Navin Jindal, Khap & the Deobandi's - Anti Constiutional therefore anti Indian?

Caste, Desi Pundit, Gender Issues, India, Politics, Religion, Society 35 Responses »
May 122010

Two very different instances of religious/caste patriarchs intervening in civil society have come to the fore in the last couple of days. Both are Anti Constitutional. And, its about time the Government and the System said religious oppression in the name of Religious freedom be damned – the Constitution comes first.

The first instance was the Khap Panchayats that has been flexing its muscles for quite some time – excommunicating and killing without consequences. They have got Navin Jindal to tow the line now.

Mr. Jindal has said –

“I and my whole family respect the years old traditions and rituals of khap panchayats. My house is their own home and they can come there any time. I am just like their own child and I can never go against them; rather I always need their blessings.”

Navin Jindal, if you remember, is the man who went all the way to the Supreme Court for the right of Indian Citizens to fly the Indian Flag, and won .

Mr.Jindal has forgotten that the Indian flag represents the Indian Republic. And, the Indian Republic is enshrined by the Indian Constitution . The Indian Constitution states:

14. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
15. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

If the Khap Panchayat had its way – it is not just same gotra marriages that will be nullified, but there will be penalties to anyone who breaks caste rules . And, as all of us know, these rules – if applied to their logical conclusion – will lead to the Hindus getting their equivalent of the Taliban.

I wonder if a Member of Parliament who is so ready to violate the Constitution has the right to be in Parliament !

The second instance of the Constitution being violated, is the Deobandi’s – who have declared that it is haram for women to work

“It is unlawful (under the Sharia law) for Muslim women to work in the government or private sector where men and women work together and women have to talk with men frankly and without a veil,”

If the fatwa is followed through to its logical conclusion, it would mean that Indian citizens who are Muslim women cannot be the President, Prime Minister, Member of Parliament. They can’t work in a Hospital, a Call Centre, a Hotel. They can’t teach in a co-educational school, they cannot work for a NGO, they can’t work as engineers…. This essentially means that women are barred from most professions except sweat shops where they can sit with other women and sew stuff at cut price rate.

In both cases a bunch of patriarchs want the world to bend to their interpretation of religion, and honour …. I hope that in both cases this is the straw that breaks the back of an communities that have kept quiet — and rise up to delegitimise both the Khap Panchayats and the Deobandi’s. The best way to destroy them is to stop listening to them !!

And finally – i hope everyone remembers that the reason Krishna wasn’t invited to Rukmini’s swayamwar was because he was a Yadav and she was a Kshyatriya princess.

Let us also remember that the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife was Khadijah bint Khuwaylid – a merchant who employed him.

Those who have proclaimed themselves as guardians of religion and tradition seem to have forgotten their own religion and tradition :( –

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 11:53 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

A Nightmare

And Finally ..., Caste, Desi Pundit, Diary, India 6 Responses »
Nov 122009

Sometimes, the mind is a dangerous place to get lost in.it is a place where time & space are elastic and past, present and future co-exist without any issue.And it is even more scary when that manifests itself as an almost lifelike, real event.

Amma had a nightmare a few days ago. She, appa and her kids (all 3 of us) are hauled up before a caste court, which wants to annul my parents marriage. Her father and brother (both are no more) are part of the nightmare – and speak for the caste panchayat against my parents and us. My parents and the 3 of us are in current avtaars – current age etal. My grandfather is from 30 years ago (when he died) and my uncle from a decade ago. The caste panchayat – in her nightmare – wants to try us as a family and pass judgement on our caste transgressions. My mother was shaking and visibly upset when she told us the nightmare.

When my parents got married – 1965 – they broke caste rules. They belonged to the same gotra - and they decided to get married. This according to caste rules is a strict no no. The mildest punishment was excommunication – essentially being made outcaste – and the most stringent punishment is death for the offending couple.

Thankfully, both my parents came from enlightened families. My maternal grandfather (my dada had passed away 3 years earlier), and my father’s elder brother – stood by the couple and ensured their marriage went off without a hitch. A large chunk of the family boycotted the wedding – because it wasn’t the kind of thing that was done. But, given the minor scandal that it caused – my folks got their marriage registered – because, technically – at least according to orthodoxy – the marriage was not valid !

44 years later, my mother wakes up to a nightmare that her family was going to be hurt because she broke caste rules.

