Scent of Segregation: Exploring Olfactory Discrimination and Caste in India

Abstract

“These Paravan people have a particular Paravan smell,” remarks Baby Kochamma, a character in The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, directed towards Vellya Paapen, an “untouchable” carpenter employed in their household. The Paravan caste, considered untouchable within the social hierarchy, becomes the target of Baby Kochamma’s derogatory comment: one that exposes how olfactory prejudice intersects with caste. Although fictional, Roy’s narrative vividly reflects the sensory and symbolic dimensions of caste discrimination in India. The notion of “smell” here operates both literally and metaphorically, representing the visceral ways in which caste bias is experienced and enforced. This embodiment reflects the stigma and dehumanization that Dalits endure, being perceived by upper-caste individuals as inherently tainted. Baby Kochamma’s remark underscores the normalization of casteist attitudes that persist through everyday sensory encounters. This paper examines how smells in rural and urban India are recognized, regulated, and tied to specific social roles and identities through the lens of sensory politics. It further explores the gendered dimensions of olfactory discrimination by analyzing how subaltern women and men differently negotiate and are affected by sensory environments. Through literary analysis, historical inquiry, and sociological critique, the study identifies smell as a powerful, underexplored sensory dimension that both reflects and reinforces social hierarchies.