Tomorrow, 14th April, is Ambedkar Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar. There has been an increasing anti-caste cultural resurgence in art, film, literature, music and more, in recent years. And it is also an excellent time to celebrate again the extraordinary, forward-looking book, The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF, published by Blaft Publications Pvt Ltd, that is surely a landmark in Indian literary history (R995, 2024). In its futurist, science fiction approach, it links, in a way, to the legacy of Afro-Futurism, an idea I first encountered at the Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room at the Met, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 2021. Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience, connecting the black diaspora with their African ancestry, and often reclaiming power and supremacy. This powerful concept has inspired films like Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Woman King; a slew of art, books, comics and more.

The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF is an anthology of “weird, fantastic, supernatural, Dalit futurist and magical realist fiction by writers from South Asia and the diaspora,” as the blurb describes it. It is edited by RT Samuel, Rakesh K and Rashmi RD. RT Samuel observes in his introduction how mainstream science fiction/speculative fiction overlooking marginalised voices, has led to a “squandering of imagination.” He notes that there is a “bubbling countercultural renaissance,” adding that “speculative fiction is about more than just a good story; it’s a powerful way to think critically and ask important questions about our world.”