Everytime there is a news report on couples getting burnt for breaking caste laws – my mother goes quiet. It never bothered her earlier – but then, she wasn’t an avid news viewer then. But for the last 5 years or so, she has been getting affected by this. One morning, about 5 years ago, i woke up and went to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee – mom was talking to dad about a couple who got burnt alive in Haryana for getting married within the gotra - mom was telling dad ‘it could have been us’.

I wonder about caste at times. I wonder about its hold on people, despite its call to murder and burn alive people – because they broke some rules that lost relevance 3 millennia ago. I am curious about the kind of people who defend caste – saying it is part of our cultural heritage. I am fascinated by the power that caste bodies – panchayats – wield that gets a woman approaching 70, to have nightmares 44 years after she and the man of her choice broke the rules !

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by gargi at 10:39 pm Tagged with:

Caste Cast or Cats !!

Desi Pundit, Media, News, Print, Web 3 Responses »
Sep 292009

Dictionary.com has around 76 known usages of the word cast.

I am reproducing 6 of those here, do check out the rest – they too are illuminating !

–verb (used with object)
1. to throw or hurl; fling: The gambler cast the dice.
2. to throw off or away: He cast the advertisement in the wastebasket.
3. to direct (the eye, a glance, etc.), esp. in a cursory manner: She cast her eyes down the page.
4. to cause to fall upon something or in a certain direction; send forth: to cast a soft light; to cast a spell; to cast doubts.
5. to draw (lots), as in telling fortunes.
6. Angling.
a. to throw out (a fishing line, net, bait, etc.): The fisherman cast his line.
b. to fish in (a stream, an area, etc.): He has often cast this brook.

It has 6 different uses of the word caste :

1. Sociology.
a. an endogamous and hereditary social group limited to persons of the same rank, occupation, economic position, etc., and having mores distinguishing it from other such groups.
b. any rigid system of social distinctions.
2. Hinduism. any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next; jati. Compare class (def. 13).
3. any class or group of society sharing common cultural features: low caste; high caste.
4. social position conferred upon one by a caste system: to lose caste.
5. Entomology. one of the distinct forms among polymorphous social insects, performing a specialized function in the colony, as a queen, worker or soldier.
–adjective
6. of, pertaining to, or characterized by caste: a caste society; a caste system; a caste structure.

Times of India – the world’s leading English Language newspaper – as a part of its austerity drive, has gotten rid of its dictionaries as raddi, and its copy editors have been deputed to make chai -as a part of their head count rationalisation measures. All very commendable, and possibly explains this story :

Untitled-1

@vijaysankaran tweeted on, well, twitter :)

@calamur give toi a break:-)..they think of cast all the time. Diol bole cast on set, wanted star cast, katrina cast with srk, ….:-)

I could say a 100 things or more – but i guess a picture speaks more than words :)

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 2:37 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste 4

Caste, Culture, India, Society 1 Response »
May 012008

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in the Annihilation of Caste, 1935

The effect of caste on the ethics of the Hindus is simply deplorable. Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible. A Hindu's public is his caste. His responsibility is only to his caste. His loyalty is restricted only to his caste. Virtue has become caste-ridden and morality has become, caste-bound. There is no sympathy to the deserving. There is no appreciation of the meritorious. There is no charity to the needy. Suffering as such calls for no response. There is charity but it begins with the caste and ends with the caste. There is sympathy but not for men of other caste. 

The Indian Express, today :

In a chilling reminder of caste divisions that still run deep in rural Uttar Pradesh, an upper caste youth, pursuing a masters in social studies, has been arrested by the Mathura police for allegedly hurling a six-year-old Dalit girl into a pit of burning waste after she “trespassed into a Thakur area of Tarauli village. The child, Kamlesh, who sustained 50 per cent burns on Tuesday evening, is being treated at the Swarn Jayanti Samudaik Hospital in Mathura. Sunny Thakur, who is said to be in his early 20s and is the son of Ashok Thakur, has been charged under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and under the SC/ST Act. He has been put behind bars.

Technorati Tags:

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 6:14 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste 3

Caste, India, Society 7 Responses »
Mar 302008

Dr.Ambedkar in Annihilation of Caste:

It is a pity that Caste even today has its defenders. The defences are many. It is defended on the ground that the Caste System is but another name for division of labour and if division of labour is a necessary feature of every civilized society then it is argued that there is nothing wrong in the Caste System. Now the first thing is to be urged against this view is that Caste System is not merely division of labour. It is also a division of labourers.

