Discrimination

As I was reading Christophers blog on Uncomfortable silence, I remembered something similar I had written with my previous ID..Yes, someone took over my old ID. At the time I was a newbie to the blogging world. I am posting it here for your perusal.

Discrimination, its Different Masks

One of the topics that comes up from time to time, when people know I am a Hindu is "what do you think of Caste system?" Or "did you know that the Vedas support discrimination via the caste system?" Usually this particular verse from the Rig Veda is quoted -

"The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made. His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.." Rig Veda (10.90.12). ¹

I mean how important could the Sudras be if they came from the feet? Right? My interpretation is very different though- the different classes within the society are like the Organs of a Body and every part is important but never independent. One cannot claim that only ONE particular organ/muscle/bone/tissue in the body is more important than any of the others. If one class is powerful than the other, its power only comes from the people who serve that class. If a Kingdom had no subjects who would the King rule over?

So yes, we have a caste system. That is not to say that I agree with it or love it. Like all systems in the world, it has its pros and its cons. I am just making my observations. Different scholars/experts on Hindus and Hinduism have different views on how it came about and how it was enforced. A note of caution though, you have to remember that all the "written history" of beginnings of caste system is pure speculation, because no one (not even a great scholar of the time) has gone back in time to really see how it all started or worked.

Honestly, I don't know what I am expected to think of caste or why it should be such an important thing, especially when I look around and see it exist in some form or other in different parts of the world. On the positive side, a caste system is very obvious. It doesn't play the cat and mouse game like say in the US where there are laws against discrimination, but then there are places where the store clerk follows you around if you are of African or SE Asian descent and you enter the store. Indian caste system saves us a lot of trouble when it comes to figuring out where we fit in the society. Each caste knows what it is supposed to do within a society, how to live, eat, etc.. We know our Place in the Society, no hypocrisy there.

Every place and people in this world has their own forms of discrimination. In some places it's subtle and in others it is "in your face". Let's consider the following scenarios-how many of the US citizens are actually invited to the Democratic or Republican conventions ? I mean, you give your tax money to them in the form of payment for their time serving you as a Nation, so then in all fairness, everyone of you should be invited to the conventions held by those you voted to rule the country, right? How many Caucasians compared to those who were of African or Asian decent, were actually held in the airports of USA and Europe since the 9/11, for extra security scrutiny? How many section 8 housing are there in a  wealthy neighborhood in the USA? How many roadside vendors in England actually get to visit the Queen in the Palace? How many People in the CEO cadre of the corporate world (anywhere in the world) actually marry a Pauper? How many people in every nation of Europe do not Mind the influx of "non-white" immigrants? How many people in the English speaking world would actually listen to a person who doesn't know to speak English or learn the others language to accommodate them? How many of us actually have any respect for the tribals who live in different parts of the world? How many of us don't have stereotypical versions of a person of the other "religion/culture/nation/language group"? I am guessing most of the answers will be... "It does happen but it's a rare thing".

In my opinion, Caste system exists in every part of the world, just the semantics are different. You just need to substitute the words "class, race, status, qualification, gender, etiquette, education, type of job, nationality, language group, religious group" for caste and voila! You have a discrimination fit for every nation, people and religion in this world.

Human beings do judge and discriminate. Instead of denying we do that, it would be better for us to acknowledge that each of us shares this flaw in some form, masked with some word definition and then be aware of that. Instead of taking the "I am holier than thou" path, we should be looking at the "how can we be more aware and sensitive to discrimination". Maybe then it would make us live up to what we think is "Human" in us.

¹ This is part of the Purusha Sukta, a sixteen versed Hymn from the Rig veda. And as it is with all verses in a hymn/poem, it needs to be taken in context of the previous verses and the verses after. The hymn talks about the Purusa(the all pervading energy). I think each one should read it and interpret it from their own understanding. Those interested can go to this site.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10090.htm