If I'd bothered to read my Lonely Planet a little more closely, or actually taken a class in Indian history, I might have known that the caste system is alive today. But since I mistakenly thought caste had been outlawed and know just about nothing, this is probably the first of many posts about the impact of the traditional caste system in India.
Although my professor told me at our first meeting that I would need to take a class to understand the social makeup of Indian society to conduct the research for my project, the notion of caste as a defining factor in people's lives today didn't strike me--that is until a university student told me that when he and his girlfriend fell in love, they could not marry because she was a Brahmin and he was not. It seems her father had listened to him politely and then said, "My daughter will never marry anyone who is not a Brahmin." That was the end of the relationship.
So what is a Brahmin?
In ancient times it is believed that Indian society was divided into four castes that sprang from the body of Brahma: Brahmins from the head (priests, intellectuals), Kshatrias from the shoulders (soldiers, rulers), Vaishyas from the thighs (agricultural workers and merchants), and Shudras from the feet (servants for the other three classes).
Excluded from the varna system altogether were Dalits (untouchables) who were not to be seen nor to see or hear any learning nor prayer because they would pollute it.
It's easy to parallel this system with the feudal system of Medieval Europe. In India, though, at some point, evidently, this system became a rigid hierarchical system used to govern. Some say that the British used this during their colonization to divide the Indian people and rule them.
Like many Americans I learned that discrimination against lower castes had been banned by the Indian constitution adopted in 1949. I interpreted that to mean that the system itself had been abolished. Not so. In 2007 India's Supreme Court ruled that social organization based on caste is inherited and cannot be changed. In my Social Stratification course, the professor stated that caste is a closed primordial identity.
If I were to translate this to contemporary American society, I might say that it would mean, I am an ethnically Irish woman. That is irrefutable; it is part of my identity. The Indian Constitutional Article 15 would simply state that I am not to be discriminated against because of this. It does not say that I am not ethnically Irish and female. The analogy, of course, is oversimplified because caste is also closely bound to occupation and social status whereas the historical restrictions of my status have not been a feature of bureaucratic government administration in the US.
Of course, it is a topic of much discussion and social unrest. Many Dalits have risen to positions of influence such as principal architect of the Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar and many others.
Government regulations are in place in India to reserve positions in universities and civic careers for the Dalit caste. These programs function somewhat like Affirmative Action in the US but are much more prescriptive.
So in this little post, I have discussed only the Indian/Hindu system of caste, and have not begun to touch upon religion, be it Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, or Zoroastrianism or tribal people of the subcontinent.
I wonder if you think we have a sort of caste system in the US? How fluid are our social classes? What role has affirmative action played in equalizing opportunity for historically disadvantaged groups to gain equality.
Feed me back:)
Although my professor told me at our first meeting that I would need to take a class to understand the social makeup of Indian society to conduct the research for my project, the notion of caste as a defining factor in people's lives today didn't strike me--that is until a university student told me that when he and his girlfriend fell in love, they could not marry because she was a Brahmin and he was not. It seems her father had listened to him politely and then said, "My daughter will never marry anyone who is not a Brahmin." That was the end of the relationship.
So what is a Brahmin?
In ancient times it is believed that Indian society was divided into four castes that sprang from the body of Brahma: Brahmins from the head (priests, intellectuals), Kshatrias from the shoulders (soldiers, rulers), Vaishyas from the thighs (agricultural workers and merchants), and Shudras from the feet (servants for the other three classes).
Excluded from the varna system altogether were Dalits (untouchables) who were not to be seen nor to see or hear any learning nor prayer because they would pollute it.
It's easy to parallel this system with the feudal system of Medieval Europe. In India, though, at some point, evidently, this system became a rigid hierarchical system used to govern. Some say that the British used this during their colonization to divide the Indian people and rule them.
Like many Americans I learned that discrimination against lower castes had been banned by the Indian constitution adopted in 1949. I interpreted that to mean that the system itself had been abolished. Not so. In 2007 India's Supreme Court ruled that social organization based on caste is inherited and cannot be changed. In my Social Stratification course, the professor stated that caste is a closed primordial identity.
If I were to translate this to contemporary American society, I might say that it would mean, I am an ethnically Irish woman. That is irrefutable; it is part of my identity. The Indian Constitutional Article 15 would simply state that I am not to be discriminated against because of this. It does not say that I am not ethnically Irish and female. The analogy, of course, is oversimplified because caste is also closely bound to occupation and social status whereas the historical restrictions of my status have not been a feature of bureaucratic government administration in the US.
