Caste - Ironed

The Hindu religion is divided into 4 castes – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas & Shudras. The Brhamins and Kshatriyas are the upper castes while the latter 2 belong to the lower caste. Without getting into much details regarding how even these castes came into existence, what’s important here is that they have been here for more than 3000years since the time of Rig Veda.

Brahmins & Kshatriyas formed the forceful ruling class with primarily two functions– the former having the power of intellectual coercion while the latter with the rights to physical coercion – and were indeed collateral in nature. In fact many times in history the two functions have been performed by one and the same stratum of the ruling class. The demarcation of the ruling class and the working class had developed primarily based on skin colour – which we would describe today as racist. The ruling class was considered the more powerful lot. On the whole the ruling class – comprising of the Brahmins and Kshatriyas – were more of a functional division with the opportunity of horizontal mobility among themselves, which not only meant there were inter-ruling-caste marriages but even professions were interchanged and adopted as circumstances demanded. The social organization was fluid within the ruling class. {The third Mandala of the Rigveda is mostly the composition of the Visvamitras... Bhargava Jamaldagni (a Brahmin) became a warrior. His son, Parasu Ram, was a renowned fighter}. Meanwhile, a sub-caste/ethnic-group within this ruling class & normally considered as from Brahmin background, Kāyastha or Kayasth – are said in the Vedas and Puranas to have a dual-caste status (mixture of Brahmin-man and Kshatriya-woman) & considered one of the rare sects who are referred to as direct “blood” progeny of a Vedic God in the religious texts

As I have grown up over the years, I have stayed in societies within India which have been primarily multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-caste and in all probable ways cosmopolitan. To name a few of these societies – Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and not to say the least XLRI-Jamshedpur. Just thinking of ways, I grew up in Renukoot a rather nondescript town in a corner of UP, where my neighbors have been Keralite Brahmins, U.P Muslims, Goanese Christians or for that matter a house where the son had married a Russian. So, the idea of strict cultural or religious fencing especially drawn upon the Hindu based caste system never dawned upon me. It’s only now that I have started grasping the idea of the Hindu religion and its subjugation of people by caste. During recent times, I have had a scope of a more meaningful reflection into what the, now objurgated across a sect of educated elite, caste system means for Indians.

My scope of the caste introspection arises from the opportunity to look into the Indian marriage system from rather close quarters, where caste has played a central role since ages. Although, most of my friends are trending the idea of inter-ethnic and inter-caste marriages, I recently came across a fount where the very idea of inter-caste marriage has a huge opposition & has given birth to torrential outburst of fervid emotions. The case in point – one of the prospective families for the proposed marriage is Brahmin while the other Kayastha. This opposition to the Brahmin – Kayastha marriage (which going by the history form the ruling class) defies logic. This logic defying trend suggests that while human beings have progressed with their sciences, in certain areas people have become rather iron-clad, with their beliefs defying the very nature of how they came into existence and what those beliefs stood for. As people today follow their beliefs, of which many remain unfounded, having been concocted over the years by half understanding men, what has rather intrigued me is their longevity.

In today’s boundary redefining social networking world, where the unbeknownst interact with each other, can such beliefs, such as the ones based on caste etc., and having no scientific backing, hold their place? I believe, it’s a human tendency to hold on to the last piece of any idea before the inevitable departure. To the extent that it may even resemble the sudden spurt in the glow of a flickering lamp which is about to get extinguished. As, the world sees more of my specimen who don’t have the fairest bit of grounding in age-old beliefs, and who tend to evaluate every idea through a scientific lens, there shall be another extreme where people will only strengthen these very old unfounded ideas, only to face an inevitable extinction.