‘Our true I-Day was in 1950’

Most wouldnrsquot question the freedom of pursuing spirituality but for a Bahujan or Dalit it is not so black and white to say the leastrdquo says Siddhesh Gautam ldquoFor many Dalits true Independence Day came on January 26 1950 It was the day untouchability was abolished and made a punishable offencerdquoThe 33yearoldrsquos first solo multimedia exhibition is currently underway at the Museum of Goa in Pilerne Goa It comprises moving illustrations as well as family objects that speak of the experience of being a Dalit in IndialdquoBaba Sahebrdquo Dr B R Ambedkar features extensively in his work and this exhibition as well as social reformers such as Jyotirao Phule Phoolan Devi and Rohith VemulaSiddhesh GautamMore than anything else Gautam addressed the human condition ldquoAs the title suggestsmdashWe The People toomdashis borne of the thought about how freedom is variable and comes within the parameters of class and caste both go hand in hand It starts with examining the freedom of practising spiritualism within the anticaste history of Indiardquo the National Institute of Design NID Ahmedabadgraduate tells us over the phone from DelhiThe illustration that hits this mark is the one showing a womanrsquos bloodied hand reaching out to ring temple bells that are chained rendering them immovable and thus unringableGautam allows himself to be vulnerable by bringing in ancestral history and making this endeavour more personal than just pieces hung on the wall In the middle of the exhibition is the firstever book that his family owned a feat accomplished by his grandfather that eventually led to his father getting a formal education The illustrations by the artist are an homage to his real life heroes ldquoI also separated my grandfatherrsquos belongings from those owned by my grandmother the latter had relatively fewer itemsmdasha scathing indictment of how patriarchy is more tangible through the caste lensrdquo he says adding ldquoMind you our house was quite small we didnrsquot have the luxury of cherishing objects and handing them down to the next generationrdquoOne of the few belongings Gautam inherited was a box of ldquosilver coinsrdquo ldquoThe box was willed to me orally by my grandmother and I went to trace it recently I was told it was silver coins but I wasnrsquot sure if that was a family legend because I never found it Instead I found a box with old 10 and 20 paisa coins When I examined them closely I saw one minted in 1947 with a British emblem on it She had collected coins minted in years of historical significance There is a big gap in the 1970s and I was informed that no coins were minted then This is how my family experienced freedommdashthrough education currency and even a walking stick that my grandfather owned which was made in the United Kingdom Itrsquos a mystery how he got itrdquo In the exhibition the cane is placed on the arm of an old wooden chairAlmost reading our minds Gautam tells us art became his medium of expression ldquoMy grandfather lost both his parents at different points by the time he was five years oldrdquo he says ldquoSo he commissioned a local artist to paint their portraits guided only by a few flashes of memories and his imagination I grew up looking at them It was my first introduction to art and what it can mean to a personrdquoDoes he fear being stereotyped a Dalit artist ldquoAt first maybe I feel that posthumously it will be evident that my work is beyond thatmdashit is about gender global warming mental health Irsquom not afraid of being boxed in anymore I am too strong for that to stop merdquo he says with a humourless chuckle