Unmasking Injustice: Jashuva's 'The Bat'

The recognition of Gurram Jashuva as the first modern Telugu Dalit poet in the 1990s marks
a significant milestone in the Dalit literary movement in Andhra Pradesh. Jashuva should be
acknowledged as an innovative social reformer and a pioneering writer. His choice of “The
Bat” as a metaphor carries profound implications, especially for future generations of poets
who can boldly experiment with new ideas and metaphors in Jashuva's footsteps. The bat, a
creature typically considered repulsive and rarely granted the poetic reverence bestowed upon
other romantic birds celebrated in both classical and modern poetry. This paper attempts to
underscore Jashuva's specific contribution to exposing caste discrimination.