Reflective Essay

Introduction:
The Caste system, as a deeply contained social system, still dominates everyday life
open and secretly. Reading, class sessions and personal experience have helped me to
understand more clearly how to throw in society undercover, but scary.. Earlier, being
born in an upper-caste household was a status and privilege since caste went a long
way in determining one's occupation, openings, and commodities. Even if the avowedly
caste-based restrictions of earlier times may have lost their grip in some ways, their
spread-out impact persists in every facet of life today, from social hierarchies to
economic differentials and political power relationships.
The system of castes has shaped Indian society over centuries, penetrating every
aspect of its social, economic, and political life. Segregation by not allowing inter-caste
mixing socially, prohibiting their marriages, and denying the use of public facilities
serves to ensure their ongoing exclusion by the Dalits and tribal folk. Such exclusion is
later elevated to run-of-the-mill activities such as pilgrimage to temples, drinking from
community wells, or social gatherings, where lower-caste individuals remain subjected
to discrimination. Caste norms are more potent, and rural society's chasm between
different sections is broader. In contrast, though hierarchies are subtle, discrimination
occurs through more subtle methods such as discriminatory employment or exclusion
from society.
Economically, caste also persists in determining jobs and economic status. Previously,
the lower castes were predestined for low jobs, forbidden to be educated, and not even
permitted to own property. Even today, the majority of individuals from oppressed castes
struggle to move out of poverty because economic prospects continue to be extremely
limited due to deep-rooted prejudices. Upper castes hold most high-ranking jobs, with
lower-caste workers holding insecure, low-income jobs. With affirmative steps of
reservations in education and employment, social mobility is still a challenge for the
majority since prejudice continues to determine who should work and how interactions
at the workplace are dealt with.
Politically, caste plays a significant role in the election process and the functioning of the
government. Political parties mobilize caste vote banks, politically energizing caste
identifiers to secure elections. Reservation policies for correcting historical injustices
and uplifting a lot of the oppressed sections are controversial and opposed by the
dominant classes to a great extent. Caste-based identity politics has, however,
empowered oppressed groups but increased social cleavages at times, leading to
political instability. However, both these standpoints need not be contradictory. In
education, caste discrimination continues despite positive action.
It is a group of students belonging to the disadvantaged sections who are discriminated
against by the students and also by the teachers, with more dropouts and limited
access to quality education. There is discrimination, exclusion, and harassment based
on caste, even in elite colleges. This deprivation of equal education only fuels another
cycle of disparity, denying numerous people access to more lucrative professions and
professional advancement. Caste violence is an endemic illness, and honor killings,
social boycotts, and Dalit atrocities occur periodically. Legal remedies aided by
movements of resistance have, to some extent, reversed such maladies, but such
deep-seated prejudices persist.
Notwithstanding urbanization, law reforms, and modernization, decaying caste hierarchy
and deep-rooted prejudices are still influencing economic development and social
mobility. Its effects on national integration, growth, and social justice still take a profound
toll despite attempts at eradicating caste discrimination.

Hierarchical Caste System :

The caste system in India is deeply rooted in the social hierarchies of Indian society.
Historically, it used to follow a rigorous system that was majorly based upon social
status, dietary habits, occupation, and lifestyle, and the ancient Hindu Scriptures
distinguished society among significant sections:
Brahmins – Priests, scholars, and teachers.
Kshatriyas – Warriors and rulers.
Vaishyas – Merchants, traders, and agriculturalists.
Shudras – Laborers and service providers.
Besides this social distinction, Dalits, who were regarded as untouchables, and Adivasis
were subjected to isolation from the rest of the society and faced extreme
discrimination. The Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu text that talks about the caste system,
rules, and social hierarchies among castes, instated severe penalties for the violation of
these caste-based laws that were imposed at that time.
Brahmins used to enjoy all the privileges and perks of society as they performed all
religious rituals and taught scriptures. Kshatriyas were engaged in administration and
warfare. Vaishyas were business people and traders. Shudras were appointed to do all
the labor work. Dalits were regarded as "untouchables" and often forced to live on the
outskirts of any city, town, or village, and heavy forfeits were imposed upon violations of
the laws that were fabricated in order to continue the discrimination, which included
violence and death as well.

Story :1
I had always been skeptical about the fact that Dalit people in my maternal
grandparent's village were not allowed to enter temples, especially in Krishna Temple
because, according to the pandits and local people used to believe that if these
"Chamar" (cobblers) visit the temple, not only the temple but the whole village would be
impure. So I asked Grandmother, "Why is it that these people whom the whole village is
disgusted within the name of their occupation?" Then she replied that these people
make shoes and footwear using animal skin, which makes them impure, and god will
not be pleased by the visit of such a person in their temple. One day, an 8-year-old girl,
who was the daughter of a cobbler in the village, entered the temple without knowing
about the social stigma of prohibition in entering the temple cobblers in that temple. She
was brutally beaten by the villagers and hospitalized.

