Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is remembered as a jurist, economist, and architect of India’s Constitution—but perhaps his most powerful writings are those that emerge from his lived experience of caste. Among them, Waiting for a Visa is unique: raw, autobiographical, and direct. Though only about 20 pages long, it remains one of the most haunting indictments of caste-based discrimination in Indian society.
Background and Context
Written between 1935 and 1936, Waiting for a Visa was not originally published as a book. Ambedkar prepared it as a classroom text for a seminar on caste at Columbia University, where he had studied a decade earlier. He chose to write from lived experience rather than academic detachment, producing a text that’s equal parts memoir, testimony, and anthropological report.
It was first published posthumously in Volume 12 of the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches series, by the Government of Maharashtra. You can read the official edition here (PDF, pp. 661–677).
Reception in India and Abroad
Though lesser known than Annihilation of Caste, this short narrative has gained a steady place in academic discourse, especially within Dalit Studies, human rights education, and South Asian literature.
In India, the book is taught at:
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Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) – Political Science and Sociology
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University of Delhi – English and History departments
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
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Ambedkar University, Delhi
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Savitribai Phule Pune University
Globally, it features in courses on caste, colonial history, and human rights at:
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Columbia University
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University of Chicago
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University of California, Berkeley
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SOAS, University of London
It is also referenced in UNESCO materials on caste-based discrimination.
Structure and Summary of the Episodes
Waiting for a Visa is not formally divided by Ambedkar into chapters. However, scholars and educators commonly group the narrative into six distinct episodes. The following section titles are editorial additions, provided here to aid comprehension and reference. Page numbers refer to the official BAWS edition linked above.
1. The Journey to Baroda (pp. 661–663)
After returning from studies abroad, Ambedkar accepts a position in the Baroda State but is refused lodging due to his caste. Even in Western dress, he is denied entry to hotels once he states his name and caste. He finally finds a place in a Parsi inn under a false name, but is discovered and humiliated.
“It is usual for the hotels in India to require a customer to state his name and caste.” (p. 662)
2. The School Incident (pp. 663–664)
As a child in Satara, Ambedkar is barred from drinking water at school. A peon must pour it for him to avoid pollution—but when the peon is absent, he must go thirsty.
“There was a time when I had to go without water in school.” (p. 663)
3. The Temple Path Incident (pp. 664–665)
He recounts being physically assaulted simply for walking on a path near a temple. The idea of ritual pollution renders even his presence intolerable.
“As soon as the Hindus saw me, they shouted that I was polluting the place.” (p. 665)
4. The Washerman’s Boy (pp. 665–667)
A boy from a Dalit family dares to dress in fine clothes and attend school. The village responds by ostracizing the family and cutting off their livelihood.
“The Hindus... stopped giving him their clothes for washing.” (p. 666)
5. The Public Water Tank (pp. 667–668)
In a small town, a local official tries to allow untouchables access to a public tank. The caste Hindus retaliate with threats of violence and forced the official to backtrack.
“The Hindus raised a hue and cry... It was a case of a riot.” (p. 668)
6. The Doctor and the Patient (pp. 668–669)
A Dalit man falls ill in a village but is refused treatment by a caste Hindu doctor. The delay leads to his death.
“He would not administer medicine to an untouchable.” (p. 669)
Clarifying a Common Misconception: The 'Europe Incident'
Many modern summaries and even the Wikipedia article mention a “Europe incident”, in which an Indian student refuses to share lodging with a Dalit peer abroad. However, this story does not appear in the official version of Waiting for a Visa.
This may be a misattributed anecdote, possibly drawn from Ambedkar’s speeches or general recollections of caste discrimination abroad. It reflects how caste consciousness follows Indians even outside the subcontinent—but it is not part of this text.
Why It Still Matters
Waiting for a Visa is perhaps Ambedkar’s most emotionally direct writing. It doesn’t rely on abstract theory. Instead, it offers a testimony of the body—a record of where it was denied food, shelter, education, safety, and dignity.
This slim, taut narrative has endured because it makes a brutal system visible, undeniable, and immediate. For many, reading it is a first confrontation with the mechanics of caste as lived reality.
Further Reading and Resources
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Ambedkar, B.R. Waiting for a Visa, in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 12, pp. 661–677. Government of Maharashtra. Official PDF
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Eleanor Zelliot – From Untouchable to Dalit
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Anand Teltumbde – Ambedkar in and for the Post-Ambedkar Dalit Movement
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Kancha Ilaiah – Why I Am Not a Hindu
Why the Title: Waiting for a Visa?
Ambedkar never explicitly explains the title, but it functions as a powerful metaphor layered with irony and pain.
A visa typically represents permission to enter another country—but in this context, it becomes a symbol for something deeper: the right to belong. For Dalits, caste turned everyday existence into foreign territory. They needed, metaphorically speaking, a “visa” to access water, food, shelter, education, medicine—and dignity.
The title suggests that Dalits are waiting for permission to be treated as citizens in their own land. It also carries a tone of helplessness, evoking the bureaucratic limbo of people made to wait indefinitely for justice. There’s an additional layer of personal irony: Ambedkar had traveled and studied abroad, where caste held no sway—only to return home and be barred from a hotel in Baroda because of his identity.
In essence, Waiting for a Visa captures the tragedy of being a foreigner at home, and the deep yearning to enter a society that continues to lock its gates.
Disclaimer: AI generated content.
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