Caste: India's Sixth Sense

Abandoning A Lifetime of Untouchability Through Religious Conversion

Here is a link to a Google doc of my final thesis:

Independent Study Project

In case that doesn't work, you can copy and paste this URL into your web browser:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PHKAI6b-9FtjY5dsRi5Cq9Go6-rgAU5npLtYeGFP-rQ/edit

Varanasi and Bodh Gaya

One of Varanasi's holy men

I spent the last month of my study abroad program doing an independent research project on how the caste system has caused the lower castes to convert to Buddhism and Christianity. Specifically, I was looking at how converting has improved their lives, if at all: have they been able to escape their caste? Which religion has better allowed them to do so? Why?

I ended up with some very interesting answers, and a story which I was not at all expecting. My findings culminated into a thirty page paper which is in the process of being cut down to make it more blogger friendly. If you’re up for reading the whole thing, shoot me an email or post a comment with your email and I will send you the super-sized version. In the meantime, my research took me to some interesting places so I thought I would write a bit about them for now.

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

One of the old buildings of Varanasi

Previously known as Banares, Varanasi sits alongside the Ganges river and is believed to be the oldest city in the world. Hindus from all over India flock to this city to make use of the dozens of bathing ghats which dot the banks of the river. For Hindus, the Ganges, or Ganga as it is often referred to, is a holy river which, upon contact, will wash away all your sins. For non-Hindus, it is the infectious disease headquarters, which, upon contact, will probably kill you.

Almost a hundred million liters of sewage empty out into the Ganges daily, and for the most part, without bypassing any sort of treatment plant; it is a direct path, from the toilets, to the streets, through the gutters, straight into the river. Scientists say that in order for water to be safe to bathe in, that the fecal coliform count should be no more than 500. Samples from the Ganges have shown that there are more than 5500. I try not to think about this as I sit along the ghats, watching men in their underwear completely submerse themselves in the E.Coli-infested water (women of course wear no such attire, and enter the water fully clothed in their sarees and salwar-kameez).

The Ganga in the early morning light

Hindus have been coming here for centuries to wash away their sins, and you would think that by now they would believe that the water is too polluted with billions of sins, at the very least, and would more likely infect a bather with another’s sins rather than rinse more away. But no, they continue to “bathe” in the water, freeing themselves of a sin with each dunk, while simultaneously ingesting some fecal matter. It’s like a business deal: the water will take away your sins in exchange for giving you a disease, a parasite, an amoeba, a virus, maybe even two or three of these, or maybe none at all. Like a Happy Meal, without the toy. Or the meal. And you really don’t want to collect them all.

It is a gamble and I decide that there is no sin which I have committed that would make it worth the risk. I continue to walk along the ghats, enjoying the vibrant atmosphere as kite 

Boat ride along the Ganges

runners speed past and boat drivers try to attract customers, yelling: “Take a ride on my boat! My boat is the best and fastest on the Ganges!”

I am suddenly hit with a revolting, putrid smell. Smoke rises from a stack of wood on one of the ghats, the source of the repulsive odor. As I get closer, I realize that it is not just a stack of wood that is being burnt; I notice two small brown feet sticking out of the smoke stack. A second body, wrapped in bright orange cloth, lies adjacent to it, awaiting a similar fate. 

Varanasi is believed to be a holy place to die and be cremated, and dead bodies are sent here from all parts of the country. It is thought that being cremated here guarantees direct entry into heaven. No stopping at limbo, no collecting two hundred rupees, straight into heaven. This privilege is however reserved for Hindus only, and even within the Hindu population, many groups are excluded.

Children under the age of ten, as well as pregnant women are not allowed to be cremated along the Ganges, nor are leprosy patients, cobra-bite victims, or sadhus (homeless holy men). Children are thought to be innocent, and therefore do not necessitate the removal of sin which the cremation provides. The logic behind the latter group, however, is much more disturbing. These people are thought to be poisonous, and if they are burnt, anyone who inhales the smoke will also be poisoned. Instead of being cremated, these groups are tied to large stones which are then sunk into the Ganges. It is not uncommon for bodies to come untied and float to the surface, a frightening sight for unsuspecting tourists enjoying a leisurely boat ride.

I continued to watch the cremation, and even though I had never even seen a dead body, it was a surprisingly unemotional experience. It made me realized just how much the Western world is hidden from the realities of death; a stark contrast from the children playing around the cremation pyres, completely unfazed by the presence of dead bodies.

