
Education
Occupations
  • Author
  • Journalist
Years active2005–present
Notable workComing Out as Dalit
Websiteyashicadutt.com

Early life and education

Yashica was born in a Valmiki (Dalit) family in Ajmer, Rajasthan on 5 February 1986.[3] She completed her graduation in B.Sc. from St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 2007. Yashica completed her Master's degree in Arts and Culture Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2015.

Career

In 2016, Dutt authored a blog post titled ‘Today, I’m coming out as Dalit‘ describing how she had hidden her caste and passed as ‘non-Dalit’.[4][5] Following her post Dutt began receiving messages from other Dalit women who shared similar experiences, prompting her to create the Tumblr blog "Documents of Dalit Discrimination" as a platform to publish some of their stories.[6][7]

Dutt's journalism and commentary has been published in Indian and international publications including The Atlantic,[8] The New York Times,[9] The Caravan,[10] Foreign Policy,[11] Hindustan Times, LiveMint, Scroll.in, The Wire, HuffPost India and The Asian Age.[12] She was a Principal Correspondent with Brunch, the Sunday Magazine of the Hindustan Times.[13][14]

Book

Coming Out as Dalit is Yashica's book published by Aleph Book Company. It is her memoir about growing up in a Dalit family.[15] In the book, she describes how she felt compelled to hide her caste and pretended to be of another caste, all along terrified of her true identity being found out.[16] Her decision to end the pretense of being an upper caste woman was triggered by a University of Hyderabad Dalit student Rohith Vemula's last letter, which was made public following his suicide. The book details her journey of coming to terms with her true identity.[17] The book is a social commentary woven with personal experiences.[18] She received the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for the book in the English category for the year 2020.[19]

References
  1. Dutt, Yashica (26 January 2016). "9 arguments used to silence me after I came out as Dalit (and why they failed spectacularly)". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  2. Dutt, Yashica (24 December 2017). "For Salman Khan and co, being ugly or untalented is the same as being Bhangi". The Print. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. Dutt, Yashica (16 January 2016). "Today I am coming out as Dalit". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  4. Pasricha, Japleen. "Meet Yashica Dutt: Dalit Writer & Founder of Documents of Dalit Discrimination". Feminism in India. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. Dutt, Yashica. "Today, I'm Coming Out As Dalit". Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  6. Dutt, Yashica. "Documents of Dalit Discrimination". Tumblr. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  7. Santhanam, Laura. "How one woman defies caste discrimination in India". PBS Newshour. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  8. Dutt, Yashica. "Author Page". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  9. Dutt, Yashica. "The Specter of Caste in Silicon Valley". New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  10. Dutt, Yashica (1 May 2022). "The Tussle for Representation". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  11. Dutt, Yashica. "Author Page". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  12. "Yashica Dutt (The Asian Age)". The Asian Age. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  13. "On the Brunch Radar". Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  14. "A queer ban in India, gay and legal in Nepal". Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  15. Dhillon, Amrit (19 February 2020). "Coming out as Dalit: how one Indian author finally embraced her identity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  16. Mahtab, Alam (24 March 2019). "Interview - 'But You Don't Look like a Dalit': Yashica Dutt on 'Coming Out as Dalit'". The Wire. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  17. Dutt, Yashica. "Coming Out as Dalit". Aleph Book Company. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  18. G, Sampath. "'Coming Out as Dalit — A Memoir' review: A Dalit who stopped being a 'brahmin'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  19. "Sahitya Akademi announces Bal Sahitya Puraskar, Yuva Puraskar 2020". Deccan Herald. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
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