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How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

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Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#201

Post by thewileyone »

dominotw wrote: post #29
throwaway713 wrote: post #3

I don’t know anything about Indian culture; could someone who is from there shed some light on how prevalent the prejudiced mindset is? E.g., do 80% of people think the caste system is stupid and outdated whereas the other 20% still hold some prejudice toward Dalits? What about Indians that have moved to the U.S.? And is this issue improving quickly or slowly?

It is still very prevalent. 1. I know people in my friend circle here in USA who refuse to invite people from lower caste into their home. One even had separate set of tea cups for lower caste friends to serve tea in. In india lower caste people are not allowed to enter the homes of higher caste people. 2. indians in usa form their friends group based on their nationality/language/region/caste in that order. While I…

A friend of mine, Bramin caste, married a non-Indian. His mother, who really believes in the caste system, refused to attend his marriage and hasn't seen any of his 3 children since.

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#202

Post by thewileyone »

sadfev wrote: post #99

If you are an IITian and still casteist then something is wrong with you! Look IITians are often entitled, opinionated and in rare cases obnoxious. But never during my 5 years in IIT KGP, I have ever felt casteism among students and even amongst alumni after that. Initially during freshman year there’s a slight sense of resentment against quota (affirmative action for lower castes) students but all of that evaporates…

> IITians are often entitled, opinionated and in rare cases obnoxious.

I've worked with IITians and this is very accurate. They also refuse to consider alternate opinions, because if their opinion is not accepted, they assume that it would damage their careers.

I also know of one team that hired all IITians to boost their output. Lots of "white papers" but not much action. After a year, the whole group of IITians were upset because they weren't promoted, demonstrate low engagement with other teams and eventually left. It was funny to watch that team self-destruct because it went from the golden team to the team no division wanted in 12 months.

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#204

Post by known »

bobosha wrote: post #165
DisjointedHunt wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Although I personally haven't seen or noticed casteism in the Indian community here or back in India for that matter. Have you not seen a single matrimonial advertisement in the US for members of the Indian community or back home in India? I find the statement perplexing having lived in India for a while and having professional relationships with many from the region.

Matrimonials is a curious thing in India, it's not just caste, but it's the sub-sub-sub-caste that's often used as a filter. Most Indian marriages are arranged as you know... However, I didn't see any overt casteism, I would play and be best buds with people of other castes. With caste being somewhat akin to how Americans think of ancestry. AFAIK my parents and their colleagues never once brought caste into any of ou…

Perhaps you can ask your parents why they're not inter-caste

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#205

Post by Mauricebranagh »

bluGill wrote: post #170
Mauricebranagh wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not totally sure that "Caste" is a protected thing.

Several of the laws are broad enough to apply.

Last year I remember a news item linked on HN where some HR person flat out said that "caste" is not a protected category.

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#206

Post by naruvimama »

SuoDuanDao wrote: post #168

I've heard the opinion that India is the longest-running example of functioning multiculturalism in the world. Parts of the Indian system are no doubt simple remnants of earlier times that serve no purpose, but others are probably very necessary for the system's functioning, and I wonder whether caste might be one of those. At a glance, caste discrimination seems like it would in fact make it harder for the upper cla…

"Caste" has a lot of political milage attached to it. So the divisions are used by politicians as well as the church.

Infact the European origin of the word caste, shows you how far the narrative is from reality.

People wanting to maintain a certain lifestyle is conflated with orthodoxy/discrimination.

Forcing someone used to generations of vegetarianism to use the same kitchen where meat is served. Jains who follow ahimsa, do not want to rent out their homes to meat eaters.

This is often labeled discriminatory, not by the Hindus themselves, but by the sjws.

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#207

Post by naruvimama »

The big problem with atrocity literature is that one fails to see reality and fail to recognize the fast changing world.

Jesus was a carpenter because his father was a carpenter. If Jesus's workshop burt down and he wanted to rebuild he can always depend on the carpenter community to help him out.

Jesus wants to be part of the carpenter community as it serves him.

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#208

Post by naruvimama »

People in the western world have family names like Smith, Goldsmith, Mason, Carpenter, Schumacher .... which connect them to their ancestral occupation

In a poor country like India often people's occupation matches their family name.

The only difference is that Indians recognized the social mobility problems at the time of framing the constitution.

Social mobility is a problem that even a wealthy country like Germany faces. The fact that Indians recognize this and want to address it should not be ignored

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#209

Post by cmdshiftf4 »

dang wrote: post #199
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #40

>This is something torontonians have gotten over ages ago. Bad example. Canada is a globalist punching bag and their behaviour isn't indicative of a country that has grown but one that has merely submitted. I lived in Toronto for a couple of years and even at that point most of the people I met who were born and bred there were hauling ass out of the city to places like Barrie, Burlington or other provinces entirely.…

Flamewar comments like this will get you banned here. It's one thing to share your experience, but name-calling, putdowns, and ideological denunciations are quite another, and not ok. Please don't vandalize HN threads like this again. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26435861 . Edit: actually, you've been doing so much of this that I've banned the account. Using HN primarily for id…

This is lunacy @dang. I criticized a country for the policies it has pursued, not people. The implication here is that countries themselves are now infallible?

HN users are regularly (and justly) critical of China, North Korea and even America... are these people also facing reprimand? Or is just certain countries who get your protection?

Re: How Big Tech Is Importing India’s Caste Legacy to Silicon Valley

#210

Post by iamshs »

FooBarBizBazz wrote: post #133
iamshs wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is already in US and is being defended by Hindu organizations with reason like - ‘Caste discrimination is a Hindu right that should go unchallenged’ https://twitter.com/YashicaDutt/status/1369314943061856261

To defend the "bad guy" for a second: In fairness to the HAF here, that "quote" is not a quote at all, but an uncharitable paraphrasing. If you're going to quote that "summary", it'd be best to also include a direct quote from the HAF along with it, so you appear fairer. Otherwise people will feel tricked and dismiss your argument.

Only if you had read the article where it is addressed in detail. Your colored language notwithstanding ("uncharitable paraphrasing"), the statement is actually an accurate summary by a well respected researcher on Dalit issues, of what HAF is doing here.

https://thewire.in/caste/cisco-case-caste-discrimination-sil...

Here is another good article which says the same and the dubious role HAF is playing in order to advance Hindu Upper Caste's systemic oppression. Please note, HAF is run by all Hindu Upper Caste people, and they are invested in this case so as to not set a precedent.

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