Civilized society undoubtedly needs division of labour. But in no civilized society is division of labour accompanied by this unnatural division of labourers into watertight compartments. Caste System is not merely a division of labourers which is quite different from division of labour—it is an hierarchy in which the divisions of labourers are graded one above the other. In no other country is the division of labour accompanied by this gradation of labourers. There is also a third point of criticism against this view of the Caste System. This division of labour is not spontaneous; it is not based on natural aptitudes. Social and individual efficiency requires us to develop the capacity of an individual to the point of competency to choose and to make his own career. This principle is violated in the Caste System in so far as it involves an attempt to appoint tasks to individuals in advance, selected not on the basis of trained original capacities, but on that of the social status of the parents. Looked at from another point of view this stratification of occupations which is the result of the Caste System is positively pernicious. Industry is never static. It undergoes rapid and abrupt changes. With such changes an individual must be free to change his occupation. Without such freedom to adjust himself to changing circumstances it would be impossible for him to gain his livelihood

 i wonder if the division of laborers, over the centuries is what led to so many conquests…. i also wonder whether it was this division of labour that led to a dark ages where there was no social, scientific or technical progress. 

I often wondered how 3% of the population was able to the bulk of the population subjugated for so long. Why was there never a revolution. The answer was quite simple, they didn't have to do too much. The zillion odd castes kept each other in check and ensured that the system thrived at the expense of everything else.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 10:07 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste 2

Caste, Culture, Gender Issues, India, Politics, Society 7 Responses »
Mar 072008

On the eve of Maha Shivratri a great victory was won. Devotees, backed by the state and other institutions, ensured that the right to pray the way you want to, in the language that you understand, in the manner that you choose , was upheld. 

In the face of a growing demand for their dismissal as the priests of Lord Nataraj temple in Chidambaram, who assaulted non-Brahmin devotees for wanting to sing Tamil hymns inside the temple, the Brahmin priests ~ Dikshits ~ today agreed to allow worship in Tamil.
The Dikshits, who control the administration of the temple, relented after political parties, Leftist and Tamil nationalist groups threatened to agitate and make demands for a government takeover of the temple administration.
The Dikshits, who assaulted some devotees led by non-Brahmin priest Arumugasamy Odhuvar heading a Saivaite Mutt when they had come to sing Tamil hymns composed by revered saints of Hindu renaissance on Sunday, seemed much mellow today and welcomed volunteers of a few Leftist organisations who entered the temple for the same purpose.

And, this is 2008. Devotees still face the kind of threat that Tulsidas faced when he rewrote the Ramayan in Brij Bhasa and Jyaneshwar translated the Bhagwad Gita into Marathi … thereby making them accessible to all. People of all types arent' allowed to enter places of worship. some prevent women. others prevent 'other' castes – whatever they maybe. Which is why last night's reading was so much more poignant.

This is Dr.Ambedkar on the role of social status in our society.

That economic power is the only kind of power no student of human society can accept. That the social status of an individual by itself often becomes a source of power and authority is made clear by the sway which the Mahatmos have held over the common man. Why do millionaires in India obey penniless Sadhus and Fakirs ? Why do millions of paupers in India sell their trifling trinkets which constitute their only wealth and go to Benares and Mecca ? That, religion is the source of power is illustrated by the history of India where the priest holds a sway over the common man often greater than the magistrate and where everything, even such things as strikes and elections, so easily take a religious turn and can so easily be given a religious twist.

Take the case of the Plebians of Rome as a further illustration of the power of religion over man. It throws great light on this point. The Plebs had fought for a share in the supreme executive under the Roman Republic and had secured the appointment of a Plebian Consul elected by a separate electorate constituted by the Commitia Centuriata, which was an assembly of Piebians. They wanted a Consul of their own because they felt that the Patrician Consuls used to discriminate against the Plebians in carrying on the administration. They had apparently obtained a great gain because under the Republican Constitution of Rome one Consul had the power of vetoing an act of the other Consul.

But did they in fact gain anything ? The answer to this question must be in the negative. The Plebians never could get a Plebian Consul who could be said to be a strong man and who could act independently of the Patrician Consul. In the ordinary course of things the Plebians should have got a strong Plebian Consul in view of the fact that his election was to be by a separate electorate of Plebians. The question is why did they fail in getting a strong Plebian to officiate as their Consul?

The answer to this question reveals the dominion which religion exercises over the minds of men. It was an accepted creed of the whole Roman populus that no official could enter upon the duties of his office unless the Oracle of Delphi declared that he was acceptable to the Goddess. The priests who were in charge of the temple of the Goddess of Delphi were all Patricians. Whenever therefore the Plebians elected a Consul who was known to be a strong party man opposed to the Patricians or " communal " to use the term that is current in India, the Oracle invariably declared that he was not acceptable to the Goddess. This is how the Plebians were cheated out of their rights.

