BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents \;Sohin i Chattopadhyay\, assistant professor of history at Union College.In May 1 939\, a 20-year-old man died in Bombay’s suburb Vile Parle. He was a migra nt worker\, often without a home\, and Dalit. His friends took his body to a cremation ground\, but only by trespassing it at night\, since Dalits w ere not allowed access to the cremation ground that offered traditional fu nerals for dominant caste Hindus. Seemingly unconnected\, the same year\, Legislative Councilmember of Bombay \;Purushottam G. Solanki\, with th e support of socialist Maniben Kara and theosophist Sophia Wadia\, introdu ced the proposal to have a public electric crematorium in the city which w ould be accessible to all. This paper links incidents of civil disobedienc e\, such as the one in Vile Parle\, to the political and social forces beh ind the establishment of Bombay’s first public electric crematorium. By an alyzing these acts of resistance within the broader context of labor and&n bsp\;anti-caste movements and a simultaneous comfort with new death techno logies\, the paper illuminates the complex interplay between public health infrastructure\, colonial governance and the struggle for social justice. The electric crematorium\, as a response to these tensions\, emerges as b oth a symbol of technological progress and a tool for social equality\, hi ghlighting the intertwined histories of caste\, technology and urban devel opment in colonial Bombay.Sohini Chattopadhyay (she/her) is assistant prof essor of history at Union College. Her current book project\, tentatively titled “Dead Labor: Comparative Histories of the Electric Crematorium in C olonial Bombay and Calcutta\,” tracks the intersections between technologi es and social histories to underscore the connected and divergent patterns of urbanization in South Asia. Chattopadhyay \;received a Ph.D. in hi story from Columbia University in 2023 and holds an M.A. from Jawaharlal N ehru University in New Delhi\, India. She was the founding-editor of the w eb journal Borderlines and is now developing its advisory board. She frequ ently contributes articles on public health\, social policies and South As ian history on digital media platforms. DTEND:20250211T190000Z DTSTAMP:20260511T205253Z DTSTART:20250211T173000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:A Subaltern Crematorium of India? Bombay\, 1918 – 1953 UID:RFCALITEM639141151732991317 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents \;Sohini Chattopadhyay\, assistant professor of history at Un ion College.

In May 1939\, a 20-year-old man died in Bombay’s suburb Vile Parle. He was a migrant worker\, often without a home\, and Dalit. H is friends took his body to a cremation ground\, but only by trespassing i t at night\, since Dalits were not allowed access to the cremation ground that offered traditional funerals for dominant caste Hindus. Seemingly unc onnected\, the same year\, Legislative Councilmember of Bombay \;Purus hottam G. Solanki\, with the support of socialist Maniben Kara and theosop hist Sophia Wadia\, introduced the proposal to have a public electric crem atorium in the city which would be accessible to all.

This paper li nks incidents of civil disobedience\, such as the one in Vile Parle\, to t he political and social forces behind the establishment of Bombay’s first public electric crematorium. By analyzing these acts of resistance within the broader context of labor and \;anti-caste movements and a simultan eous comfort with new death technologies\, the paper illuminates the compl ex interplay between public health infrastructure\, colonial governance an d the struggle for social justice. The electric crematorium\, as a respons e to these tensions\, emerges as both a symbol of technological progress a nd a tool for social equality\, highlighting the intertwined histories of caste\, technology and urban development in colonial Bombay.

Sohini Chattopadhyay (she/her) is assistant professor of history at Union College. Her current book project\, tentatively titled “Dead Lab or: Comparative Histories of the Electric Crematorium in Colonial Bombay a nd Calcutta\,” tracks the intersections between technologies and social hi stories to underscore the connected and divergent patterns of urbanization in South Asia.

Chattopadhyay \;received a Ph.D. in history fro m Columbia University in 2023 and holds an M.A. from Jawaharlal Nehru Univ ersity in New Delhi\, India. She was the founding-editor of the web journa l Borderlines and is now developing its advisory board. She frequently con tributes articles on public health\, social policies and South Asian histo ry on digital media platforms.

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