Theory:1
Jyotirao Phule was among the initial social reformers to observe that the caste system
was hypocritical in that upper castes announced themselves as higher and pure while
institutionally repressing lower castes. He identified Brahmanical domination as the
fundamental agency in marginalizing Dalits from religious life and society because
exclusion was done consciously for reasons of advancing higher castes' interests.
Phule's criticism also included religious practices such as temple prohibitions that he
viewed as tools of spiritual and social subjection. In opposition to this, he envisioned
"Balirajya," the ideal society in which all the citizens, regardless of caste, would enjoy
equal rights, including the right to enter temples and religious institutions without any
limitation. The violent ill-treatment of the cobbler's daughter in the tale signifies the
Brahmanical orthodoxy Phule wished to dismantle—a system that ostracized individuals
based on birth but enforced its ascendant codes by terror and force. His book provided
the ideological rationale for later anti-caste movements, urging education, social justice,
and liberation of the oppressed classes.

Story:2
I visited a village in Uttar Pradesh with my friend to attend Pradhan's son's marriage. In
that village, lower caste people were very oppressed, and it was considered taboo for
higher caste people to marry lower caste people. When the marriage rituals were over,
Pradhan came across an incident where a 24-year-old Brahmin man was in a
consensual relationship with a 24-year-old Dalit woman. The families were called in the
Gram Panchayat meeting of the man and the woman.
The final verdict of the case was that the women of the Brahmin family would disrobe
the Dalit woman in front of the whole village, would disrobe and beat the women, and
bathe in milk to restore the integrity and dignity of the Brahmin family. Witnessing all of
this and doing nothing to protect that woman makes me feel guilty till now, and my friend
who was there in the Gram panchayat justified all of that by saying, "These people are
like animals, and it is Ibrahim's duty to educate these uncivilized people and Dalit
women need to know her boundaries." After all this happened, I was disgusted and
immediately left the village.
Theory:2
One of the social reformers who satisfactorily explained the scenario in terms of their
mind is Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a Dalit chief and writer of the Indian Constitution, who
criticized the caste system and oppression in his works along with Annihilation of Caste
(1936). Ambedkar said that caste is included through rigorous endogamy, and violation
of it, like inter-caste marriage, is rewarded with the best social sanction, which is what
changed into giving to the village in this case. He defined how Dalits have been socially
excluded, stigmatized, and brutalized for violating caste law, as visible in punishing the
Dalit girl, who was stripped and expelled. Ambedkar additionally took into consideration
caste to be a mundane phenomenon, condemning Hindu society for tolerating atrocities
in the call of cultural purity, as within the story, by way of the ritualistic "milk tub."
Inter-caste marriages were what Ambedkar believed might ruin caste by way of
fragmenting endogamy, though he additionally mentioned that those marriages tended
to fall victim to violent retribution. This case also illustrates how caste patriarchy works,
with upper-caste girls implementing caste purity and the way informal establishments
such as the Gram Panchayat perpetuate caste hierarchies in the face of constitutional
safeguards towards discrimination. Finally, the eviction of the Dalit own family is a
manifestation of untouchability and social exclusion, which Ambedkar fought against
One of the social reformers whose thoughts suit this example is Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a
Dalit chief and the author of the Indian Constitution, who condemned the caste system
and its suppressiveness in works like Annihilation of Caste (1936). Ambedkar believed
that caste is covered by using strict endogamy and that any transgression, such as
inter-caste marriage, is met with the extreme.

Conclusion:
The prominence of caste-based discrimination, according to the above stories, is deeply
rooted in the society and its individuals, and these biases and prejudices will continue to
shape Indian society, legal and social reforms. The uncivilized exclusion of lower caste
people like cobblers, brutal abuse to his daughter in the above-mentioned story from
religious places, and the brutal oppression that Dalit young women had to face for
having a consensual relationship with a Brahim man validates the fact that these
governing bodies like Gram Panchayat have institutionalized caste-based discrimination
and cruelty. These incidents corroborate the arguments of social reformers that the
caste-based system is not a form of social distinction but rather a tool for oppression
and exploitation against the minorities of the society.
Dr. Ambedkar's theory of endogamy as the foundation of caste explains why inter-caste
marriages, especially those involving Dalit people, draw forth extreme societal backlash.
Similarly, Jyotirao Phule's idea of Balirajya challenges the socio-religious orthodoxy,
which does not allow the lower caste individuals to enter the temples and other religious
places. These reformers emphasized education and legal rights and empowered social
minorities to raise their voice against these caste-based atrocities, exclusion, and
honor-based punishments.
Despite the legal safeguards, caste-based discrimination still prevails in society,
manifesting in economic deprivation. It is only through a struggle against caste
discrimination in all aspects of life that Indian society can feel the dream of its reformers.
In this world, justice, dignity, and equality will control the top rule for everyone who
wants to be born.

Aditya Dhiman

2022597