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E. Valentine Daniel: Charred Lullabies (Hardcover, 1996, Princeton University Press) 4 stars

"While all Tamils proudly lay claim to Tiruvalluvar as their poet…it is the Parayans, the untouchable caste of drummers, who lay special claim to this famous poet. They consider Tiruvalluvar as their very own ancestor. To this day, the priests of Parayans are called Valluvars"

— Charred Lullabies by  (Page 30)

This is fascinating. Also, the author is talking about the caste that is vilified in English as the "P*riahs" so here is another reminder to stop using that word to describe people who are treated as less than human.

replied to Divya Manian's status

@divya@sfba.club @divya@sfba.social I find it fascinating how Parayans (and Dalits in general) have reclaimed the Parayan drum in general and how OC Tamil Nadu is reacting to it with contempt.

For instance, there was a Dalit couple (researchers at Columbia; blanking out on their names but they were active on Twitter) who invited Parayan drummers to play at their wedding in a posh hotel in Chennai. The hotel management asked them if they can switch the drummers to a “regular” brass band. Unbelievable this happened in 2018/19; didn’t realise the very sound of the Parayan drum could be so disruptive.