One of the most interesting and complex aspects of being "on the fringe" of the cultural discourse is not necessarily not being heard. As bad as it is, that still at the very least leaves an option to be ignored which is painful and frustrating but there is a frank sincerity in being hurt and angry.
When one's identity is defined by someone else in combination with inability to be heard, it becomes a full-scale tragedy. Illaiah gives countless arguments to why the culture he grew up in is distinct and very vaguely connected to "Hindu Culture" but at the core of it lays not only the frustration that his culture is crammed with a wide, overly broad term but also with the fact that the issue of his identity seems to be settled. He IS Hindu for the foreigners, for his teachers, for his state and for other Hindus themselves (he is just a wrong kind).
Ok