CASTE ASIDE

By Christine Jayakaran

We were in Jaipur for a family holiday and had the best time. The sheer magnitude of history in that place is astounding and gave me so much to think about. Turns out my oldest is also a history buff so he was like a sponge just absorbing everything around him. We were fortunate to have an exceptional guide who was a history grad and who worked with the government in the tourism ministry. You could see he was passionate about his work in the way he explained the history of each place and the way he fired out facts about the century in which things were built and by whom and with what intent. I thought he was pulling a fast one on us until I googled the things he was saying and boy was he right on the money! He was also really well informed about all the best shopping spots were we could get quality stuff at wholesale rates. He made the trip better just because he knew what he was saying and he was sincere in his desire to guide us. There was one thing though that got under my skin. The first day he met us, in passing conversation mentioned, how he was from a high caste (a priestly one at that), to which my husband and I had no real response since it had nothing to do with our current conversation with him.

On the remaining 2 days of the tour he would at some point bring up his so-called high caste and attest to how that dictated his every decision, his lifestyle and his diet! It was hilarious for us because we, at no point looked at him or anyone through the cracked lens of caste. To us, he seemed like a genuinely good man and that's about the gist of it. We had long conversations with him about his family, the way of life in Jaipur and all things history related. There was never a need for caste to be included but it somehow kept creeping back into the conversation.

I was reminded of my first few weeks in Chennai after moving from Bangalore in 2000. I was still figuring out school life in a new city when a classmate (trying to be friendly) asked me what my caste was! I remember staring at her because I didn't even know what she meant by that. A few years later I was finishing up college at a popular college in the city so I had to go to the college office to fill up some forms for our closing certificates. One of the forms had a series of questions about caste followed by boxes having a bunch of letters like FC, BC, SC and OC. I just checked option D because that's what you do in a multiple choice exam right? One of my classmates was watching me check this option and immediately stopped me by saying there was no way I was such and such. She insisted that I uncheck that option and fill out the form after figuring out from my parents what my true caste was?!?

This is India for you though right? I shudder to think what ancient India was like if modern India has this niggling menace. I mean, we are educated people with huge world-views thanks to the World Wide Web for crying out loud! Humanity's issues are so big and so urgent that when caste is brought up it makes you want to shake the person up. It makes you want to say, hey what's the point of all your studying and all those degrees if you can't look past this petty issue. The way I see it is that since the caste system was created by man it can only be decimated by man.

If we wait for that future spouse from only our 'caste' hey we might have to wait a long time! Do you get excited when you are around people of just your ''caste'? It maybe time to expand your circle and grow your mind to see the wonder that is found in the diversity of mankind. Do you like mentioning your 'caste division and sub division' when you're with acquaintances any chance you get? I genuinely pity these people who may never graduate to being actual friends with you! Are you numb and barely bothered by the caste based violence that gets more obvious in our country? You need to wake up and smell the stench of bias and hate!

What's the remedy to this divisive issue that plagues our country? I know I can't over simplify such a long standing problem in a few words or with a few suggestions. Like someone once said everyone can't do everything but everyone can do something. So we as individuals can make a few intentional decisions. We don't have to feature caste in our conversations, we can educate our family and children about this distasteful issue and we can seek to learn about and befriend people from every race, creed, ethnicity and background. Our lives will be richer for it I promise you!