Manoranjan Byapari has been a cook, a dishwasher, a helper at a crematorium, a naxalite and a rickshaw puller. Having learnt to read and write in prison, it was a chance meeting with Mahashweta Devi, that lead him to becoming a writer. Now with over fifteen novels, countless short stories and non-fiction pieces, Byapari is known as the ‘Pioneer of Dalit Literature’ in Bengal. Today, he is the winner of multiple awards for works that talk about the lives of the dispossessed and the oppressed. But in this conversation with SabrangIndia, Byapari refuses categories and labels. Watch the video here.