Resistance and IKS: Female Consciousness in Baby Kamble and Urmila Pawar’s Autobiographies

Pro. Lalita S. Kannor

Authors

Pro. Lalita S. Kannor

Keywords:

Baby Kamble, Urmila Pawar, women’s consciousness, Dalit autobiography, Indian Knowledge Systems, Shakti, resilience

Abstract

This study examines the portrayal of female consciousness, resilience, and social resistance in Baby Kamble's Jina Amucha and Urmila Pawar's The Weave of My Life. Originating from India's marginalized Mahar and Dalit communities, these autobiographical accounts record systemic injustice, gender discrimination, and individual struggles to attain dignity and selfhood. The analysis uses Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), with their philosophical, ethical, and psychological dimensions, to understand how these women confront social hierarchies, patriarchal expectations, and internalized trauma. Particular emphasis is placed upon resistance and resilience as connected processes and upon women's agency in constructing identity under structural marginalization.

The research follows a qualitative and interpretive method that combines textual study, feminist approaches, and IKS concepts such as Shakti, Dharma, Manas, Buddhi, and Chitta. Its findings indicate that the two autobiographies not only preserve social and historical realities but also express a transformative form of feminine consciousness grounded in cultural and ethical systems of knowledge.

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