Thursday, August 19, 2010

On second thoughts… I wish I were a minority..


I am a high caste Rajput. And I am really proud about my royal roots. But the system in my country, India, in the present day scenario is such that it makes me wish I were a MINORITY.

 The caste system in India has deep roots from the prime time of the evolution of the civilization. India is one of the oldest civilizations of the world, and the caste system is equally old in its origin. When the Aryans came into our country they had forced the people of the harappan or Indus valley civilization who were residing in the northern part of the country to the south. At that time Pakistan and Afghanistan were also a part of India. The Aryans were nature worshippers, they worshipped sun god, wind god etc

                                It was them who had started the system of caste system. It was basically a division of work and nothing else, since the prodigy took the occupation of their father it became a caste and a part of their identity. The kids did have a choice of occupation but with time things changed.


The public were divided into 4 groups according to the work they did;.

The first were Brahmins or pundits, the learned caste. They had all the knowledge of the Vedas and other religious scriptures. They were given a lot of respect in the society as they were the official teachers of the society, and is every community guru,or the teacher holds the highest post
The second were the Rajput, the warrior class,(I am a rajput). The kings, queens, princess, princesses and soldiers belonged to this caste. They were the rulers and the protectors of the community
The third were vaishya or the business class. It consisted of those people who were indulged in business transactions, commerce etc
The fourth were shudra which were people who did the menial works etc. they were basically the minorities. This caste later came out as UNTOUCHABLES and HARIJANS, (people send by god) by Gandhi ji during the independence movement.

Gradually, which happens in like almost every civilization the stronger started exploited the weaker. Much exploitation took place but I am not going into that detail as I am not here to teach history. So on a more important note I would come to the point that why do I want to be a MINORITY.

After the independence it was felt necessary by the founding fathers of our country that for a balanced development the upliftment of weaker sections is the need of the hour. For a period of 10 years, in the initial stage,( this were subsequently extended for every 10 years through constitutional amendments) a RESERVATION  was provided to these people for  political representation and economical development.


But due to political pressure and vote bank, the reservation is still prevails while it was just to be present for 10 years and now it is more than 50%. Today also, similarly like the old times people are judged by their birth. There are so many people whom I know who are very well financially and they come under a minority caste and they are growing even more which is good. But then there are people who are really in need for development but are not given the opportunity because they are of high birth.

The very famous and top college of commerce of our country SRI RAM COLLEGE OF COMMERCE(SRCC) gives an almost of 10-12% relaxation of marks to the OBC(other backward castes) and SC/ST(schedule caste and schedule tribes). The cut off this college goes up to 97% but this is only for general caste .... but if you are a OBC or SC/ST with 88 % then also one can get admission in this college.

The people with a reservation have brahmastra (which means weapon of god) metaphorically in academics. Today any person who is an OBC or SC/ST then can easily get admission in any top colleges with very average and above average marks.

Our leaders talk about equality but they are not ready to do anything about this matter . Many students were also killed in protest of this quota system/reservation.
26% of the population of our country is still under the poverty line but there is no reservation for them .If the government want to provide reservation then why not for people with weaker economical background.

Unfortunately this is hardly going to happen………..

Ummm… can’t find a conclusion to this!!!!




6 comments:

anki said...

this was inspired by the stuatus update of one of my friendz anurag

Anurag said...

Good work...Keep writing..

Anurag said...

To add a little more detail to the historical perspective of this discussion for interested users,i must mentions the actual origin and foundation of the caste system in india. According to the Tenth mandala of the rig veda ( Oldest Text of the Hindus), The four castes originated from the Purusha .In the sacrifice of Purusha, the Vedic chants were first created. The horses and cows were born, the Brahmins were made from Purusha's mouth, the Ksatriya from his arms, the Vaisyas from his thighs, and the Shudras from his feet.

This actually goes to show the innovative mind of the early Hindu and his zest to reach out to his imagination.

Maria said...

Great post and I look forward to many more! Well done and welcome to the blogosphere....

anki said...

@sunny thnx 4d gr8 info it ws v. nice

@gaelikaa thnku had it nt been 4 u i wud nvr hav strted bloggin...n missed d happiness in getting now..!!

Unknown said...

g8 wrk ankki.... it's quiet appreciable on ur part.. lukin 4wrd 2 see more interestin blogs frm ur side... god bless uhh