I am a researcher, therefore a lifelong learner. I have some advice for dalit and marginalized students getting into research.
Advice for dalit and marginalized students in research:
The lesser you study, the more you have to run around the upper castes for recognition. Instead of running around them, sharpen your skills.
Make a habit of listening to your caste people. It helps you and them.
Don’t behave and talk like upper caste students. They have system support.
Your misery is their material for business. The more you fight and compete among yourselves, it gives them strength. The more you remain rooted to the ground and your work, faster is your research.
They have not been researching anything. They reproduce and rechurn your content.
A researcher has to go through a process to establish something. Remember, you cannot do any research without locating yourself in the research context. You have to tell people first who you are and how do you relate yourself to a particular context.
Half your life is spent in making friends and roaming around with them. History is a witness to your work. Any good researcher will tell you research is a lonely journey. You have to return to the field several times. So, you really have no time for other things. Dedication is the answer.
Join professional research groups. Pick up a research topic that is relevant: business, wealth generation, rights to land, access to water, creation of jobs, co-operatives, labour contracts, political exclusion, financial access and so on.
Jagoran 