Ever since I've returned to Rajkot, I've been getting this
uneasy feeling. The feeling you get when unknown people, people you’re meeting
for the first time, want to know your caste. I left this city after I completed
school and at that age, I didn't care about all this, but now that I observe
peoples’ behaviour, I realize that casteism is still very much prevalent in our
society even though we might say that we've progressed beyond all this
religious fervour and now we are secular and all that tripe.
Ever since I've started working, I have had to go and meet
clients personally or talk to people before an interview or just basically meet
a lot of people. I've observed that at least 20% of those people ask me my
caste. I chuckle inside my head and tell them of my Gujarati heritage even
though I’m a fourth generation convert. But, in retrospect, it’s quite
disconcerting to see them nod in acknowledgement to my response because
apparently, my family used to be in the upper-caste warrior class scheme of
things. I wonder if it’s the same case everywhere, because the city of Rajkot
is the third-highest in development in the state of Gujarat and if this is the
case here, I shudder to think of what must be happening in other backward areas
of this state and country.
Do people decide the character of others on basis of their
religion and caste?
Are important decisions made taking castes into
consideration?
Are business deals made this way?
Are alliances formed on the basis of such archaic
traditions?
If that is the case, then I now understand how politicians
and other so-called heads of the society manage to divide the people into
groups for their own advantage. I now understand how self-serving
fundamentalists manage to bring strife among the people by playing the caste
card. I also understand how certain people take up the mantle of the
lower-caste and rise to power on the wave of fervour under their feet.
The things that I've observed in the past month are very
disturbing to me and I hope it is to you too, because if it’s not, I fear for
the future of this country.
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