Don't be scared...this is not a super-serious political article..its not even a social critique or analysis or something...its just some simple common sense...the title is just a take on Dr. Ambedkar's book- The Annhiliation of the Indian Caste System...I used that because I didn't wanna use the often used punny (Fun intended) lines like 'caste off'' or 'caste away'.
Anyways, I chose the word Neutralization instead of Annhilation because annhilation means total destruction meaning that two opposing forces must equally be consumed in this process...I use the word Neutralization not just because it sounds fancy when FBI people use it in Hollywood movies but because annihilation of the caste system might be a distant dream, taking a milder yet more efficient approach to it might be a solution.
I must confess that I have never read Dr. Ambedkar's book but of whatever I have read about it..it seems that one of his primary suggestions was Intercaste marriage...the government also promotes this and while this does look a good idea on paper and slowly most Indians are opening up to the idea..but still its not a solution...just because it is permitted doesn't mean its compulsory...besides marriage is a personal decision..nobody marries believing that they are out to eradicate the caste system. The second and most controversial solution was that of reservations (although originally meant by the great man for a limited period)...but more on that later on.
Let's first see the basic reason that discrimination still exists...and by discrimination I just dont mean so-called 'upper' caste discriminating against so-called 'lower' castes...I for one reason do not and will never believe the term 'reverse' discrimination...discrimination is discrimination...doesnt matter if its upward, downward or sideways...and I think discriminating against someone just because your forefathers were discriminated against in the past is just plain bullshit...its like raping someones daughter just because he raped yours...you cant hold someone's descendants responsible for the acts of their ancestors. And am sure you have recognized that I belong to a caste which is being constantly blamed for casteism...but I feel this is discrimination in itself. I only respect people based on their actions and if you discriminate against me, dont expect me to feel sorry for you or give a damn about what collective bullshit your ancestors took. If you blame a particular caste for discrimination...You are no better than those who oppressed you. Its an endless cycle then...it will keep going on and on.
Sorry for the strong words...but this is what I hate...we are holding on to something we should have let go of a long time ago...and am not just blaming others...myself included...we still have traits of casteism in us...everybody is proud of belonging to a certain caste..even though we might not go as far as not drinking water from the same source...but still thinking of bringing some other caste girlfriend or boyfriend home is like an episode of Fear Factor...only that sleeping on a bed of live scorpions is less nerve-wrecking.
And also please stop blaming just politicians for casteism too...they make use of it, only because it exists in our mind. You are personally responsible and you have to fight it.To fight casteism we must attack the thing that still acts as the identifying factor of a caste. Fighting racism is compartively easy...because racism is based on certain apparent physical characters like skin color or facial features..but how do we identify whether someone belongs to a particular caste...a few streotypes like all Brahmins are vegeterians (nowhere in the original Vedas does it mention that Brahmins should be vegeterians) or somebody being a Buddhist is automatically assumed to be a Dalit..these things are indicators..but the real distinguishing factors that activate our bias sensors are- Surnames...or last names if you prefer.
Yes...I can tell you surnames are like the 90% of the reason casteism still exists (I came up with that statistic because it sounds damn cool). In India, we hold on to our last names like they are trophies of the past...each and everyone of us including someone with a surname like Dhungne (thats a real surname) will try and find something about their family name to be proud of. We try and find greatness in our last names for we cannot find greatness in our individual actions.
Imagine the moment you hear someones name and surname, one part of your brain starts looking through the caste files for identification. Its become such a habit that its almost instinctive the way it happens.
So whats the solution you ask?...drop surnames...no thats impractical and stupid...the solutions I propose are not idealistic but real...adopt other caste surnames. Well that is already happening you might say...people adopting surnames which exclusively belonged to certain castes in the past...its good..but still thats not a solution. Thats like the Taliban changing their name to the Nazi party. The name changes but the purpose somewhat remains the same...In this case, to try and become part of an exclusive group.
The actual solution would be to start adopting caste-'neutral' surnames (yes there is a pun in the title after all...why would you even think I would write a title without a pun..thats stupid).
What?? Drop the surnames you said?!! yes I did...seems impractical...not really...seems radical...absolutely it is...radical solutions are what are needed to end this centuries old bullcrap.
See even the idea of doing that feels to us as the equivalent of pissing on the graves of our ancestors...its blasphemy in India to even think of changing your last name to something insignificant...even more blasphemous than changing your religion...have you realized most people who convert to other religions never change their surname. Thats how messed up we are..thats how addicted we are..we are ready adopt an entirely new approach to life...but give up our surnames...no, never! (I personally dont consider anything as blasphemous as I follow my own personal religion, so no offense to any converts intended)
Imagine if you had a surname like Bharati or Bhartiya or something like Manav..or any regional surname with -kar suffix attached (Rashinkar,Gavhankar etc...as is common in Maharashtra..some people from south also directly use the name of their native place)....nobody could easily tell what caste you belonged to. (that would result in some regional bias...but infinetly better than casteism for the moment)
I know the next set of words that come to your mind are..if you are so sure of the solution why havent you done it yourself...well, am a part of this stupidity I must confess...I have realized the solution but we are so deeply ingrained with this feeling that as for you its hard even for me to think about it...perhaps if I was some influential figure...and me doing something like this could inspire thousands to do it...then maybe I would get the conviction to think about it. Believe me, it takes truckloads of courage to just even write something like this. Am not boasting, am just making sure you understand the context.
