Academic and writer Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd advised university students and scholars to steer clear of unsuccessful love affairs between dominant and oppressed castes and focus on studies instead.

The time is not yet ripe for fruitful relationships between these castes, and getting distracted by love could be disastrous at a stage when one ought to build one’s life, the well-known political and social theorist said during a discussion on his book From a Shepherd Boy To an Intellectual—My Memoirs at University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Monday.

Though there are exemplary women such as Amritha from Miryalaguda and Sakshi Mishra from Uttar Pradesh, who fought all the odds to be with the love of their lives, it should be remembered that they had to suffer immensely. Drawing from his own experience, he said though he had an unsuccessful love story, he did not waste time moping over it.

He advised students to gain intellectual capabilities and write autobiographies from their own respective social perspectives.

Annihilation of caste should be strived for through dignity of labour, spiritual equality and common food culture so that marriages between dominant and Dalit castes become acceptable without parents resorting to honour killings.

The main drive of the discussion, attended by former Chief Secretary of united Andhra Pradesh, Kaki Madhava Rao, senior civil servant Akunuri Murali and academic Bheenaveni Ram Shepherd, was relevance of Prof. Ilaiah’s book to students coming from rural areas and belonging oppressed castes in enhancing their morale.