A week later I came upon another burning ghat, a larger one which had a special section reserved for Brahmin cremations only. Because the Untouchables are prescribed the unpleasant job of carrying the bodies down to the river, they are required to “purify” themselves in the Ganges before coming into contact with the corpses. This second experience of watching a cremation was far more morbid than the first, as this time not just the feet, but the entire head was sticking out of the fire. But I watched nonetheless as the son of deceased, as is customary, started the fire, and, with tears in his eyes, watched the flames carry his father into heaven. 

Bodh Gaya, Bihar

The Northeast state of Bihar, infamous for having some of India’s highest poverty and illiteracy rates, is also home to where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment. Since Buddhism’s revival in the 18^th century, Bodh Gaya has blossomed into a Buddhist pilgrimage hotspot, packed with monasteries, each representing dozens of different Buddhist nations. During the Winter months, maroon and saffron robes color the streets as monks from all over Southeast Asia journey here to enjoy what has become India’s largest Buddhist sanctuary.

Adjacent to the Bodhi tree, under which the Buddha is said to have spent seven weeks meditating before attaining enlightenment, sits the intricately carved Mahabodhi Temple, within which lies a peep-hole into an unsettling past of religious conflict.

The Mahabodhi Temple

As you walk into the main entrance of the temple, you are immediately greeted by a giant donation box. Behind the entryway is the main worshipping room which contains a large statue of the Buddha, who is depicted to be meditating behind a protective glass pane. He sits in between two vases of flowers and two nymphs flutter over him on either side. He, the flowers, and the nymphs are all plated in gold, and a golden halo glitters around his head.

On the other side of the glass dozens of worshippers fight for a spot in front of this statue to lay their offerings of food, clothing, and flowers on the table standing beneath. A second donation box, the size of a large trash can you would find on a sidewalk, is the room’s centerpiece, and is overflowing with bills. An atmosphere of chaos dominates the room as anxious worshippers desperately try to shove their one hundred rupee bills into the box, while staff attempt to direct them back to the first box which has not yet been filled. 

A Buddhist shrine. This phrase becomes a sort of oxymoron when one looks at the original teachings of the Buddha who specifically said that he was not a god to be worshipped and asked that his followers refrain from such illogical rituals.

Due to past Muslim invasions which left hundreds of Buddhist monuments and monasteries in ruins, as well as the overbearing influence of Hinduism, Buddhism has come to have a very weak presence in India.

Buddhist monks meditating in the ruins of Sarnath which
date back to 5 A. D. They used to be monasteries
which were torn down by the Muslim invaders. 

The original teachings of the Buddha have been manipulated primarily at the jurisdiction of the upper caste Brahmins who continue to have an unwanted presence in Buddhist temples. Buddhism has become tainted by Hindu rituals (as explained in my last post) which serve to increase the income of the Brahmins in the form of “donations”.

It was a sad, unnerving experience to see how this has manifested in such an obvious manner, but I also realized how these circumstances are really not specific to Buddhism at all. It is amazing how far religion can deviate from its original teachings, after all, didn’t Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all stem from the same teachings of Abraham?

Here are some photos the enormous Buddha statue which was commissioned by the Dalai Lama in 1989. Don't mind the power lines in the background. 

Some Buddhist monks meditating in front of the Bodhi tree

I was able to make friends with a Thai monk who gave me a VIP tour of Bodh Gaya's
most elaborate monastery which tourists generally not allowed to enter

Here are some more pictures of the ruins at Sarnath

Two of the lower castes whom I interviewed for my project:

Diwali and Dengue

pic of the week

The streets of Jaipur during Diwali

Diwali. The festival of lights. It’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween, New Years, and the Fourth of July combined, and then some. I was lucky enough to have experienced the celebrations in Jaipur, where the festivities are arguably the most extravagant in all of the country. The city completely lit up with lights strung from every building and fireworks being set off all throughout the day and night. Although I thoroughly enjoyed being able to set some off myself, I did not appreciate having to fall asleep to what sounded like World War III outside my window every night.

Both the "Star of David" and the swastika are Hindu prayer symbols

Next to Holi (where Indians throw colored powder at each other in the streets to commemorate the arrival of spring), Diwali is the most exuberant festival for Hindus for two reasons. Its main significance lies in the celebration of the triumph of good over evil. On this day, the beloved Hindu god, Lord Rama, returned from fourteen years in exile, and with the help of his monkey army (yes, you read that correctly), defeated the demon Ravana. The second reason this holiday is most important to Hindus is also what I perceive to be two of the biggest problems in Indian culture as a whole. Diwali calls for puja (worship) of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Key words: worship, and wealth. But let me first explain this in the context of Diwali.

