Untouchable Summary

In 1933, as India’s independence movement gains new force, 18-year-old Bakha is just trying to get through the day. Like his father Lakha, his brother Rakha, and his little sister Sohini, Bakha is a sweeper, assigned to clean latrines and to sweep waste off the streets. Because Bakha’s work forces him into such close proximity to excrement, he is an outcaste, forced to the bottom of India’s hierarchical caste system. Like the other outcastes (including grass-cutters, barbers, and washer-men), Bakha lives in a cramped, dirty encampment outside the center of Bulashah, his town in the Himalayan foothills.

Bakha’s day begins when he wakes up shivering. But though his British-style blanket is not warm enough, Bakha refuses to get another one, insisting—like his best friends Chota and Ram Charan—that anything the “Tommies” (English) like is inherently “fashun.” Lakha scolds Bakha to get up and get to work, and Bakha reflects on happier times, when his mother was still alive and his father was less snippy.

After reflecting on all the British clothing and cigarettes that he would like to buy, Bakha goes to work, hurriedly and thoroughly clearing Bulashah’s rows of latrines. Despite his natural strength and elegance, Bakha is frequently scolded for working too slowly. One of the people who scolds Bakha is Havildar Charat Singh, a well-respected local hockey player who is known to struggle with hemorrhoids. Thrillingly, Charat Singh promises to give Bakha one of his hockey sticks later that day.

Meanwhile, Sohini goes down to the village well to get water for her family. Because the outcastes are labeled as “polluted” by the members of other castes, they are not allowed to draw water directly from the well; instead, they must wait for higher-caste Hindus to give them water. While Sohini waits in line, she is shouted at by Gulabo, a washer-woman and Ram Charan’s mother, who reminds Sohini that even among the outcastes, sweepers are still considered to be the lowest of the low.

Eventually, Pundit Kali Nath (a Brahmin priest) comes to the well, deciding to draw water for the outcastes because he hopes that the exercise might relieve his constipation. The Pundit takes a liking to Sohini, and he gives her water first, instructing her to come clean the village’s temple later in the day.

Bakha goes home to eat breakfast and then enjoys a moment of relaxing in the sun. As he chats with Ram Charan and Chota, Bakha spots the two higher-caste brothers that he sometimes plays hockey with. In a moment of inspiration, Bakha convinces the elder brother and younger brother to teach him to read, even though outcastes are not traditionally allowed access to education.

Now, Bakha heads back to his work, sweeping the bazaar and streets of Bulashah. Without realizing, Bakha bumps into a higher-caste man, who panics that he has been “polluted” by touching a sweeper. The touched man begins to verbally abuse Bakha, and even a kind Muslim rickshaw driver cannot stop the torment. When the touched man knocks Bakha’s turban off his head, Bakha finds himself craving revenge against the upper castes for the first time in his life.

Bakha arrives at the temple, and decides to peek inside, still in a frenzy from the events of this morning. Though no one spots Bakha, he hears Pundit Kali Nath crying out that he has been “polluted” by a sweeper—and Bakha realizes that the sweeper in question is Sohini. Sohini explains that the Pundit tried to sexually abuse her, and when she refused his advances, he cried out “polluted,” causing the rest of the high-caste worshippers to panic that they had been similarly violated. Bakha comforts Sohini and sends her home, lamenting that as an outcaste he is not even allowed to worship the Hindu gods.

Bakha goes looking for food, hoping higher-caste Hindus will provide him with a meal for his family. But the day has exhausted Bakha, and he winds up taking a nap on the steps of a local woman’s house. When the local woman spots Bakha, she shouts at him for polluting her house, telling Bakha she hopes he dies. The local woman throws bread on the ground, and Bakha reluctantly brings the scraps home for lunch.

Bakha returns home, but instead of finding sympathy from Lakha, Lakha only instructs his children to honor and defer to higher-caste Hindus. Feeling disgusted by the second-hand food and Lakha’s inferiority complex, Bakha decides to leave. Without anything else to do, Bakha crashes Ram Charan’s sister’s wedding, much to Gulabo’s dismay.

After the wedding, Bakha, Chota, and Ram Charan head to the hills, where Bakha gains strength and comfort from the natural beauty around him. After playing in the grass, Bakha returns to town, planning to get his hockey stick. Surprisingly, Charat Singh treats Bakha with more dignity than any other high-caste Hindu does: he allows Bakha to share his tea, and he gives Bakha a brand-new hockey stick.

With his new hockey stick in tow, Bakha, Chota, Ram Charan, and the elder brother play hockey together; impatiently, the little brother watches from the sidelines. A few minutes into the game, a fight breaks out between the two hockey teams, and they begin throwing rocks at each other. Unfortunately, the younger brother is hit by a rock and wounded (or possibly even killed). Somehow, Bakha gets blamed for this, too, even though he was not the one who threw the rock.

It is almost evening, and Bakha is filled with despair at the amount of abuse this single day has brought. Colonel Hutchinson, a white evangelist, spies Bakha looking sad and tries to proselytize to him. At first, Bakha is compelled by Hutchinson’s words—especially because the Colonel emphasizes that all people are equal in Christ’s eyes—but Bakha loses interest when the Colonel refuses to translate his hymns. Eventually, the Colonel’s wife spots them and starts spewing vitriol at Bakha.

Just when Bakha is about to go home, he hears the news that Mohandas K. Gandhi has arrived in Bulashah to give a speech. Bakha runs to the speech, brushing against members of all other castes in the frenzy. He is gratified that Gandhi’s speech centers on putting an end to the caste system; though Gandhi is sometimes patronizing in the way he talks about sweepers, Bakha also finds his call to action profoundly moving.

After Gandhi finishes and the crowd disperses, Bakha hears two men (British-educated R. N. Bashir and poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar) discussing the speech. Bashir is critical of Gandhi for being anti-industrialization, whereas Sarshar thinks that Gandhi has some good ideas but that the most important step in abolishing the “Untouchable” category of the caste system is introducing the flush toilet to India (as it will eliminate the need for sweepers). As the sun sets, Bakha runs home to “tell father all that Gandhi said about us,” wondering what this new flushing machine might look like.