[2] The title of the novel is from the translated title of the poem "I Have Become the Tide" by JV Pawar,[2] and a translated excerpt appears in the epigraph of the book: In the acknowledgments section, Hariharan writes the novel was "born out of the conviction that no writer can engage with life in India today without taking a stand, in some modest way, on the terrible inequalities that continue to ravage the lives of so many of our fellow citizens.

"[6] The novel is written with three narratives, described by Rogini Mohite in The Hong Kong Review as each "incorporat[ing] histories of Dalit resistance to the caste system which has historically subjugated and segregated them to the social and economic margins, labelling them 'Untouchables', over thousands of years.

"[4] According to Saudamini Jain in a review for the Hindustan Times, the book is "a well-meaning novel – even if its three inter-linked narratives are essentially oversimplified knock-offs of the stories of Rohith Vemula, MM Kalburgi and a 12th century Bhakti movement.

"[9] In a review for The Hindu, Latha Anantharaman writes, "The experiences of the three students in I Have Become the Tide will ring true for anyone who has faced discrimination in an educational institution.

"[10] In a review for Scroll.in, Harsh Mander writes that "The book fittingly ends with a contemporary Dalit rising, patterned after the Bhim Army.