Me with mom and pops at a Sikh temple (gurdwara)

Diwali marks the end of the financial year, and thus, the beginning of a new one. All businesses shut down as workers go home to worship their account books, and I mean this in the most literal sense of the word. They chant matras and prayers to them, light candles and incense and sing songs glorifying the goddess Lakshmi. Even my homestay family who claimed they were celebrating Diwali to a much lesser extent than usual as not only they are Sikh, but because my host mother’s father died (or expired, as she would say) in February *, took part in this elaborate puja ceremony.

Auntie's shrine, notice the stack of cash front/center

Auntie spent all day preparing her prayer room for puja. The small closet-sized space attached to her bedroom was decked out with flowers, candles, incense, pictures of Sikh gurus and small statues of Hindu gods, most notably Lakshmi. The main focus of the ceremony was this small tray which held the traditional clay pot candle, a silver coin with an engraving of Lakshmi, a piece of jewelry, and, get ready for it, a thick stack of cash (you can see in the picture to the right). Indians are not a very subtle people.

The family then proceeded to chant prayers which Auntie was kind enough to translate for me. She said they were praising Lakshmi and praying for the coming year to yield great amounts of money and prosperity. Each individual family member then took turns standing in front of the shrine with a tray which held two candles and which they moved in circles around the shrine as Auntie chanted prayers. When it came time for my turn, Auntie handed me the tray and whispered: “Go ahead Annika, wish for anything you want, anything.” I won’t say what I wished for, but it wasn’t money.

This obsession with wealth is apparent in everyday life in India, not just during Diwali. For example, one of the rickshaw drivers who often takes me to school in the mornings kisses the money I give to him three times before he pockets it. Or, whenever I ask a child or young adult about what they want to be when they grow up, nine times out of ten the answer is doctor, businessman, or, most commonly, engineer. Why, I ask? “Because it’s lucrative.” I recently had a revealing conversation with my homestay brother about what he is planning on doing with his life. He has just finished university and is now finishing up the process of taking the required standardized exams in order to apply to business school. It was clear when I spoke to him that going into business was by no means his dream career; he said he had always wanted to pursue filmmaking. But, he said, it wouldn’t be a lucrative enough career, and “I’d rather make lots of money and be happy.” I tried to explain to him that maybe the connection between money and happiness wasn’t as strong as he might think. He sat on the other side of the table, snug in his designer polo shirt, and looked at me as if I were a madwoman.

Sunset in Udaipur

Like I said, I have two big problems with Indian culture, the first being the obsession with wealth, and the second being the constant worshipping, the rituals, and the superstitions. There are shrines everywhere. Not only in temples, but private homes and all along the streets. There are so many gods (I believe it’s in the trillions) and from my understanding people choose a handful of gods to worship, and they organize it by day of the week (for example they worship Shiva on Mondays, Brahma on Tuesdays, Ganesh on Wednesdays, etc…). Additionally, there are gods which are particular to each family, so you are expected to worship the family god, then chose your own personal gods as well. In case you’re still not clear about what I mean by “worship” it’s basically just consists of chanting prayers and giving offerings in the form of money and flowers to the temples and shrines. The Indians believe that if they don’t give such offerings, no matter how poor they are, their prayers will not be answered and the gods will be angry with them. It is so disturbing to see these unbelievably skinny Indians who are covered in filth from sleeping in the streets throwing the little money they have away on these gods.

Then there are of course the endless festivals which are literally at least once a week where people are expected to do more worshipping and give more money. However, these festivals are completely meaningless; they are created by the upper caste Brahmins mainly for political reasons, and the vast majority of the lower castes are too scared or uneducated to even think about questioning them. 

On to the superstitions…

You have no idea how many times a day I hear the phrase “that’s auspicious!” in this country. It has become so over the top that it has actually turned into an ongoing joke within our group, and they use the term in a positive and negative sense, so we’re never really sure what they mean. For example, in the negative context, it’s auspicious if you wear a ring on your second toe if you’re not married, and in the positive context, it’s auspicious for an infant to wear a black string around his or her waist as it is believed to ward off the evil eye. The numbers one, three, and five are extremely auspicious: it’s auspicious if you shave the head of a child when he or she is one, three, or five years old, it’s auspicious if a woman has one, three, or five silk sarees in her wardrobe, etc… I was drawing an “om” symbol with henna on my foot the other day and I was told that that was auspicious and should immediately take it off. The most disturbing superstition I’ve heard about claims that eating papaya and other fruits and vegetables while pregnant is harmful to the baby. Obviously, the complete opposite is true, and the villagers eventually figured this out when they tried to eat papaya as a means of aborting female fetuses.

