In The Tiger’s Shadow: The Autobiography of an Ambedkarite

Namdeo Nimgade

Navayana, 310 Pages, ` 350

Born into a family of landless bonded labourers in the dustbowl of Sathgaon in western India, Namdeo Nimgade is 14 when he finally manages to attend his village school where, being an untouchable, he has to stand on the “hot verandah and listen to lessons through a window.” Inspired by Dr BR Ambedkar, he steadfastly pursues his education, obtaining a PhD in soil science from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. Nimgade narrates incidents in a life singularly committed to the Ambedkarite movement with candour and delightful humour.