Caste Class And Gender Analysis

Exploration of Caste, Class and Gender : "Lived experiences" under scrutiny.
One of the approaches taken up by feminism has been to retrieve the"subjective experience"or"lived realities" of women or any marginalised section of society. The cause of marginalisation in most cases is difficult to be identified because it could range from structural (patriarchy) to socio-political (pro-bourgeoisie policies) etc. Most often under the garb of traditions, conventions, culture etc. 'personal experiences' (however it's difficult to untangle the 'personal' from the 'cultural' since culture remains one of the sites which conditions/influences one's existence) remain ignored/sidelined.
Though my visit to Allahabad was part of an internship program and
They not for a moment hesitated in talking about the pressure they bear as women, wives, mothers in a patriarchal society. As a feminist, it was actually wonderful to see these women sharing their experiences, good or otherwise with so much enthusiasm. However a kind of dilemma of class/caste distance kept lingering around during the entire visit and the fact that one was ‘visiting/observing’, which in a way is an act of ‘objectification’. Sometimes their questions render One speechless as happened with me when a woman asked that how I was going to solve their problems and I had no answer to give because it's difficult to find a quick solution when the problems faced by them are structural. Emotions are often obliterated in an academic writing, but for me emotions play an extremely important role while analysing any lived experience. An emotional response might be exaggerated to a certain extent but it does express the situation in which a person is living or ‘made’ to live. Though knowledge(s) has been produced about a Dalit Woman’s life and the conditions she lives in but in that process subjective experience is usually invisibilized. However, entire focus on personal narratives as well glosses over the socio-economic factors that play an important role in an individual’s life. In this article, my focus would be to underline the subjective experiences of women (or men) living in the colonies while simultaneously analysing the conditions (caste, class and gender) which form such experiences. I would refer to the colonies as "Bastis" as they are popularly