Pluralism in India: factoring in the Caste

By

Randeep Wadehra and Amar Nath Wadehra

India’s is a stratified society. This stratification is so complex that we need a different terminology for it. Stratification conjures up layers upon layers of social distribution. In fact, the divisions in our society are horizontal as well as vertical. You have castes that command equal social esteem, yet they wouldn't enter into social alliances with each other. Intermarriage is simply out of the question. There are sub-castes with their own pecking order in every caste. The plethora of sects, subsects, castes and sub-castes in our society indicates the extravagance of our pluralism... No wonder it has evolved into a bundle of curious contradictions of assimilation and exclusivity.

The so-called postmodern Indian has refined the art of caste identification through more subtle means. He doesn't ask one's caste directly, but alludes to certain specific practices peculiar to a caste denoted by one's surname. This becomes one of the factors deciding the formation of a social and even professional group. Caste mindfulness is neither region-specific nor class specific. Nor does it undergo much change with passage of time. It envelops our psyche like an ancient shroud, which we are unable to shed owing to centuries of mental conditioning.

Recently there has been an upsurge of interest in genesis of the caste system. There has been an argument in the politico-bureaucratic circles that caste and community related data can be useful in formulating various economic policies as well as welfare programs. The country’s intelligentsia has been showing more than passing interest in the society’s stratified structure. If Dipankar Gupta has written an entire book (Interrogating Caste; Penguin) on the whys and wherefores of caste system, then Madhuri Santanam Sondhi (The making of modern Hinduism; with ML Sondhi; Har-Anand Publications) and John Keay (India: a history; Harper Collins) have shown interest in the phenomenon in their respective works. And, this list of authors is by no means complete. While a section of the intelligentsia looks askance at the process of 'going back to the roots', another school of thought feels that a lot of good can come out of it provided one tries to understand the original basis for the social stratification, which has its genesis as much in economic disparity as in the esoteric processes of history.

For some the system is an obnoxious reality, while for others it is a time-tested mechanism that helps the society cope with the dynamics of ever changing social and economic scenarios. Caste system was not an 'ism', but a scientific tool for the division of labour, some claim.

Moreover, the very fact that it is the most enduring anachronism testifies to its utility even in the contemporary India. It provides one with an identity that is distinct and indelible.  If its study helps us to broaden our outlook rather than narrow it down, it can serve a useful social purpose. For example, not all Brahmins were ethnic Aryans and not all Shudras were non-Aryans. In the latter category one can include those Brahmins who were ethnic Aryans but for some reason were condemned as Bhrasht Brahmins and downgraded to the caste of Chandalas. There were Shudra kings too. One would do well to remember that in the ancient texts the term 'Arya' was not used to denote ethnicity but a certain lifestyle. Erroneously or otherwise, it came to be associated with civilized people in the subcontinent.

Thus, any ethnic group or sub-group could be called Aryan if its lifestyle was identical to the one described in the Vedas and other relevant texts. Caste is thus the outcome of the Aryanization process of India. Observes John Keay, "An Aryanized society may be defined as one in which primacy is accorded to a particular language (Sanskrit), to an authoritative priesthood (Brahmans) and to a hierarchical social structure (caste)..."

It was not uncommon for a Brahmin, a Shudra and even a Vanik to indulge in warlike activities... something one always associates with the Kshatriya caste, which essentially was a club that admitted new members from time to time without ethnic considerations. In fact, anyone who could coerce, cajole or convince the priesthood about his claims to being a Kshatriya was duly legitimized as one. His family history would be concocted to link his lineage to eit

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