But what is worthy of note is that the Plebians permitted themselves to be thus cheated because they too like the Patricians, held firmly the belief that the approval of the Goddess was a condition precedent to the taking charge by an official of his duties and that election by the people was not enough. If the Plebians had contended that election was enough and that the approval by the Goddess was not necessary they would have derived the fullest benefit from the political right which they had obtained. But they did not. They agreed to elect another, less suitable to themselves but more suitable to the Goddess which in fact meant more amenable to the Patricians. Rather than give up religion, the Plebians give up material gain for which they had fought so hard. Does this not show that religion can be a source of power as great as money if not greater ?

The fallacy of the Socialists lies in supposing that because in the present stage of European Society property as a source of power is predominant, that the same is true of India or that the same was true of Europe in the past. Religion, social status and property are all sources of power and authority, which one man has, to control the liberty of another. One is predominant at one stage; the other is predominant at another stage. That is the only difference. If liberty is the ideal, if liberty means the destruction of the dominion which one man holds over another then obviously it cannot be insisted upon that economic reform must be the one kind of reform worthy of pursuit. If the source of power and dominion is at any given time or in any given society social and religious then social reform and religious reform must be accepted as the necessary sort of reform.

 When the religious right in circa 2008 stands up and says 'this reform is against our religious traditions, ' what they are doing is following an age old tradition of dogma. They have opposed every major social reform movement – whether it was ending caste discrimination, or rights for women, or rights for various types of minorities not sanctioned by their dogma (religious, sexual, left handers, race … what ever) . It is no different now, than it was 80 years ago… except that it is citizens pushing for our rights … where are the leaders ? 

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 8:50 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Excerpts - Annihilation of Caste

Books, Caste, India, Politics, Society 3 Responses »
Mar 052008

I am currently re readingDr.Babasaheb Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste - It is a thin little well thumbed, book – actually a speech that is published in a book form. It

This is a book that every Indian ought to read…I read this almost a lifetime ago as part of what ever i was doing at that time. Read it fast, converted into data, precised it and forgot about it. This time around, I am going to savour it… and while doing so am going to post excerpts

As i read through it – some 20 years after I first read it – i keep nodding my head in agreement. Smiling at the humour. chuckling, when things don't seem too much different now than they were almost 70 years ago (two opposing factions. One threatened to burn the other's pandal if they held a political rally)…cringing when things don't seem too much more different now than when they were then (discrimination). And of course his wry comments…

The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India, is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics. The critics fall into two distinct classes. One class consists of political reformers and the other of the socialists.

I can't seem to find any copies in bookshops. But, it is online here and here 

It gives an insight into what ailed us, and what continues to ail us … caste …and more importantly deep rooted programming on caste lines. 

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 10:54 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Ghettoizing Oneself Willingly

Caste, India, Society 15 Responses »
Dec 042007

This from the DNA:

An enterprising NRI doctor from East Godavari district has come up with a novel idea of an all purpose and inclusive housing colony for members of the Brahmin community near Hyderabad.

Resurrecting the traditional and conservationist ambience of the Agraharam from the Brahmin predominant East Godavari district, the colony will be spread over 1,200 acres on the city’s outskirts.

Branded Dhanwatari Agraharam, the proposed site is located 90km from Hyderabad on the Nagpur highway. All its 1,000 members are, well, Brahmins bound by the sale agreement with the promoters.

This includes observing the appropriate rituals and cultural ethos while they live in the independent homes being built for them. Smoking, consumption of alcohol and meat are forbidden in the colony.

The members should also not rear cats and dogs as these animals, true to their nature, hunt for flesh around the colonies.

Apart from sounding like a singularly boring place, it is possibly also one where most of the Hindu Pantheon will not gain acceptance, as many of them have vahans (vehicles) that are not only animals but also meat eating animals…….. the irony of it…..

I wonder whether, like in olden times, those who claim to be Brahmins will go from house to house and beseech – “Bhavati, Biksham Dehi ” – those who controlled knowledge (the Brahmins) were supposed to beg for their daily meal, so that the ugly world of commerce did not interfere with their “tapas” (endeavors).

