India's Silent Divider
One of my friends, whom I'll call Ambheem, used to refer to me as "Hey, Naidu" instead of my real name or nickname. I didn't realize until later on that it was a subtle insult. It's strange to think that someone who loved and respected me could have an unconscious bias against me. I didn't question it at the time due to my ignorance of the caste system's pervasive nature in Indian Hindu society, manifesting consciously or unconsciously. My parents taught me from an early age that there was indeed a caste hierarchy and that the so-called upper castes tended to do better academically, as though the only explanation for their academic success was some racial or divine endowment. However, I didn't take it too seriously until my mother asked me to serve tea to construction workers in a different set of cups and saucers, one too many times in my life. Those workers were presumably not from an upper caste. It then crystallized how deeply ingrained the caste constructs were at play in our so-called polite society, and it wasn't just a malaise of rural India as it was sold to me. Here's a funny and ironic anecdote within this serious discussion - Even though my family belonged to the lower thirds of this caste hierarchy (much less a so-called upper caste), my parents still felt superior to those below us on this imaginary totem pole. They did not treat those perceived to be below us as equals. Such was the absurdity of this entire social construct.
What is caste? I Wikipedia'd it for you:
A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), follow lifestyles often linked to a particular occupation, hold a ritual status observed within a hierarchy, and interact with others based on cultural notions of exclusion, with certain castes considered as either more pure or more polluted than others. Its paradigmatic ethnographic example is the division of India's Hindu society into rigid social groups. Its roots lie in South Asia's ancient history, and it still exists. However, the economic significance of India's caste system has declined due to urbanization and affirmative action programs. A subject of much scholarship by sociologists and anthropologists, the Hindu caste system is sometimes used as an analogical basis for studying caste-like social divisions outside Hinduism and India. The term "caste" is also applied to morphological groupings in eusocial insects such as ants, bees, and termites.
As a result of the caste system, privileges were historically bestowed upon the so-called upper castes, causing division and social stratification and preventing access to certain professions, education, and marriage.
How did our learned forebears fail to eliminate this deleterious and damaging social construct? The answer could lie between inertia, societal procrastination, to a lack of a serious intellectual examination within ourselves, and a lack of imagination and unwillingness to live in a more egalitarian, equitable society (sometimes divisions deliberately stoked by bad actors for self-serving reasons). I wish to take a charitable view and steelman these caste constructs - Hence, here's one: a worldhistory.org article on caste enumerates the logic behind caste in the following way: "The main idea is that such order in a society would lead to contentment, perpetual peace, wilful adherence to the law, wilful deterrence from all misconduct."
Aside from the definition provided above, what kind of reckoning with caste would a middle-class "Other Backward Class" (OBC) member like myself possibly expect to contend with? Unfortunately, casteism was and is quite socially pervasive from ignorant friends to family members, some to pejoratively describe a particular social group, but most knowing or unknowing bigots use it as a dog-whistling term, i.e., primarily toward members of the lower castes perpetuating all sorts of discriminatory practices against those within this system. As one might have surmised, the unmeritocratic nature of this system further deepens social divides, pitting one group against the other. For instance, it's possible that some qualified individuals may not be included in corporate promotions or hiring, as they may be unconsciously excluded based on this immutable label and the tropes that those labels usually connote.
What needs to be done? I believe in implementing successful ideas from other societies to improve our own when possible. However, we need a societal shift in our thinking to address deep-seated injustices truly. While affirmative action and legislative actions can and have helped in some ways, they haven't demonstrated that they can eradicate these divisive constructs from our hearts and minds. We can see the Enlightenment movement as an example of what a large-scale intellectual shift can accomplish. This movement brought about significant changes in social power structures, leading to greater individual empowerment and rights, scientific advancements, and reduced church influence. The results were transformative, including a scientific and industrial revolution, abolition of slavery, improved health outcomes, and decreased poverty. We need a similar shift in thinking to create a more equitable and prosperous society.
Do we have the willpower to take action now? Recent events suggest that being vague and abstract is no longer an option. We need to write those blogs, perhaps engage in rigorous intellectual debates on long-form podcasts, publicly support philosophers, standup comedians, and honest politicians in their honest endeavors to shed light on these matters, publicly and legislatively keep in check any misleading media reporting, seriously question our core beliefs as citizens of this great land in a retrospective honest manner with a bias to action and so on. Through these idea-exchange platforms, the best ones usually prevail and spread; if history has taught us anything, Salons were instrumental in catalyzing thought before and during the French Revolution. We should seriously consider improving literacy for the lowest earning and lowest in our social strata, not only in reading and writing but also in critical thinking, science, health, reason, and logical literacy. Many bad actors among us often hatch sinister plans and most successfully prey on the illiterate due to the inherent vulnerabilities of being illiterate. It is imperative to stop this daylight crime!
Cynics often lament, "India will not change for another x00 years", so why bother with anything if we aren't serious about dismantling these artificial limiting constructs? I firmly believe the time has come to seize the moment with the internet age to make it imperative for the members of a thriving and pluralistic society like ours to continue to endeavor and persevere with a tenacity like none other; after all, close to 1 in 5 humans is an Indian! What other burning fire usurps this challenge for us? Could you imagine a more united India? What a deathblow it would be to the bigots, selfishly corrupt operatives, and so on who are nonetheless in the minority but are the "tail that wags the dog!"
Love, Peace, and Cheers.
The Curious Nobody