Of course, it is a topic of much discussion and social unrest. Many Dalits have risen to positions of influence such as principal architect of the Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar and many others.
Government regulations are in place in India to reserve positions in universities and civic careers for the Dalit caste. These programs function somewhat like Affirmative Action in the US but are much more prescriptive.
So in this little post, I have discussed only the Indian/Hindu system of caste, and have not begun to touch upon religion, be it Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, or Zoroastrianism or tribal people of the subcontinent.
I wonder if you think we have a sort of caste system in the US? How fluid are our social classes? What role has affirmative action played in equalizing opportunity for historically disadvantaged groups to gain equality.
Feed me back:)
How do you know what class you are in? Are you automatically born into the class, or do you have to be assigned so? If you are in a specific class can you work your way up somehow? I do think it was interesting how they won't even allow certain types of classes to marry their son/daughter.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article is seems to be a little crazy in India. Due to the fact of the discrimination towards other social classes and religions and family background. If we compare that into the U.S I think that US has discrimination towards races but in no means any religion or family background.THe question that I have is hoe did all of this start in India to get this way and being dragged on this long.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the point of banning discrimination against lower castes when today, it is still acceptable and held up by the 2007 Supreme Court Case? Do the number of people in each caste vary greatly?
ReplyDeleteThough it was a surprised when I found out that the caste system is still around, the real shock is that the people actually follow it. People usually follow social norms but I did not know they would follow it to the point where it affects whom one marries. My question is why the millennials are not saying anything about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me most in this post was how the Supreme Court of India officially stated that caste is an inherited identity of a person. That even though the law protects an individual's caste from discrimination, it does not deny that it is a part of the individual's identity. I understand this concept in terms of race, that it should never be a reason for discrimination but it is a part of who you are and your identity. Yet, to have a man made caste system be an inherit piece of your identity feels strange to me. In the U.S., I think there are parallels in terms of social class. As discussed in the post, Affirmative Action has been a step towards bringing equality to those who have been historically disadvantaged in our society. I think our caste system is more fluid and is less of a fixed caste but stereotypes that are associated with certain groups. I mean by this that certain races and groups of people are expected to work in certain career clusters. Specifically immigrants are known to work in factories and in the past Chinese on the railways. These stereotypes stem from the our history that includes waves of many immigrants. Today, I think Affirmative Action has worked towards these stereotypes being broken and rethought. So, while the caste system still thrives in India, I think the “caste” in the U.S. is being revised.
ReplyDeleteThese show how important social class seems to be in india and how different we are to india in the U.S we don't really have great discrimination of social classes but in India it seems to be you're saying whos better on social class. Why do they care so much yet India is still having so many poverty issues.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a say in what class you join? Are you hand selected or random? Is there any way you can change what level you are at. I really find it interesting that people have such prominent social classes and great discrimination.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that they don't discriminate the classes because it's illegal. It reminds me on how different the laws are. I want to know more why these law pass
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised you?
ReplyDelete-What surprised me was how its illegal in India to discriminate between social classes since I would think for a religion that is more serious with rules and boundaries that it would be legal to discriminate between social classes. Another thing that surprised me is that you aren't allowed to marry someone that is not in the same social class as you.
What are you reminded of in your own experience with this entry?
-With this entry, it reminds me of how here in america, we too are categorized by social classes by how much money we have in our families or the money we make ourselves. In America, these classes are classified as first class, middle class, and the homeless/ the poor. However, the difference with the classes here in the U.S is that anybody could talk to anybody it doesn't matter what social class you are from, you are free to do whatever you want as well as marry whoever you want.
What would you like to know more about?
-I would like to know more about what would happen if a person who belonged to the the Dalits (untouchables) were to be seen and prayed, what would happen to them?
Castes system despite being illegal apparently still a pretty common thing. What new generations think about it?
ReplyDeleteI find it surprising that regardless of the negative impact that this caste system can bring, like discrimination, they cannot fully get rid of it because it has been inherited by so many people for a significant amount of time. Its easy to see a connection not directly to myself but the US as a whole. We also have social classes, upper class, middle class and lower class that do bring some differences between the people that are in each class. Although we have differences in these classes, they don't necessarily hold us back from marrying a certain person or even working towards a certain goal. I would like to learn more about each level of the caste system and the characteristics of the people within each tier.
ReplyDelete