I do realize that this is not the only solution but this is merely one of the many steps in the process to Neutralize casteism...we could begin with baby steps like giving first names more importance on all application forms and drop this very Indian system of writing your name in the LAST NAME FIRST NAME FATHERS NAME format (Bacchan Amitabh Harivanshrai) on most forms...or probably use the south Indian system of using just the Initials of your surnames on ID cards..for eg V. Shantaram...N. Chandra...L. Subramaniam...another easily socially acceptable step would be to start using the first name of you father/mother/grandfather or anyone ancestor as your last name. Imagine if we got the courage to slowly graduate to caste-neutral surnames...in just two generations our children wont be able to remember what caste does the surname Patil or Joshi belong to.
Of course we would have our government to remind them of their caste by asking them to write it in their school/college admission forms. Which brings me to the second step of this neutralization plan..but I think this is enough controversy for one post. I will let the tension die down then drop the second bomb (of enlightenment!).
Till then, try and free your mind and dont teach young kids why their surname is the most important thing about them.Think about this, nobody remembers what Alexander's or Chanakya's surname was. Peace...
DISCLAIMER- I feel I should give a disclaimer because caste is still a very sensitive issue...but I mean no offense to any particular caste or religion. I hate hatred in all its forms and am willing to fight it as radically as possible.The strong language used here is only and only meant for strong impact because we have too many value education book like articles with softy language that sound impractical and preachy. Also please feel free to find all kinds of faults with this solution but propose a better one for each fault that you find...and once again all the humor is not intended to be offensive but intended to be striking.
Anyways, I chose the word Neutralization instead of Annhilation because annhilation means total destruction meaning that two opposing forces must equally be consumed in this process...I use the word Neutralization not just because it sounds fancy when FBI people use it in Hollywood movies but because annihilation of the caste system might be a distant dream, taking a milder yet more efficient approach to it might be a solution.
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| Annhilation |
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| Neutralization |
I must confess that I have never read Dr. Ambedkar's book but of whatever I have read about it..it seems that one of his primary suggestions was Intercaste marriage...the government also promotes this and while this does look a good idea on paper and slowly most Indians are opening up to the idea..but still its not a solution...just because it is permitted doesn't mean its compulsory...besides marriage is a personal decision..nobody marries believing that they are out to eradicate the caste system. The second and most controversial solution was that of reservations (although originally meant by the great man for a limited period)...but more on that later on.
Let's first see the basic reason that discrimination still exists...and by discrimination I just dont mean so-called 'upper' caste discriminating against so-called 'lower' castes...I for one reason do not and will never believe the term 'reverse' discrimination...discrimination is discrimination...doesnt matter if its upward, downward or sideways...and I think discriminating against someone just because your forefathers were discriminated against in the past is just plain bullshit...its like raping someones daughter just because he raped yours...you cant hold someone's descendants responsible for the acts of their ancestors. And am sure you have recognized that I belong to a caste which is being constantly blamed for casteism...but I feel this is discrimination in itself. I only respect people based on their actions and if you discriminate against me, dont expect me to feel sorry for you or give a damn about what collective bullshit your ancestors took. If you blame a particular caste for discrimination...You are no better than those who oppressed you. Its an endless cycle then...it will keep going on and on.
Sorry for the strong words...but this is what I hate...we are holding on to something we should have let go of a long time ago...and am not just blaming others...myself included...we still have traits of casteism in us...everybody is proud of belonging to a certain caste..even though we might not go as far as not drinking water from the same source...but still thinking of bringing some other caste girlfriend or boyfriend home is like an episode of Fear Factor...only that sleeping on a bed of live scorpions is less nerve-wrecking.
 |
| Eating live scorpions while doing weights is easier than convincing your family about an inter-caste marriage |
And also please stop blaming just politicians for casteism too...they make use of it, only because it exists in our mind. You are personally responsible and you have to fight it.To fight casteism we must attack the thing that still acts as the identifying factor of a caste. Fighting racism is compartively easy...because racism is based on certain apparent physical characters like skin color or facial features..but how do we identify whether someone belongs to a particular caste...a few streotypes like all Brahmins are vegeterians (nowhere in the original Vedas does it mention that Brahmins should be vegeterians) or somebody being a Buddhist is automatically assumed to be a Dalit..these things are indicators..but the real distinguishing factors that activate our bias sensors are- Surnames...or last names if you prefer.
Yes...I can tell you surnames are like the 90% of the reason casteism still exists (I came up with that statistic because it sounds damn cool). In India, we hold on to our last names like they are trophies of the past...each and everyone of us including someone with a surname like Dhungne (thats a real surname) will try and find something about their family name to be proud of. We try and find greatness in our last names for we cannot find greatness in our individual actions.
Imagine the moment you hear someones name and surname, one part of your brain starts looking through the caste files for identification. Its become such a habit that its almost instinctive the way it happens.