Rajasthan's beautiful Aravalli Hills

Then there are the rituals and superstitions which revolve around marriage and death. Before a wedding is planned, the exact date and time must be determined by an astrologer as specific dates and times are more auspicious than others (try Googling “auspicious wedding dates” and see for yourself). There are hundreds of odd rituals which take place around a death. If you are male and a close friend or relative of the family of the deceased, you are expected to shave off your beard, mustache, and all the hair on your head, and present it to the family as a way of showing your sympathy. *Another custom is that the family is not to change anything in the room of the deceased, or have large celebrations for a year following the death.

In other news…

I am now adding dengue fever to the long list of rare illnesses I’ve contracted in my life, next to parasites, rotavirus, scarlet fever, and swine flu. Me and my immune system have one hell of a relationship.
Of course I had to get sick when I was on my own in the poorest most dangerous part of the country; I'm currently doing research in the state of Bihar, which is notorious for having some of the highest rates of everything bad (illiteracy, crime, gender selective abortions, malnutrition, etc...). There was no hospital in the vicinity, and the clinic closest to where I was staying was closed (because there was a festival!!!), so I had to go to this other small, run-down health clinic about a twenty minute cycle rickshaw ride away. I arrived there with a fever of 104 and in tears from the pain, and, just my luck, the doctor had decided to not show up that day, and no one spoke English. The whole thing was a nightmare, but I managed to convince them to call the doctor and an hour and a half later, he finally showed up. I am doing much better now, and all I can say is that I hate mosquitoes more than ever and that I really think they should change the no-swatting-mosquito policy at this monastery where I am staying right now.

I've been asked to upload some photos of the children, so here they are:

Notice the child is wearing an "auspicious" black string around his waist

Some children from the Kathodis tribe

The Dreaded Daughter

Picture of the week

Though India has come a long way in regards to women’s rights and gender equality, one serious problem continues to persist. Families continue to display a strong preference for sons, and female feticide has continued to be a widely accepted practice in Indian society. The child sex ratio has decreased from 976 girls for every 1,000 boys in 1961, to 962 in 1981, and further down to 927 in 2001. It has been estimated that 10 million fetuses have been aborted in India over the last two decades. In order to decipher why this problem has become increasingly prevalent in the midst of women’s empowerment movements, we must examine the problem within the context of Indian society, and understand the issue as a reflection of Indian social and cultural norms.

Within the Indian tradition, sons have historically been perceived as the breadwinners and caretakers of the family. While it was traditionally not viable for a woman to have a high-paying job, men faced no discrimination in terms of obtaining an education and employment, thereby ensuring their financial security and ability to provide for their families. This form of discrimination has given rise to the Indian woman who will never be liberated from the supremacy of a man; authority over her is passed down from her father, to her husband, to her sons. She is never free, and a single life independent from male control was traditionally and still is generally not accepted by Indian society.

Sons have also traditionally been expected to take care of their parents in their old age. While daughters are married off and leave the home when they are very young to live with their husband’s family, sons remain with the parents, providing them with the financial and emotional security which their daughters, living away from home, and most likely without a job, could not guarantee.

The dowry system, which has been in place in India for thousands of years, also continues to play an important reason behind the preference for sons. I interviewed a lower caste woman at a basti (slum) in Jaipur about why so many expecting mothers are desperate for sons. Forty-two year old Camila, mother of three sons and one daughter, explained to me that her main concern was not being able to afford a dowry. When I asked if her preference for her first born would have been different had she had more money, she replied that yes, she would have instead wanted a girl.

India’s tradition of providing a dowry for the son-in-law has caused daughters to be viewed as a liability and a burden to parents. This custom has caused a whole other range of problems in and of itself, including dowry deaths and honor killings, in addition to female feticide and infanticide.

Other aspects of Indian culture which have contributed to the overlying preference for sons also exist. I spoke to Camila’s husband, Puran, whose main concern was with family lineage: “I wanted a boy because he carries the family name, whereas a daughter will leave to join another family.” Within the Hindu tradition, sons are also designated to light the funeral pyre in order to cremate their parents, whereas girls are given no such honorable responsibilities.

I was particularly disheartened when I spoke to another mother, Rajski, from the same basti who said she would have been equally inclined to have had a daughter were it not for the pressure she felt from her family: “I wanted a son because it is considered prestigious to have a son. I wanted more respect in my family, and my position increased in my family when I had a son, though I would have been just as happy to have a girl first.” Unfortunately this is the case among many Indian women, and many expecting mothers who would have otherwise had no preference, wish for a son in hopes of pleasing their families.  

Though the question still remains, why has the rate of female feticide increased in the last two decades? The answer lies in modern technology.

