In response to Rohith Vemula’s words, I have used a poem If I was a Tree by a Kannada Dalit poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy. Caste exploitation segregates and reduces individual identities.  This allegorical depiction speaks of natural co-existence of different creatures living harmoniously, which is disturbed by other vested interests. The comic attempts to question the reduction of an entire system by a disruptive power which determines the use or sanctity of a being.

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Nirali Lal is a practicing artist based in Baroda/Bangalore, India. She has completed Masters in Art Criticism from the Faculty of Fine Arts Baroda and her Bachelor’s degree in Painting from College of Fine Arts, Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore, India.