Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Castes in India

Read an article related to castes in India and why they prevail in politics,  most importantly, unlike other countries.  There were several surprising facts in that article. In India people of different castes have different cultures and this has significant effect on individuals. For example, if you list down the top ten rich people in India they mostly belong to Baniya caste(8 among 10!) . There is an honour element in every caste. Jats consider murdering their daughters, who have deviated as an honour so they do it ,but in case of Baniyas it is not considered as an honour so they don't see any point in doing it. In a similar way Brahmins take honour in studying hard and becoming a good employee instead of becoming an entrepreneur like a Baniya. Modern society has overshadowed certain aspects related to castes and made it difficult for some castes to follow certain rituals.  They no longer hesitate to dine together, which was considered as becoming polluted in earlier days. But the matrimonial aspect mostly remains intact as people of one culture(similar habits etc) tend to get attracted(families). If it is a love marriage, it is entirely a different issue(Love is Blind, remember!). In a similar way, in politics castes have played an important roles in India.  It is because of the fear that leaders create among people through media. They brain wash people saying they will be doomed if a guy belonging to another caste gets elected. Using this fear factor, leaders in India succeeded in rallying people belonging to a caste by showcasing themselves as their friend because of the many similarities between them and they end up winning if they belong to a majority caste group in a region. This practice cannot be eradicated abruptly. It will take some time for the modern society to overshadow the caste system completely in India. May be 50 years or more! I hope I will live long to see that!

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