Ultrasound machines and amniocentesis tests which can determine the sex of a fetus have become widely available throughout India. Frightening slogans such as “Better 500 rupees now than 500,000 later” which have become popular throughout India’s abortion clinics, reflect the common mentality in response to the increasing cost of dowries. These tests have become so accessible and affordable that they are even used among the rural poor, and you can find ultrasound clinics in some of the most impoverished parts of the country. In these areas, an interesting shift has taken place: female infanticide has been replaced by the lesser-guilt option of feticide. It is an unfortunate reality that a technology which was developed in the West with the intention of detecting genetic disorders and helping to monitor the health of an expecting mother and her unborn child has, at the same time, promoted such an inhumane practice in the developing world. Mixing modern technology with traditional society is a risky business, and, as we have seen, can lead to unpredictable, frightening results. 

View of the sunset taken from a train, somewhere in between
Jaipur and Ranthambore

But isn't the government doing something? Even though the 1994 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT Act) outlawed pre-natal sex determination in hopes of abolishing the practice of female feticide, doctors are known to reveal the sex of a baby through coded hints such as offering a pink or blue candy, respectively, to the expecting parents. Though under the PNDT Act, doctors who violate the law are subject to five years in prison, only two have been convicted thus far. Yet another strike for India's incompetent government. 

One would presume that this seemingly tribal practice would be far more prevalent among India’s uneducated poor who cannot afford to pay dowries and who do not understand the grave consequences of a society devoid of women. However, I’ve been extremely surprised to learn that, in fact, the exact opposite is true: those who can afford to do so chose to design the perfect family. 

India’s 2001 census revealed a direct correlation between higher education and increased rates of female feticide. Sikhs and Jains, the two most prosperous communities of India with some of the highest literacy rates, also had the lowest child sex ratio. Of the seven religious groups accounted for (Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Others), Sikhs had the lowest child sex ratio of 786 girls (aged 0 – 6) for every 1,000 boys, yet had the third highest literacy rate of 69.4%. Jains who had the second lowest ratio of 870 girls for every 1,000 boys, demonstrated the highest literacy rate of 94.1% out of all the communities. There have also been studies which show a relationship between the level of education and frequency of female feticide, such that college graduates and post-graduates have the lowest sex ratio as compared to parents who have had received an education no higher than a middle school level.

As it turns out, the literate and educated are no less prone to gender bias than are the illiterate and uneducated. They are, in fact, significantly more so. 

I spoke to Mrs. Chhaya Pachauli, a spokeswoman for an NGO based in Rajasthan called Prayas which works with women’s rights and empowerment. She explained that the reason female feticide is so much more common among India’s wealthy, educated communities compared to the rural poor is because the educated are more aware of the existing technologies for sex determination, and are thus more inclined to carefully plan their family around having few children. Therefore, if parents are having only one or two children, the pressure for at least one of them to be a boy dramatically increases, as compared to poor villagers who opt for more children due to higher infant mortality rates. The practice is more common amongst Jains in particular, she said, because the expenditure in getting a girl married is astronomical as they are expected to pay an exorbitant dowry, significantly higher than most other religious communities. 

I got the best spot on the train, sitting across from this guy
with my feet dangling out the door

Even if a family can afford to pay a hundred dowries, parents are still concerned about lineage, security in their old age, and the increased social status that comes with giving birth to a son. The educated rich in particular continue to resort to female feticide because they do not want their inheritance passed on to a different family. Land and money, if passed down to a son, insures that the wealth stay within the immediate family, whereas a daughter will take it with her to another family when she is married off. 

Rather than causing people to rethink the values and norms with which they were brought up, education has instead enabled people to negotiate the social and cultural constructs of their world, thereby reinforcing societal norms such as gender biases. Though some Indians may be well-educated, the content of their education continues to reflect their country’s social inequalities.

The 1990 census found that there were 25 million more boys than girls in India. By 2001, this number had risen to 35 million. It is now estimated that some 50 million girls are missing from India’s population. Some rural villages have been found to be completely devoid of baby girls. How will India’s rising population of frustrated bachelors cope? Such communities have resorted to ‘mail ordering’ brides from impoverished neighboring states and countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh. However, as India’s gender ratio becomes increasingly skewed, trafficking women will not be a sufficient solution to India’s brideless men.

The reality is that women are not safe in India, even in their mother’s wombs. Laws which are easily circumvented cannot change practices which have been observed for thousands of years; people’s mindsets need to change. At least among India’s poor, it seems as if strides have been taken, as many women do not expect a dowry for their sons. When I sat in on a women’s group meeting in a rural village in Daramsala, the topic was brought up, and I was relieved to hear that the women were all in agreement in that they would not accept a dowry for their sons. It is the rich and educated who utilize their resources to manipulate the constituency of their families.

