Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development
columbia.edu

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 their ideology. One late night, well after we had established a very strong friendship, he starts to tell me about how Brahmins are superior to non-Brahmins. Tells me that because I was "x" caste, I was meant to do "y" types of jobs. And that I shouldn't try to compete with him in things where "pure IQ" was relevant. I pointed out to him that in the national Civil Service and IIT exams, people of my caste were usually the "toppers", and usually made up 40% to 60% of the top 10 selected. Routinely doing better than Brahmins. (In India the last name is associated with one's caste, and newspapers routinely publish names of "toppers" of these exams). He shrugged it off. The crazy part? In every other aspect of his character, he was such a good guy that we remained best friends for years after.

Upper castes will tell you there's no caste discrimination in India. Three more anecdotes:

1) I take up a one-year position with my job in Chennai. Go around looking for an apartment. Looked at 2 apartments in a nice neighborhood. First question the landlords asked me: are you a Brahmin? They told me they couldn't rent to me because I wasn't.

2) In my office in Chennai I become friendly with a lot of the female staff. They start to tease me one day that they're going to find me a girl to marry. "Don't worry, we'll find you a Brahmin." The kicker? They weren't Brahmins themselves. This is the level of self-hate the Brahmin has bred into non-Brahmins.

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.

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 high castes.

I have been involved in public exams in India. I think the best predictor for performance is how relevant your parents' education is, to your career, not caste per se.