B.R. Ambedkar was born in 1891 into an ?Untouchable? family of modest means. One of India?s most radical thinkers, he transformed the social and political landscape in the struggle against British colonialism. He was a prolific writer who oversaw the drafting of the Indian Constitution and served as India?s first Law Minister. In 1935, he publicly declared that though he was born a Hindu, he would not die as one. Ambedkar eventually embraced Buddhism, a few months before his death in 1956. Arundhati Roy is the author of the novels The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, and several collections of political writings.