This surprising pattern refutes the commonly accepted theory of demographic transition which anticipates rational social norms amongst wealthier, better educated communities. India has such a strong hold on tradition, unlike any other country, which is why I have a feeling that it will not follow the typical pattern of development which has been seen by almost every other country which has gone through the same process. But I’ll save that discussion for another time…

Here are some pictures I took on a tiger safari last weekend. It was beautiful, but the tigers forgot it was my 21st birthday and didn't grace me with their presence. They better not forget that Obama is coming to visit them next month...

A bird barely escapes the jaws of a crocodile

A Cruel Hierarchy

Picture of the week

My homestay family has a servant named Parvesh. He is 5’3, with a tiny frame which holds no more than 90 pounds. He spends his days cooking, cleaning, running errands, and doing whatever Auntie asks of him. He is only sixteen years old, and has been working for the family since he was seven. This is his life, and the chances of him ever getting an education are slim to none.

At a camel rehabilitation center
in the Thar Desert

Parvesh’s family is from West Bengal, on the other side of the country from Rajasthan. He has not had the opportunity to get an education as he is forced to work so he can send money home. I can not help but think back to when I was sixteen… I was in my sophomore year at a boarding school in Canada with every opportunity laid out in front of me. I would attend class during the day, and afternoons were filled with rowing practice and guitar class, weekends with regattas and social events. Though I was also living far from home, I never worried about whether my family was getting enough to eat, and I certainly never sent any money home. As much as I would like to finance Parvesh’s education (high school costs no more than $0.50/month), I realize that there is more than just poverty working against him. India’s caste system is so rigid and deeply rooted in the culture, that there is simply no hope for its degeneration.

India’s caste system divides society into four main orders: Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. A fifth caste which is considered the lowest strata of Indian society and constitutes 16% of the population are the untouchables (also referred to as the Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, to be politically correct). These categorizations are further divided into hundreds of hierarchal sub-castes which are hereditary, and, unlike in the Western world’s class system, there is no opportunity for mobility. You carry your caste with you your entire life; there is no escaping it. It is revealed in the clothes you wear, in your last name, and how you compose yourself. Though some people belonging to lower castes attempt to rid themselves of the system by mimicking the upper castes (a process termed “sanskritization”, or “brahminization”), most accept their status in the caste system as a religious duty which they are required to fulfill.

Me with one of Jaipur's
lovely elephants!

What the Western world tends to dismiss when critiquing India’s caste system, is that it is more than just a hierarchy. The caste system was created to establish order within society, allotting certain jobs to certain people. The Brahmins are the priests and scholars, the Kshatryias the rulers and warriors, the Vaishyas the merchants, and the Shudras the servants. The “polluting” jobs are reserved for the Dalits, such as collecting garbage, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping the streets, etc… The reason so many lower castes do not even bother trying to improve their status in the caste system lies in their belief in reincarnation. Many Hindus believe that the caste they are born into is a result of their karma and the extent to which they fulfilled their religious duties in their previous life. Many Dalits and Shudras think that they deserve to be members of the lower castes, believing that they must have done something immoral or failed to follow the religious scriptures closely enough in a past life. This sort of mentality is of course convenient for the upper castes as it allows them to have access to all the power and resources.

Though India’s government has established a sort of American equivalent to affirmative action, allotting 40% of government jobs to the Scheduled Castes, unfortunately these regulations are poorly implemented and apply only to the public sector. The general consensus regarding these laws is that they have done nothing but anger the upper castes and given Dalits the opportunity to become corrupt leaders, causing even more resentment towards the lower castes. Passing laws is not sufficient to end this kind of discrimination. So long as Hinduism’s religious texts promote the caste system, this cruel hierarchy will continue to dictate the social structure of society, and people like Parvesh will never have the chance to pursue any opportunities beyond the boundaries of his caste.

In other news…

I attended my first Indian wedding last week. It was a traditional Muslim wedding, and the groom was a relative of my homestay mother’s sister’s husband. (Over a decade ago, my homestay mother’s sister made the controversial decision to not only have a love marriage, but to marry a Muslim, a sworn enemy of the Sikhs. Her parents disowned her, and it took four years before they ever spoke to her again). The women were dressed in their most colorful sarees, and every limb was adorned with as many diamonds and jewels it could possibly hold. Even the men wore long robes lined with sequins paired with their shiniest leather shoes. Despite the discomfort of being the only white person at the wedding (and American, nonetheless), I truly enjoyed the experience and realized how much I take my freedom of choice for granted.

