Dalit History Month: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions and Modern India

A deeply personal memoir by Nusrat F. Jafri, a Mumbai based award-winning cinematographer, that questions prejudice over religious and caste barriers in Dalit History month
Traces the roots of the author’s nomadic forebears, who belonged to a ‘criminal’ tribe, the Bhantus from Rajasthan
Captures the family’s experiences during Gandhi’s return in 1915, the Partition, the two World Wars, the Emergency and the prime ministers’ assassinations
Narrates Nusrat’s family’s conversion to Christianity as a response to Brahmanical gatekeeping highlights their struggle for acceptance

On Ambedkar Jayanti in Dalit History Month, Penguin Announces the Pre-Order of ‘This Land We Call Home’ That Questions The Perception Of Belonging
Penguin Random House India

In 1871, the British enacted the Criminal Tribes Act in India, branding numerous tribes and caste groups as criminals. In This Land We Call Home: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions and Modern India, Nusrat F. Jafri, a Mumbai based award-winning cinematographer, traces the roots of her nomadic forebears, who belonged to one such ‘criminal’ tribe, the Bhantus from Rajasthan.

This affecting memoir explores religious and multicultural identities and delves into the profound concepts of nation-building and belonging. Nusrat’s family found acceptance in the church, alongside a sense of community, theology, songs and carnivals, and quality education for the children in missionary schools.

The family’s conversion to Christianity in response to caste society highlights their struggle for dignity. Parallelly, we see the family’s experiences during Gandhi’s return to India in 1915, the Partition, the World Wars, the Emergency and the prime ministers’ assassinations.

In a way, this is a story like and unlike the stories all of us carry within us—the inherited weight of who we are and where we come from, our tiny little freedoms and our everyday struggles and, mostly, the intricate jumble of our collective ancestry. Nusrat pays homage to her foremothers, the first feminists, and her forefathers, the ones who tried hard to fit into a caste society only to be disappointed, eventually choosing alternative faiths in pursuit of acceptance. Currently on pre-order, it is slated to be available across the country in bookstores on 30^th April.

About the authors

Nusrat F Jafri, is a Mumbai based award-winning cinematographer. She has over fifteen years of experience in filmmaking. Born and brought up in Lucknow, she moved to New Delhi for graduation and post-graduation in Mass Communication. Nusrat is a mentee of the first cohort (2021) of South Asia Speaks. She was featured in the second edition of Rising Beyond The Ceiling: 100 stereotype-shattering stories of Muslim women of Uttar Pradesh, India. She lives in Mumbai with her husband, son and a cat named Jamia.

Title: ‘This Land We Call Home’

Author: Nusrat F Jafri

Available: Amazon