So whats the solution you ask?...drop surnames...no thats impractical and stupid...the solutions I propose are not idealistic but real...adopt other caste surnames. Well that is already happening you might say...people adopting surnames which exclusively belonged to certain castes in the past...its good..but still thats not a solution. Thats like the Taliban changing their name to the Nazi party. The name changes but the purpose somewhat remains the same...In this case, to try and become part of an exclusive group.
The actual solution would be to start adopting caste-'neutral' surnames (yes there is a pun in the title after all...why would you even think I would write a title without a pun..thats stupid).
What?? Drop the surnames you said?!! yes I did...seems impractical...not really...seems radical...absolutely it is...radical solutions are what are needed to end this centuries old bullcrap.
See even the idea of doing that feels to us as the equivalent of pissing on the graves of our ancestors...its blasphemy in India to even think of changing your last name to something insignificant...even more blasphemous than changing your religion...have you realized most people who convert to other religions never change their surname. Thats how messed up we are..thats how addicted we are..we are ready adopt an entirely new approach to life...but give up our surnames...no, never! (I personally dont consider anything as blasphemous as I follow my own personal religion, so no offense to any converts intended)
Imagine if you had a surname like Bharati or Bhartiya or something like Manav..or any regional surname with -kar suffix attached (Rashinkar,Gavhankar etc...as is common in Maharashtra..some people from south also directly use the name of their native place)....nobody could easily tell what caste you belonged to. (that would result in some regional bias...but infinetly better than casteism for the moment)
I know the next set of words that come to your mind are..if you are so sure of the solution why havent you done it yourself...well, am a part of this stupidity I must confess...I have realized the solution but we are so deeply ingrained with this feeling that as for you its hard even for me to think about it...perhaps if I was some influential figure...and me doing something like this could inspire thousands to do it...then maybe I would get the conviction to think about it. Believe me, it takes truckloads of courage to just even write something like this. Am not boasting, am just making sure you understand the context.
I do realize that this is not the only solution but this is merely one of the many steps in the process to Neutralize casteism...we could begin with baby steps like giving first names more importance on all application forms and drop this very Indian system of writing your name in the LAST NAME FIRST NAME FATHERS NAME format (Bacchan Amitabh Harivanshrai) on most forms...or probably use the south Indian system of using just the Initials of your surnames on ID cards..for eg V. Shantaram...N. Chandra...L. Subramaniam...another easily socially acceptable step would be to start using the first name of you father/mother/grandfather or anyone ancestor as your last name. Imagine if we got the courage to slowly graduate to caste-neutral surnames...in just two generations our children wont be able to remember what caste does the surname Patil or Joshi belong to.
Of course we would have our government to remind them of their caste by asking them to write it in their school/college admission forms. Which brings me to the second step of this neutralization plan..but I think this is enough controversy for one post. I will let the tension die down then drop the second bomb (of enlightenment!).
Till then, try and free your mind and dont teach young kids why their surname is the most important thing about them.Think about this, nobody remembers what Alexander's or Chanakya's surname was. Peace...
 |
| "The name is 'TheGreat'...Alexander 'TheGreat'... " |
DISCLAIMER- I feel I should give a disclaimer because caste is still a very sensitive issue...but I mean no offense to any particular caste or religion. I hate hatred in all its forms and am willing to fight it as radically as possible.The strong language used here is only and only meant for strong impact because we have too many value education book like articles with softy language that sound impractical and preachy. Also please feel free to find all kinds of faults with this solution but propose a better one for each fault that you find...and once again all the humor is not intended to be offensive but intended to be striking.
We south Indians are fortunate enough to have scores of reformers, so the problem of caste is not that serious here as compared to UP, Bihar, Harya, W.Bengal. Reservation policy is making it more stronger. It is easy to say that suppressed should get priority. But a person from young generation is baffled to see this dicrimination on the caste basis. Now present govt. is giving facilities on the basis of religion. Central FM Mr.Chidambaram's opening senetence while presenting budget in the parliament was that he is keeping xxxxxxx amount for backward class, yyyyyyyyy amount for minorities. Prime minister of India says minorities has the first right towards the resources of India. Where we are going! Tell me one facility Hindu is getting due to his Majority status. Hindu is divided due to caste system & reservations. Nation will be divided on the basis of religion if the process of giving facilities on the basis of religion continues with this speed. Ghost is already out of the bottle, it's very difficult to make it in again. So, forget caste talk about religion. In India we are Muslims, Chritians, Buddha, Jain, Sikkh or Hindu! Nobody is Indian. Same as we are Brahmin, Maratha, Sonar, Kumbhar & so on but we are not Hindus! 2012 wasn't a doom's day but it seems it's not that far!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you my friend...but at the same time I agree that minorities do need help..but i think its necessary to define the term minority..and in my book, it should mean someone who lacks resource necessary for satisfaction of basic needs...and as you rightly said religious bias is an issue but it has been an issue in each and every nation on earth...it needs to be addressed obviously, but its a much grander issue and cannot be neutralized that easily...caste system though is a big issue..it can be eradicated in like 50 years or so, if we take the right efforts.
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