India, Nov. 2 -- "None of my poems are pleasant." "We're Dalits, our poems aren't meant to comfort."

This was how the conversation flowed at the rehearsal for India's first ever Dalit Ambedkarite English poetry showcase, to be held on Sunday at Backspace, Lower Parel. Most of the team of five that forms 'The Reserved Compartment' were meeting in person for the first time, three having touched down in Mumbai just a few hours prior, after a lifetime of being connected through various social media platforms and the medium of poetry. It was time to take the stage.

"We say this is the country's first Dalit English poetry showcase not as a badge of honour but as a lamentation that it hasn't happened yet," said Shripad Sinnakaar, a poet and ed...