Some adorable water buffalo cooling off in a lake

Not only had the bride and groom never met, but they were in separate rooms during the actual ceremony. Even during the reception, the bride remained in a separate room, while the groom was outside enjoying the festivities. When she did finally emerge from the room, she was completely veiled, and sat directly on the other side of the long table where her husband was eating. Neither of them even glanced at the other. They are not allowed to see each other until later that night when they meet privately at a hotel, where they are expected to consummate the marriage. *

This snake charmer isn't as brave
as he looks... they rip out their
fangs beforehand

I had a chance to meet both the groom and bride, and, interestingly enough, neither seemed particularly bothered by this arrangement. In fact, every single Indian I have talked to has expressed a positive attitude towards arranged marriages. It insures that people marry within their religion and caste, allowing them to preserve their culture and traditions. (Even advertisements looking for spouses in the newspaper are divided into sections by caste). Many Indians prefer this system to that of the Western world’s, and have gone so far as to tell me that it is a gesture of love for parents to find their children a spouse. This of course implies that if parents leave their children to find their own husband or wife, as is the case in America, that they do not care very much about their well being. It is difficult for Indians to conceptualize the American family system, seeing as with this kind of logic they tend to assume a sort of distant, impersonal dynamic between parents and children. And since the closest thing to arranged marriages in America is MTV’s “Parental Control”, I have found it difficult to convince them otherwise.

* Note that this type of arrangement where the bride and groom have absolutely no say in whom they marry is an extremely rare situation in both the Hindu and Muslim traditions. It is more common for the prospective spouses to meet each other a few times beforehand, allowing them to make the final decision.

I also finally made it to the Majestic Taj Mahal, here are some close-ups:

An NGO that actually does something?

Picture of the week

Way up north in the Himalayas, nestled closely in between Pakistan and Tibet, lies the city of Dharamshala, home to a community based NGO called CORD (Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development). I’ve spent the last week learning about the inner workings of this organization and visiting the various villages with which it has made a positive impact.

CORD’s mission is to help rural communities achieve sustainable development, without resulting in dependency on the organization itself. Their main focus is on the empowerment of women who have been systematically marginalized their entire lives, and as a result, are completely unaware of their potential. Many women in the village still believe that their only possible role in life is to be a housewife or a teacher. CORD helps these women primarily through education and providing them with the support, skills, and resources that they need in order to become independent and self-sufficient. They do not simply give those in need money and then back out like so many failed NGOs have done. Instead, they require that the beneficiaries invest in themselves, and remain involved with the villages for years, slowly weaning them off their support. Monthly meetings in the form of women’s groups and other self-help groups create a safe environment for the villagers to discuss controversial issues with one another, and allow CORD to facilitate their progress.

The women's group sings about half a dozen traditional
 songs before beginning the discussions

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to sit in on one of these meetings, a women’s group which consisted of forty-three members, though only around twenty were in attendance. In addition to discussing the issues of AIDS and sex-selective abortions, the group talked about the age old tradition of providing a dowry once they marry off their daughters. The wife’s family has been traditionally expected to provide some sort of gift in the form of a refrigerator, television, car, etc… for the newly-weds and the son’s family. However, this tradition has increasingly perpetrated the perception that daughters are a burden, especially amongst poorer families. As a result, the rate of female specific abortions has increased drastically in recent years (though sex determination in the womb has now been outlawed), as has the rate of “dowry deaths”. It is increasingly difficult for poor families to come up with a dowry with which the receiving family will be satisfied, and unfortunately, if this is the case, the husbands family may decide to murder their new daughter-in-law. One woman in the group claimed that she would refuse to accept a dowry when the time comes for her two sons to get married. All of the women seemed to agree with this decision, and quickly moved on to discuss a problem that had arisen regarding a loan which had not been repaid.

CORD also implements a kind of micro-finance system among the members of each self-help group where each member is required to contribute five rupees at each meeting. This money is then made available for anyone who wishes to take out a loan, without charging interest. Apparently, one women had taken out a large sum of money which had not been repaid, and was asking for another. This spurred quite a bit of heavy chatter amongst the women, and it didn’t look like she would be receiving the second loan.

One of India's hard-working farmers

Though there are many, one of the biggest issues India faces today is that while her population of 1.2 billion is growing at an alarming rate (2.24%), food production and available land for farming is decreasing. This has forced farmers to reconsider their traditional methods of farming. However, many farmers are stuck in their old ways and are reluctant to change their methods which have been passed down from older generations.

Indian culture is so strongly rooted in tradition, and as a result, CORD is forced to work that much harder in order to achieve any sort of progress. Though the organization’s efforts have caused many farmers to switch to new, more effective methods of farming, hundreds of farmers have also rejected the organization’s support.

