This year I began teaching culture studies to my students. Culture studies is not the study of culture perse – but the study of cultures – their power structures internally and in relation to other cultures – their internal & external dynamics and their overall relationship in the power pyramid. One of the more difficult things for me to explain to students – in context of culture studies in India – is the [tag]caste system[/tag]. For most students – the caste system is dead because there have been reservations for the last 60 years. One tries and demolishes that logic by saying that the ‘upper castes’ have had 100% reservation in key professions for the last few millenia. But, the key issue is not so much their mindset (which can be overcome with data) but their lack of knowledge about the system that influences us even today. Most believe that SC’s are the shudra’s as defined in the chatur varna system, or that the recent reservation protests have been Brahmin & Kshatriya ("upper caste") v/s the lower caste (dalits). For students, atleast in a Mumbai based educational system – the term Dalit and Shudra are the same. So, in order to teach them caste & culture – one has to start at the basics. When I began teaching the subject this year, the first thing that i needed to do was to revise my own knowledge of caste & class – before teaching them. And, part of the process is giving students upto date stuff on caste dynmaics. This is one from the ToI that struck me as being particularly illustrative of the problem.

While most other boys his age jump at the sight of a cat, six-year-old Khemchand Sapera helps his dad catch poisonous snakes. Too young and feeble to lift a python, Khemchand can, however, give a free demonstration of how to catch a live cobra. You would think he’s a local hero, idolised by neighbourhood boys. On the contrary, Khemchand is shooed away by them as they cry out calling him an "untouchable". If you thought untouchability has lost its grip, here’s a reality check — it’s being practised, and not by the upper castes only. Just 20 metres from National Highway 12 and 170 km from Bhopal near Rani Pipariya village in Hoshangabad district resides a community of snake charmers. Considered one of the lowest among Dalits, even other sects of the Dalit community do not mix with them. "We cannot even reside in the main village and have to live at least 200 metres away from rest of the society," said Mallunath Sapera, an elderly member of the community. "Although they might be pushed to one corner, other Dalit communities are permitted to at least live inside the villages. But no one will accept us. The Kathiars, Charmkars and Meras are also scheduled castes, but they don’t touch us. At weddings, we sit to eat with animals. As for the upper castes, we go stand in front of their houses during Nag Panchmi festival and they throw us a rupee or two. We still cannot enter the temples, our children cannot go to school and politically we have no power since we are less in numbers," said Mallunath.

India – circa 2007. Caste still exists. So does discrimination based on caste. MSM often glosses over caste dynamics – as do parents and other value formers. Schools and colleges teach it as something that happened somewhere else and to someone else. And, when future media practitioners are taught in this vacuum – the output is bound to be one sided.