There are whole localities in Mumbai that are ghettoized – there are zones that are exclusively Gujarati Hindu and vegetarian. Friends of mine in Bangur Nagar have to go and ask surreptitiously ask the grocer for Ram Phal — at which point of time he stealthily packs up eggs for them….. there are societies that are exclusively Muslim, go to Orlem and you will find it exclusively Goan Catholic … and so on…..ghettoizing always struck me as stupid – given our propensity for violence against a community or a set of ‘different people’… and it still strikes me that way……

Of course people have the right to choice, and to live the way that they want…. but i would assume that at a very basic level it is governed by the law of the land…..and this case,  more than others, where the exclusion is not explicit but implicit ( they will simply not sell you property) — seems to be very, very, on the borderline in terms of legality….

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 9:51 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Scavenging as Spirituality 101 by Narendra Modi

Caste 7 Responses »
Nov 262007

Narendra Modi has done it again…….This is his latest gem:

In a recent book written by him and published by the state information department Modi says, “Scavenging must have been a spiritual experience for the Valmiki caste”.

The book titled Karmayog is yet to hit the stands.

In the book, he goes on to say, “At some point in time somebody must have got enlightenment in scavenging. They must have thought that it is their duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods.”

As Atrocity News rightly asks — is this the BJP stand.

And, my answer to that question is that it is possibly the Sangh Parivaar’s collective stand. And, this is the kind of stand that one would take if one was brainwashed with the Manusmriti from childhood and internalise it to a point of no return.

Dalits were considered to be beyond the pale of Arya society, which was made up of the 4 varnas (chaturvarna) or castes. The Brahmins – teachers / Administrators/ Priests – were at the top of the pile, followed by the Kshatriyas – the warriors, the Vaishyas – the Merchant Class – and the Shudra’s – the serving class. The Dalits were not part of the Chaturvarna system. They were beyond that……The Dalits were called Chandalas or Dasyus’ – terms that were very much in vogue, until Gandhi dubbed the community as Harijan.

And this is what the Manusmriti - the set of Laws that the Sangh Parivar is committed to — has to say about the Dasyu’s :

  • Manu has declared that the flesh (of an animal) killed by dogs is pure, likewise (that) of a (beast) slain by carnivorous (animals) or by men of low caste (Dasyu), such as Kandalas. (manu chapter 5, 131)
  • Nor one wholly dependent, nor one of bad fame, nor a Dasyu, nor one who follows forbidden occupations, nor an aged (man), nor an infant, nor one (man alone), nor a man of the lowest castes, nor one deficient in organs of sense, – on who can bear witness (Manu chapter 8,66)

This on who can beget what on whom – and I shan’t even go in to the sexist aspect of Manu Smriti in this post…. This From Manusmriti chapter 10,

  • A Dasyu begets on an Ayogava (woman) a Sairandhra, who is skilled in adorning and attending (his master), who, (though) not a slave, lives like a slave, (or) subsists by snaring (animals).
  • A Vaideha produces (with the same) a sweet-voiced Maitreyaka, who, ringing a bell at the appearance of dawn, continually. praises (great) men.
  • A Nishada begets (on the same) a Margava (or) Dasa, who subsists by working as a boatman, (and) whom the inhabitants of Aryavarta call a Kaivarta.
  • Those three base-born ones are severally begot on Ayogava women, who wear the clothes of the dead, are wicked, and eat reprehensible food.
  • From a Nishada springs (by a woman of the Vaideha caste) a Karavara, who works in leather; and from a Vaidehaka (by women of the Karavara and Nishada castes), an Andhra and a Meda, who dwell outside the village.
  • From a Kandala by a Vaideha woman is born a Pandusopaka, who deals in cane; from a Nishada (by the same) an Ahindika.
  • But from a Kandala by a Pukkasa woman is born the sinful Sopaka, who lives by the occupations of his sire, and is ever despised by good men.
  • A Nishada woman bears to a Kandala a son (called) Antyavasayin, employed in burial-grounds, and despised even by those excluded (from the Aryan community).
  • These races, (which originate) in a confusion (of the castes and) have been described according to their fathers and mothers, may be known by their occupations, whether they conceal or openly show themselves.
  • All those tribes in this world, which are excluded from (the community of) those born from the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet (of Brahman), are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language of the Mlekkhas (barbarians) or that of the Aryans.
  • Those who have been mentioned as the base-born (offspring, apasada) of Aryans, or as produced in consequence of a violation (of the law, apadhvamsaga), shall subsist by occupations reprehended by the twice-born.
  • To Sutas (belongs) the management of horses and of chariots; to Ambashthas, the art of healing; to Vaidehakas, the service of women; to Magadhas, trade;
    Killing fish to Nishadas; carpenters’ work to the Ayogava; to Medas, Andhras, Kunkus, and Madgus, the slaughter of wild animals;
  • To Kshattris, Ugras, and Pukkasas, catching and killing (animals) living in holes; to Dhigvanas, working in leather; to Venas, playing drums.Near well-known trees and burial-grounds, on mountains and in groves, let these (tribes) dwell, known (by certain marks), and subsisting by their peculiar occupations.
  • But the dwellings of Kandalas and Svapakas shall be outside the village, they must be made Apapatras, and their wealth (shall be) dogs and donkeys.Their dress (shall be) the garments of the dead, (they shall eat) their food from broken dishes, black iron (shall be) their ornaments, and they must always wander from place to place.
  • A man who fulfils a religious duty, shall not seek intercourse with them; their transactions (shall be) among themselves, and their marriages with their equals.
    Their food shall be given to them by others (than an Aryan giver) in a broken dish; at night they shall not walk about in villages and in towns.
  • By day they may go about for the purpose of their work, distinguished by marks at the king’s command, and they shall carry out the corpses (of persons) who have no relatives; that is a settled rule.
  • By the king’s order they shall always execute the criminals, in accordance with the law, and they shall take for themselves the clothes, the beds, and the ornaments of (such) criminals.

