So many centuries back, some knowledgeable people (who probably were the ancestors of today's knowledgeable Chennai crowd) classified people into four kinds (or varnas, for the Sanskrit-ly inclined). People those days didn't do much except praying, fighting or something like that. The four divisions were
Kshatriyas- people who fought.
Brahmanas - people who performed scholarly activities (like reading The Hindu from top to bottom)
Vaisyas - people who bought and sold things, merchant folk.
Sudras - people who did physical labor.
Today, three of the four classifications have merged with multiple regional and religion based sects and what remains in the Brahmanas and that too only in the name. I call this group the fourth world.
I think just because they were self proclaimed scholars in the ancient times there are a million hurdles and loopholes to make sure none of the modern day citizens of the fourth world would be eligible to carry out the pursuit of knowledge.
The fourth world is also referred to as the 'forward community' in pop culture. That's like the best irony inspired name ever. It gives tough competition to terms like relative grading, flash mob, engineering college and music director Harris Jeyaraj.
In the mark driven educational society today, the fourth world can only sustain itself if it chooses to embrace illiteracy. I mean come on, there are so many jobs one can end up without getting a degree.
"What is your percentage in class 10?"
"98%"
"Good. What about class 12?"
"99.5%"
"Very good, very good. Where is your community certificate?"
"I don't have one. Forward community."
"Oh."
"You should've worked hard in class 12. You are 4% short of the cut off."
"But I have 99.5% already."
"I know. But that's what the system says. The system is never wrong."
Well, the system is never wrong. No?
Okay. So, if I decide to follow my ancestors and resort to priestly professions, even they are competitive. People fight reservations, finish doctorates in posh foreign universities and once they get married, they come back to India, put their kids in PSBB, grow a pony tail and become vaaddhiyaars. So if I finish school with a meagre 98% and try getting into one such profession, I will be ineligible for that also. What should I do tell me? I think this is all a master plan to make sure nobody from the forward community remains to fight against reservation. They are aiming at a society filled with peace and harmony by waiting till all the people of the fourth world die.
Lets look at the possible jobs where there are no reservations:
1. Item dancer - best possible job. But men cannot apply because of penis and poonal.
2. Bodyguard for the dons/mafia heads - not possible because of curd rice.
3. Politician - No money, no politics. Yes money, no need of politics. Paradox.
And a few others like amateur photographer, social media expert etc. People used to become writers but these days one needs an MBA from the IIMs to become a writer.
So to sum up one does not simply be born as a citizen of the fourth world and also expect decent education. Oh wait, you cannot control that.
Pesama naanum kalacharatha kaapatha poidlamnu iruken.
Kshatriyas- people who fought.
Brahmanas - people who performed scholarly activities (like reading The Hindu from top to bottom)
Vaisyas - people who bought and sold things, merchant folk.
Sudras - people who did physical labor.
Today, three of the four classifications have merged with multiple regional and religion based sects and what remains in the Brahmanas and that too only in the name. I call this group the fourth world.
I think just because they were self proclaimed scholars in the ancient times there are a million hurdles and loopholes to make sure none of the modern day citizens of the fourth world would be eligible to carry out the pursuit of knowledge.
The fourth world is also referred to as the 'forward community' in pop culture. That's like the best irony inspired name ever. It gives tough competition to terms like relative grading, flash mob, engineering college and music director Harris Jeyaraj.
In the mark driven educational society today, the fourth world can only sustain itself if it chooses to embrace illiteracy. I mean come on, there are so many jobs one can end up without getting a degree.
"What is your percentage in class 10?"
"98%"
"Good. What about class 12?"
"99.5%"
"Very good, very good. Where is your community certificate?"
"I don't have one. Forward community."
"Oh."
"You should've worked hard in class 12. You are 4% short of the cut off."
"But I have 99.5% already."
"I know. But that's what the system says. The system is never wrong."
Well, the system is never wrong. No?
Okay. So, if I decide to follow my ancestors and resort to priestly professions, even they are competitive. People fight reservations, finish doctorates in posh foreign universities and once they get married, they come back to India, put their kids in PSBB, grow a pony tail and become vaaddhiyaars. So if I finish school with a meagre 98% and try getting into one such profession, I will be ineligible for that also. What should I do tell me? I think this is all a master plan to make sure nobody from the forward community remains to fight against reservation. They are aiming at a society filled with peace and harmony by waiting till all the people of the fourth world die.
Lets look at the possible jobs where there are no reservations:
1. Item dancer - best possible job. But men cannot apply because of penis and poonal.
2. Bodyguard for the dons/mafia heads - not possible because of curd rice.
3. Politician - No money, no politics. Yes money, no need of politics. Paradox.
And a few others like amateur photographer, social media expert etc. People used to become writers but these days one needs an MBA from the IIMs to become a writer.
So to sum up one does not simply be born as a citizen of the fourth world and also expect decent education. Oh wait, you cannot control that.
Pesama naanum kalacharatha kaapatha poidlamnu iruken.
One doubt, why PSBB? :)
ReplyDeleteThat was chumma :)
DeleteHmm but vair nice post!
Deleteillogical arguments based on totally false assumptions.
ReplyDelete>> Sudras - people who didn't want to do any of the above and hence had to choose physical labor.
Wrong. Sudras were wealthy, till the Brahmans came and made them lose the wealth. Brahmins framed rules that "lower caste" people should do only lower level jobs. They didn't want anyone other than the Brahmins to progress.
Do you know why the Yagna system was deviously started by the brahmans? To fool the sudras who were wealthy and make them poor - they'd ask them to throw expensive stuff into the fire!
The Brahmhins made a fool of everyone by saying they are superior.
All Brahmins now are suffering because of the atrocities done by Brahmin forefathers. It is because of them, that the lower castes are still remaining "lower castes", while Brahmins are at the top of most organisations.
Your anger is justified, but, somewhere, the other social classes should be uplifted. The mistakes done by Brahmin forefathers should be corrected. You should read the Dravidian history to understand the past, before writing such posts.
Firstly, thank you for reading.
DeleteIf you were to take a stance that my views are factually wrong, you should've outraged on my "reading The Hindu from top to bottom" line. There needs a little light veined approach to take things to people.
Who wrote the Dravidian history? Who gave you proof that some brahmin asked to throw stuff in the fire? "Uplifting" has been done for 60 years now. I am not rooting for any "upper class" here, but for the fact that the reservation system is stupid.
Before you go outraging on any particular caste, understand the stance and the point of focus of the post.
U know what? When I read that 'reading the Hindu' part, I did have a smile on my face. I did enjoy it. But, even in the light veined approach, you choose to elevate the "upper castes" and push down the "lower castes". Through your light-veined approach, you are trying to put the blame on the Sudras for their economic and social backwardness, by saying they didn't do anything.
DeleteI don't know if you meant it that way, but it sounds as though you want to say that Brahmins reached the top because they were scholars, and Sudras remained at the bottom only because they were idle.
BTW, It is common knowledge that most of the rituals are Brahmin based. Brahmins elevated themselves to the top. Till Periyar started enlightening the masses, the post of the Poojari in temples were strictly supposed to be Brahmans. Don't you know that Brahman's created a rule that it is a big punyam to feed a Brahman each day? Who do you think wanted to get wealthy by not doing work?
Do google searches, my friend. You will know the truth.
Anyways, I don't want to create any further caste based rivalry here. I'll clarify one final thing - You say uplifting has been done for 60 years. Do you think that is enough? If that is enough, why are all the top posts almost everywhere occupied only by Brahmins? Brahmins population is much smaller compared to the so called lower castes. But, still, it is Brahmin domination everywhere. If as per your logic, there are significant portion of non-brahmin, lower caste people are at the top, then the upliftment can be stopped.
How long the upliftment is done is immaterial. What matters is whether the upliftment goal is complete. If it isn't complete, reservation is the way to go.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete@Anonymous
Deletewhat is the real motive of your so called upliftment!?
I hope that it is NOT ,"TO BRING DOWN THE LIVING STANDARDS of people who belong to brahmin caste and lift the level of all others"
If you mean that upliftment, "is to bring up the life of people in lower classes (BY CLASSED I DIDN'T MEAN CASTE I MEAN ECONOMY OF PEOPLE)", it really can be done in a much simpler way. Just like we had a "H" seal in ration cards of people !!
Yes the children who belong to a family having a low income range of so and so can be given higher priority rather than giving it based on caste.
It will be more meaningful !! and it will really serve the purpose better :)
*people.sorry for typo.
