It was one difficult choice to make, but I could not stop myself from venting out the discrimination I felt a few days back. Well, this time, I am not speaking about the rampant gender discrimination for which I have been vocal for years now. Instead, this is one silent, accepted, and Indianised discrimination that one can only feel if they do not rank highest in societal strata. 

Let me clarify to all of you reading this: I am not against rituals per se. But I am strictly against those that promote inherent bias: be it in the form of religion, caste, gender, etc. 

Recently I was invited to a pooja at a friend’s house where there were some close family members and few friends. Towards the end of the pooja, as we all waited for prashad (offering distributed among all people present), I noticed something unwelcoming. 

The Panditji conducting pooja said, “Distribute this among the brahmans present here.” I, for once, thought he might still be performing some ritual there. But later on, realised, all the other people in the room got their share of prashad except for the two of us. Apparently, because we were non-brahmins. The worst of it all, I saw people passing their share to each other right in front of us and kept saying, “saare brahman mai baat do(distribute it among all brahmans).” 

I felt bad witnessing this. Frankly, I felt numb within because it was for the very first time I saw this happening. The caste discrimination that we heard, read, and wrote about so many times was happening right in front of me. I could not stop myself and asked one of the people, “don’t we deserve the prashad? Is it only for brahmins? “To which he replied hesitatingly, “yes, you can have it”. I took a quarter of it and sat in one corner, still grasping it. Later on, I tried to make peace with the fact that something like this had effected me. 

But, should such things be even made peace about? I felt uneasy and called up my dad and generally asked him, “In your 30+ years of service in Bihar, has this caste discrimination impacted you?” He casually replied, “Yes, multiple times. But you cannot do much about it, stay put and don’t overthink!”

That day I realised that until you are at the receiving end of any social prejudice, you will not understand how people feel when they are treated unequally and not given their fair share. 

Many people argue this in the name of culture; you cannot eliminate the very essence of societal rituals.

So, for those saying that these rituals keep our culture alive, why not cherry-pick those that are meant to glue us as a society and not the ones that can ostracise someone? Besides, it is also necessary to know that these existed the way it is from the very beginning or has it been changed to fixate on the prestige of a few sections of society?

What Does It Means To Be Caste Discriminated In India?

Many of you might simply deject my understanding and say, “isko kya pata caste ke baare mai?” or “what would have she faced”. It’s about these minute things that matter. If we don’t change our mentality or do not change the way we think about specific rituals (be it from any religion around the world), do we see a change in the future? Are we envisaging our destination the same way our Constitution thought it to be? 

Being educated is one thing; being wise is another, and being able to face and change the inherent biases of the world is something that needs guts and courage. Just like a river that changes its course when it faces the large boulders along its way, we as a human should bring the change too. Nature is a living example of how things must change with time! That may be harsh for people you love, but it will be a torch of hope who will love you in future. 

Article 15 of the Constitution of India prohibits any discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. But are we actually living and following this? 

Ask your heart, and you will find multiple answers around you. 

I wonder, in this 21st-century world, when we should focus on important subjects like education, hospital, drinking water, food, etc. All of them are impacted heavily by caste discrimination.

Countless salutes to the makers of the Constitution of India, who thought well in advance broadly about all their subjects rather than a selective few and provided the rights to all of them in a free India. 

Thank you, Babasaheb Ji, for bringing us a living document, the epitome of what it means to be human!

PS: My quest for understanding the discrimination with ground reality has just begun!