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Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

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Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#21

Post by yes_really »

reactspa wrote: post #13
reactspa wrote: post #5

I won't read it because caste is a trauma-inducing subject to me. I'll just leave my comment here so that the truth is available for anyone who cares. I'm a member of the so-called "upper castes", but not a Brahmin. Parents were very bohemian, never taught me anything about caste. Go to college in India. My best friend in college is a Brahmin. I knew that Brahmins were priests, didn't really know anything else about…

Update: 2 more anecdotes 4) Brahmin friend of mine at work. Brilliant fellow. Solid decent chap overall. I tell him about this article I read about how in some city, a non-Brahmin girl wasn't allowed to do Bharat Natyam (a classical Indian dance form that is widely taught) on some stage because she wasn't a Brahmin. I guess traditionally only Brahmin girls were allowed to perform it. Turns out he agrees with this dec…

Was the dance a religious ceremony reserved for Brahmins? Seems sensible to honor that tradition if that is the case.

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#22

Post by reactspa »

yes_really wrote: post #21
reactspa wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Update: 2 more anecdotes 4) Brahmin friend of mine at work. Brilliant fellow. Solid decent chap overall. I tell him about this article I read about how in some city, a non-Brahmin girl wasn't allowed to do Bharat Natyam (a classical Indian dance form that is widely taught) on some stage because she wasn't a Brahmin. I guess traditionally only Brahmin girls were allowed to perform it. Turns out he agrees with this dec…

Was the dance a religious ceremony reserved for Brahmins? Seems sensible to honor that tradition if that is the case.

It might have been in the past.

It was just Bharat Natyam. A commonly taught classical dance form of India. But this performance hall denied her request to perform it because she wasn't a Brahmin.

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#23

Post by reactspa »

rayiner wrote: post #14
reactspa wrote: post #5

I won't read it because caste is a trauma-inducing subject to me. I'll just leave my comment here so that the truth is available for anyone who cares. I'm a member of the so-called "upper castes", but not a Brahmin. Parents were very bohemian, never taught me anything about caste. Go to college in India. My best friend in college is a Brahmin. I knew that Brahmins were priests, didn't really know anything else about…

> 3) I now live and work in the U.S. A new hire, Indian, joins. Visits my office one day. Tells me he left India because he hates the caste system. I start warming to him. A little while later informs me that he's a very high Brahmin. Not an ordinary Brahmin, mind you, a high Brahmin. All the super-progressive Indians I know in the U.S. are Brahmins. What's up with that?

This guy also believes he's super-progressive. He hates the caste-system, remember?

It might be "compensation". It's like people who live in lily-white areas who constantly harp on about George Floyd. To show they're truly down with the struggle. But if a black man shows up in their neighborhood, they call the police on him.

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#24

Post by genghizkhan »

mohanmcgeek wrote: post #18
unmole wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Certainly, I hope anyone commenting on this will take note of the publishing date being more than 100 years ago. That's irrelevant when discussing the mechanism, genesis and development of a system that goes back millienia. > they'll say something like, "he's from the janitor class, but thats okay, because he's a doctor" What are you basing this on? Exogamy between castes remains very low, even between different hi…

> Exogamy between castes remains very low, even between different high castes. What are you basing this on?

Not the GP, but I can anecdotally confirm this. Breaking caste barriers remains unusual in most of India. The Indian HN community is biased towards Bangalore, Delhi and Bombay where rates of exogamy amongst the upper middle class are far higher than in practically all other parts of India.

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#26

Post by victorcharlie »

reactspa wrote: post #5

I won't read it because caste is a trauma-inducing subject to me. I'll just leave my comment here so that the truth is available for anyone who cares. I'm a member of the so-called "upper castes", but not a Brahmin. Parents were very bohemian, never taught me anything about caste. Go to college in India. My best friend in college is a Brahmin. I knew that Brahmins were priests, didn't really know anything else about…

Sorry if this comes as extremely ignorant but how is the caste of a foreigner determined? Let's say I marry an Indian, I must adopt her caste? I have to get... Evaluated? and after that I get a caste?

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#27

Post by BrandoElFollito »

reactspa wrote: post #5

I won't read it because caste is a trauma-inducing subject to me. I'll just leave my comment here so that the truth is available for anyone who cares. I'm a member of the so-called "upper castes", but not a Brahmin. Parents were very bohemian, never taught me anything about caste. Go to college in India. My best friend in college is a Brahmin. I knew that Brahmins were priests, didn't really know anything else about…

Why wouldn't you tell the landlord you are a Brahmin?

Since they need to ask I guess that this is not something obvious.

Re: Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

#29

Post by samarthr1 »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #25
iamnotleetcoder wrote: post #16

Quoted post unavailable.

What was the Harvard equivalent of sati?

Sati as an issue was orthogonal to caste. It was more of a way to prevent rape by the Muslim invaders of the time. I don't know about y'all, but for me, death over dishonour.
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