Given Modi & his ilk’s support of the agenda of the Manusmriti – it is hardly surprising that he has made a statement like that. And, i would not at all be surprised if he actually believed that to be true.

Maybe, given the amount of blood on his hands, and adharma that he has committed he should take up scavenging to attain spiritual bliss…..

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 6:07 pm Tagged with: , , , , ,

What Defines your Culture?

Diary 2 Responses »
Sep 142007

….asked SR yesterday …… theoretically, he added rapidly. And given that he keeps accusing me of being theoretical (and I suppose that i am) – i was surprised.

Lots’ of things, i said. Theoretically of course.

  • At the core there is my family culture – whatever is my family’s padati (traditions) and customs.
  • Then comes that defined by my caste. I may not ascribe to the caste system, but does it stop defining me? I dislike lthe idea of being defined by caste … especially given that the caste i was born into has traditionally had appalling behavior towards women. But there are so many cultural practices that are different for different castes — that many of us don’t even think about it while practicing it. Food, for one. Festivals that are celebrated, Gods that are worshiped, traditions followed at birth and death…. We don’t think about these… we practise them as matter of course… but just because we don’t think about them doesn’t mean that they don’t exist as a part of our cultural make up.
  • Then there is language. My mother tongue is Tamil (or as we joke- my mother’s tongue is Tamil). And language is a key component of culture. I was born and brought up in Mumbai and am more comfortable with English than any other language … That too defines my culture.
  • Then there is Geography. And, in an Indian context it is more than the part of the country that you come from. Geography itself has history, ethnicity, cuisine,legends, myths, Gods, clothing…. i am someone who has been brought up in Mumbai – with parents from AP & TN. Or to be more precise -from this district called North Arcot that straddles the border of TN & AP. Just like people from Palgat are unique and neither Tamil nor Malyalee, or people from Belgaum are unique – neither Maharashtrian nor Kannada, so too people from North Arcot…… neither from one nor the other ….
  • Then there is this my broad religious identity – ‘hinduism‘ which makes me different in terms of my cultural make up from some one who is not a Hindu. If you want further precision – my family’s religious tradition is Shaivite - which is distinctly different from being a Vaishnavite or a Smartha or a Nastika tradition. It many not be apparent – like caste – to most of us, but it is stuff that we have grown up with, and again it defines us.
  • And, then there is nationality – my being an Indian. Which makes me different from someone with my exact background but whose nationality is American.

So which of these is the most important in defining cultural identity in an Indian context? My own guess is geography. Not religion, not caste, not even nationality. But geography. With Geography is linked history, ethnicity, language, heroes, traditions, clothing, cuisine … the works..and it is probably a far more valid parameter of ‘culture’ than more organized social institutions like religion or caste, or even modern political definitions like the nation.
Now, is this how I define myself. No. I define myself as an individual, female, liberal, contrarian ….. But, all those things listed above … all the stuff that that i spent a fair bit of my life running away from … have they helped define me.. I would be deluded to say no…
No wonder SR says i am theoretical :)

Sphere: Related Content

Clap

Posted by gargi at 8:19 pm Tagged with: , , , , , ,
Older Entries
© 2010 POV Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha