MUMBAI, Nov. 3 -- "None of my poems are pleasant." "We're Dalits, our poems aren't meant to comfort." This was how the conversation flowed at the rehearsal for India's first ever Dalit Ambedkarite English poetry showcase, to be held on Sunday at Backspace, Lower Parel. Most of the team of five that forms 'The Reserved Compartment' were meeting in person for the first time, three having touched down in Mumbai just a few hours prior, after a lifetime of being connected through various social media platforms and the medium of poetry. It was time to take the stage. "We say this is the country's first Dalit English poetry showcase not as a badge of honour but as a lamentation that it hasn't happened yet," said Shripad Sinnakaar, a poet and editor of 'The Ambedkarite Chronicle', from Dharavi. Dr Abhijit Khandkar, a pathologist and assistant professor at JJ Hospital, would know. "Abhijit and I have been talking about creating a team of Dalit poets in English for almost three years," said Daniel Sukumar, 37, a spoken word poet and content manager from Bangalore. Khandkar continued, "There are barely a few of us out there in the mainstream. The Reserved Compartment is here to change that; to make the space we deserve and amplify brilliant voices from all over." The artists are out to subvert and reclaim a term that was once a mark of segregation-and the response has been overwhelming. The 120-plus seating capacity of the small performing studio in Todi Mills-a deliberate choice of a space that is mainstream as well as bearing a storied history of Mumbai that mirrors its escalation into gentrification-is sold out, with many clamouring to get standing space. One of Khandkar's poems is on Mumbai's mills. The online friends have a lot in common. The lived experiences of caste-based discrimination aside, they risk a lot when they put their poetry and writing out. They're also no stranger to online backlash-Aleena, a poet from Kerala, divides the waves of trolling into "first wave" and "second wave," but which aided her launch into Instagram micro-celebrity fame with over 101k followers. "The tide of comments has gradually turned, and now, in a sea of good comments there are a few hate comments," said Aleena, whose poetry collection titled 'Silk Route' won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Kanakashree Award. Despite the overarching theme of Dalit Ambedkarite poetry, poets will emphasise different experiences within the Dalit community. "The identity is not a monolith," said Sinnakaar. Neither is the identity restrictive, with poems spilling out of the constraints too-one of Sinnakaar's poems is expected to be a love poem. Ecology and sci-fi feature heavily in the poems of Gautam Vegda, a poet and professor based in Gujarat, who saw his mother take the brave step of shifting out of the caste-based profession of handing dead cattle. For Daniel Sukumar, Christianity offers many allegories in his poetry; his poem 'Lazarus', referencing both his grandfather and the man brought to life by Jesus, pits resurrection against conversion, both meant to be liberators. He will also add some music to the show, having bought his guitar along. The show also seeks to disrupt Dalit stereotypes, as Khandkar explains with his poem 'Rich Dalit with an Iphone'. Keeping the showcase in English, however, is by design, as the poets believe that the language is the bridge that will shatter regional barriers and make for a more inclusive audience. The opening act of the showcase, however, as is to be the format in every consequent TRC showcase, will be in the local language. Writer Bhagyashi Boyward, 30, who will lead in Marathi, said, "I used to put my essays on my lived experience-being a part of the SC community, politics within it, casteism in urban spaces-on social media when Abhijit pushed me to try out the poetry form." "My heart is full, but also melancholic that it has taken so long," said Khandkar. "In a fair system, these brilliant Dalit artists would have had the world eating out of their hands but they've gone unnoticed and excluded."...