Sathyavathi captures the struggle of a Dalit woman in Telengana to survive and acquire an education in the face of overwhelming odds—grinding poverty, discrimination, violence. Sathyavathi captures the struggle of a Dalit woman in Telengana to survive and acquire an education in the face of overwhelming odds—grinding poverty, discrimination, violence. Her determination to go back to work for her community, her hard-won success, despite lack of political backing, and the hostility and intolerance she faced are testimony to the triumph of the human spirit. Without a trace of self-pity or rancour she recalls her life with dispassionate clarity and an irony that are exceptional.