Introspection

So do they still have caste system in India?
Why do they have that in India?
Which caste do you belong to?
Yes, I like India you know? Buddhism was founded there. I am a follower of the teachings of Buddha. I know a lot about India.. The caste system too.

These are some comments I get when I mention about my country. Everyone who is aware of India will be aware of caste system in India. Another interesting thing is that though Americans are not aware of the number of Indians in their country, they do know about caste system. They might not even locate where India is on the map but would be able to talk about caste system. This is not just the case of the students but also the teachers. They have half-baked knowledge about this system but talk about it very confidently. I was getting tired of explaining them that caste system was not present in the ancient ages. But it was a creation of the middle ages wherein the divisions created as per the knowledge or skill of a person were supposed to help the society. The ones having extensive knowledge were revered and had the task of creating great literature. The ones who were strong and aggressive were given the responsibility of guarding the country/territories. The one who were shrewd were trading and opening businesses. The ones who were did not have nay of the above were there to provide services to the people by doing menial jobs and manual labor. However, these divisions were based on the individual skills of a person but later were passed to the progeny. No one ever mentions that when they talk about caste system in India. Many of them still think that this country is full of snake charmers and bullock carts.

Any ways, I am not writing this to criticize the western media but to reprimand our fellow Indians. I had never in my life experienced and discrimination with regard to my caste/creed/religion. We never decided friends based on their caste /creed/religion. I went to a convent school wherein I used to frequent the church in our campus during the exam times. We as a family used to visit the thombs of some great muslim saints and have a cook out there. Never did we think about segregating ourselves. I never understood why the western media was always writing about the negative aspects of our culture more often. It didn’t make me feel good.

Any ways, during my previous visit to India, I decided to spend some time at my in-laws place. I was astonished as to how prominent role a person’s caste and religion plays in his/her daily life. It was crazy. People liked to mingle with people of the same caste. Even winning elections was a challenge for the ones belonging to the lower castes. You are supposed to befriend a person of your caste and also marry someone from the same caste. It was very bad. I was depressed about the situation.

So who was right? Me trying to defend my culture and my roots or the western media who only potrays the negatives of a culture?
Well, I do not know the answer for this but I for sure know this:
We Indians need to stop this discrimination against our own brothers and sisters. Why do we do this to our fellow countrymen?
Why do you think Indians are more prosperous in other countries than in their own country ? Why can’t we apply our secular attitude towards people of different castes? Why are we so competitive against our own brothers and sisters?
Why do we like to segregate ourselves and destroy our country?
Why are we not progressing when we have great brains, a very ancient civilization with great treasures, a huge manpower, a democracy with all the powers vested in all the individuals?

Open up your eyes.