India, June 28 -- Some things take their own time and so it is with a long-overdue visit to a Hoshiarpur poet much honoured for his struggle and his literature. It is a hot June mid-morning that one finds oneself near the roundabout of the town's bus stand and one turns left into a lane of Subhashnagar to meet an author and poet whose poem on the sacrifice by Eklavya to Dronacharya titled 'Aaj ka Eklavya' (today's Eklavya) is part of the MA (Hindi) syllabus of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Not just that, his autobiography penned in Hindi and simply titled 'Mochi' (cobbler) is considered one of the classics of contemporary Dalit literature emerging from Punjab. Enter the shoe shop and it is different from any other shoe store that you may have visited anywhere in the country. There are classic leather men's shoes in different shades, from the sombre to the flamboyant, that decorate the shop along with skillfully embroidered Punjabi juttis. On the other side is a library of books piled high. Two pictures further create a mood of resistance: One is of Mahatma Gautam Buddha and the other of BR Ambedkar, who were social reformers against the deep-rooted caste and creed prejudices in different eras on the Indian soil. The mood is all set to listen to the famous poem of this literary cobbler who dared to speak against the injustice done to Eklavya by Dronacharya of the Mahabharat fame. As the story goes, Dronacharya trained princes in the art of archery. When the humble tribal Eklavya requested him to teach him archery, he refused. Eklavya, however, made a small statue of his guru and learned archery through devotion and soon surpassed prince Arjuna in the art. At this, Dronacharya turned furious and demanded his thumb as 'guru dakshina'( wages paid to the teacher) which Eklavya gave with grace. Dwarka Bharti's famous poem refutes such injustice in the name of caste and class and he writes that the Eklavya of today should not give his thumb but show his thumb instead to the tormentor. It is this defiance against creed that in spite of education and recognition he chose to respect the work of his forefathers and even practice it himself. The seeds of this defiance were sown in the mind and soul as a schoolboy when he was insulted by a schoolteacher when he learned that he is the son of a cobbler. Sitting amidst books, memories and shoes, well-spoken, Bharti accepts himself as the proverbial "mochi" (tanner), who makes shoes from animal leather with rare acceptance and grace. Such is the pride of this 78-year-old writer in his work and the assigned caste given to him! It is interesting to note that our defiant writer chooses to title his biography "Mochi" and recounts with joy the merry-mix of cobbling with his literary journey. It is with a slight smile and honour that Bharti says that it is the first autobiography of its kind in Hindi written in any other language of the world, I dare say, by a cobbler. He goes on to add, "When I took up the task of penning down my story in the lockdown during Covid, I searched the internet high and low but I could not find an autobiography that could be traced to a cobbler anywhere in the world. However, the world is very large and perhaps somewhere there is a cobbler who may have penned his life's journey but somehow it has not reached the internet. It may be written one day but till then I would like to rejoice in the fact that I am the first shoemaker to have told the story of his literary journey in black and white!" It is dedicated with hope to all writing that dares to expose injustice in the name of caste, creed and dignity of labour. Truly a son of the Hoshiarpur soil, Bharti was the first child of father Bhagwan Das and Charan Devi and the eldest of four brothers and three sisters. He joined the Sanatan Dharam Higher Secondary School in Hoshiarpur at the age of 5 and his siblings followed him there when their turn came. Recalling his school days, he says that he and his classmates were thrilled to complete their class 9. But class 10 brought a terror of a maths teacher, named Vidyasagar, who, upon learning about the profession of Bharti's father, lost no opportunity in taunting him, "Go make shoes with your father. What's the need to study?" He even used a derogatory word for tanners. Looking back, he says, "I take honour in following my father's profession as do my children, all working in good jobs." "Thumbs up, not cut" has always been his motto for the Eklavyas of our times. However, it was not straight from studies to the shop, for Bharti had his share of adventure. His first job was at the Beas-Sutlej Link Project where his caste was not known, not that he hid it, but the opportunity did not arrive to reveal it. However, he recounts a painful tale of caste discrimination in Himachal Pradesh, which was far greater than that in Punjab. He recalls that one day he was standing outside the canteen after having his lunch: "I saw a thin old man standing outside, holding a stick and almost trembling. Next, he asked me to bring him a glass of water from the canteen. I rebuffed him, saying 'why don't you go inside and fetch it yourself'." The old man's reply left him shocked, for he said, "How can I go inside? I am a Chamar by caste." Bharti says that he cannot forget that old man's tormented face. The author worked in Jordan and Iraq. He returned when his father passed away. He recalls: "My younger brothers had by then settled in the US and I decided that it would be an honour to sit in my father's seat and follow the traditional trade with which he earned an honest living and educated us all". One concludes this meeting with the author by quoting literateur Dr Surendra Agyat, who in his foreword to the one-of-its-kind autobiography, says: "Dwarka Bharti's autobiography is one of its kind not just in Hindi but also in the world literature for never has such an immense effort been made to tell a cobbler's tale with such grace and sincerity. It is a unique effort of its kind". As for this scribbler, I return from this hot summer trip to Hoshiarpur so enriched. Oh! Yes, I will have to make yet another trip to Hoshiarpur, sooner or later, to acquire a beautiful hand-crafted Punjabi jutti with its aesthetic touch....