CORD not only teaches farmers more productive agricultural methods, but acts as a liaison between them and the government. Too many of India’s farmers are uneducated and are unaware of the subsidies the government has to offer. CORD provides them with the opportunity to take advantage of these subsidies, allowing them to build green houses and use more efficient farming tools, which they could not otherwise afford. This allows for a substantial improvement in their crop yield, thereby increasing their income and providing more food for India’s growing population.

Indian bee-keepers make their American counter-parts
look like wussies... here a bee-keeper shows off his
"pets" without wearing any sort of protective clothing

I also had the opportunity to visit a beekeeper which had benefited from CORD’s efforts. Putting my extreme dislike of bees aside, I did my best to focus on what the beekeeper and translator had to say. Dharamshala had experienced extreme monsoon rains this season and was affected by nearby Pakistan’s floods. The beekeeper complained that he had lost a lot of business because the floods had wiped out all the flowers and now has to resort to sugar water instead.

One last anecdote I have to share about CORD is the story of a young woman with two children who was left to her own means when her husband died of AIDS. She was living with her in-laws, as is the norm among Indian newly-weds, when her husband, a truck driver, contracted HIV (most likely from his frequent trips to the cities). His parents immediately blamed her for their loss, kicked her out of the house, and the entire community shunned her. All alone with no means of supporting herself or her two children, she went to CORD where they nursed her back to health and tested the whole family for HIV, which luckily none of them had contracted. They then taught her how to sew, and she began selling clothing and eventually made enough money to sustain herself and her kids on her own. CORD went even further and visited her village and in-laws to educate them on how the disease works, and ways to prevent it. They ultimately convinced them to accept her back into the village, and she now lives with her in-laws and runs her own business, teaching other village women how to sew. In this way, CORD seeks to improve every aspect of the villagers’ life. They seek change on a holistic level, and because the organization is run locally, they understand what the villagers need and know how to go about implementing change. 

A woman who working for the government under
the NREGA

The importance of having successful NGOs in India lies in the government’s inability to provide support to its 330 million people living in extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, this number actually amounts to about 500 million when calculated according to their poverty line of earning less than $1.25 per day. India’s government holds itself to a much lower standard, including only those who earn less than $0.25 per day. Either way, the reality is that India is home to the majority of the world’s poor, and government officials could not care less. If you thought those were scary statistics, wait until you hear this one: 70% of the government’s spending goes completely unaccounted for every year, disappearing into the pockets of corrupt government officials who have capitalized on their nation’s poverty. Thus far, I have only heard of one government operated program that has achieved any kind of success in alleviating the circumstances of India’s poor. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act provides Indians living beneath the poverty line (as determined by the government) with one hundred days of paid work. This involves a full day of intense physical labor, for which participants are compensated 150 rupees, which makes out to about $3.00 a day. Unfortunately, due to the severe corruption, the country is quickly running out of money, and this program is expected to shut down in the near future.

After leaving Dharamshala I spent a couple nights in Mcleod Ganj, a charming town decorated with Tibetan prayer flags and “Free Tibet” posters (it is also home of the Dalai Lama, though I did not get the opportunity to see him as he has recently fallen ill). I did however visit a Buddhist temple where I was able to see his followers in prayer, Tibetan monks who were in exile. I experienced my first anti-American spout of the trip when a Muslim street vendor refused to shakes hands with one of my classmates “because she was American, and Americans kill Muslims."

Muslims praying at the
Jama Masjid

On my way back to Jaipur (a fifteen hour train ride in less than Harry Potter-like conditions), I spent a night in old Delhi to visit the Red Fort and Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques. Fortunately, I left the area to head back to Jaipur hours before a shooting broke out that left two Taiwanese tourists critically injured. There has been a heavy amount of violence surrounding the recent Koran burning scandal throughout the country, so I have been careful about telling locals I am American, and most of the time opt for Canadian. Unfortunately, it does not look like conditions will be improving any time soon, especially since next Friday will see the outcome of the court’s ruling regarding the issues surrounding the destruction of a mosque that is believed to have been built on top of an old Hindu temple, and their beloved God Ram’s birthplace. No matter which side the court rules, there is sure to be violent protests throughout the country, so it looks like I’ll be staying in Jaipur for the next little while.

Delhi has yet to implement a functioning electrical
system, power lines are tangled throughout the city

On another note, while I was in Delhi I was able to see first hand the negative impact a disorganized, corrupt government can have on a country’s morale. The Commonwealth Games are set to begin in two weeks, and construction is still underway all throughout the city. Delhi was a complete mess and it is clear that India’s government had left everything to the last minute. The persistent monsoon rains have not made conditions any better, further delaying construction efforts. I spoke to a few locals about their sentiments towards the games, and all seemed extremely disheartened at the way things have turned out; this was supposed to be India’s chance to prove herself to the rest of the world, “like China did at the Olympics."