India, Oct. 30 -- The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar East was crowded with books on sale, film-makers and theatrewallahs exchanging ideas, and the occasional chant of 'Jai Bhim', last Saturday. The occasion was Baburao Bagul.

Eighteen years after his death in Nashik, and 63 years after 'Jevha Mi Jaat Chorli Hoti' ('When I Concealed My Caste') landed in Marathi literature like a stone shattering a window, the Baburao Bagul Pratishthan (Nashik) and The People's Improvement Trust had organised a seminar with a pointed title: 'Baburao Bagul Sahitya ani Vichar: Navya Pidhiche Aakalan,' or Baburao Bagul's literature and thought as a new generation understands it. Social and cultural theorist Arjun Dangle convened it.

The title carried ...