DeleteSo the Mr.anonymous says that we are being punished because of the ancestors. It means you must suffer if your forefathers did some thing wrong probably like "the kaka will pluck your vada from your mouth if your great-great-great grandfather had plucked vada from the kaka's great-great-great grandfather". Nice arguement isn't it? And i don't know which friend of yours told you that sudras were rich and the brahmins made them poor?
ReplyDeleteSudras also consisted of those from the upper three castes who were demoted to Sudra status for violation of caste laws.
And you think that sudras are not still avenged? What else do the people require? There were no system which seperated people based on the fathers and fore-fathers. It was all based on work. And some illiterate fucked-up idiot did change this to a caste based system! Either of us don't know (you or me) who had done this! Its not the sense of righteousness to say that brahmins ruined them!
How do you know yagna system was started to foll brahmins? It was to please Gods and fool the foolish people!
Yes if brahmins made fool of everyone, are the sudras so much fools to accept?
And finally one thing sir! If you are so much anger and want to take revenge on brahmins and want the fourth world still much to suffer, why don't you come up and comment putting your name and why commented anonymously? No guts! And hence don't comment on something which is a good work!
And sorry da vignesh for not praising ur work till nw! Excellent one! One good thing! Your usual style with humor and sarcasms here and there! :)
You think brahmins are being punished. That's the problem - Brahmins think Reservation is a revenge mechanism. It's not.
DeleteNo one wants to take revenge on the Brahmins. The people who were pushed down by the brahmins are given an easier path to reach the top, through reservation. That's all there is to it.
The Sudras were fooled by the cunning people, in the name of God. It is ridiculous that you are supporting the cunning people who fooled everyone and usurped wealth, and lashing out against people who lost everything. If it is foolishness, let it be. But, they lost. That's the problem.
As to why I'm anonymous - that's again because the blogosphere, twitter and all these places are dominated by the "Tam-Brahms", I'm sure I won't get support. One community is already at the top, wherever you go, so, reservation is just a way to make sure others get the opportunity to go to the top too.
Dear Mr.Anonymous,
DeleteReservation came into the constitution for 2 major reasons.. Poverty and social life was so terrible that some external force had to be given to encourage ppl to take up education.. And Ambedkar had a very sucky time with the brahmin class who bullied and ruined him..
I am totally for reservation - as long as its based on financial standing and ability is the field - be it education, sports or labour.. The problem any enlightened soul will have with education is when a crorepathy's son gets a 43% and breaks into IIT because his great-great grandfather was a poor and was classified as low class.. This practice completely defeats the purpose of reservation which aims to support the oppressed..
As for the caste system, in the original practice, everything was based on your job.. The son of an accountant can become a scholar or a doctor or a warrior.. doesn't matter.. You are classified based on what profession you choose - with emphasis on choose.. It got messed up over the years, sure.. Brahmins and Kshatriyas definitely took advantage over the lower classes.. Yes.. But it is again individuals who are to blame and not the community or the system.. Humans are capable of ruining any system if they are placed properly..
God was needed for the Merchants, kings, warriors, labourers to believe in something to get them through life.. The brahmins were the scholars, philosophers, thought-mechanincs and spiritualists who pushed the boundaries of knowledge and tried to understand what the vedas spoke about - which is what Buddha spoke about, Zen speaks about, Ramana Maharishi referred to, as did J.Krishnamurti and Nisargadatta and countless others.. When common sense was lost to pure ritualistic blind faith, shit happens..
As for what really happened to India in the last 200 years, check out this link.. A speech by Lord Macaulay in British Parliament in 1835 (btw, he's the guy who introduced the British Education system in India)
http://bharat-swabhiman.com/en/lord-macaulays-address-to-the-british-parliament-2nd-february-1835/
P.S: I am born classified as a Brahmin, but in the true sens of the word, i am not yet one.. We're all on a path, watever it may be, wherever it may lead.. In the end, nothing really matters.. To quote the Comedian: "Its all just a bloody Joke"
That is an awesome reply Mr.Advaith.. purely perfect thoughts!!!
DeleteVIGNESH : Nice one Buddy! Its high time that ppl started talkin about this.!
ReplyDeleteMr.Anonymous:
I can see you're so ashamed that you won't event reveal your identity.
And for god's sake when did a brahman ask you to throw your underwear and other valuables into fire? There are laws governing what goes into fire and surely your so called "valuables" don't deserve a place there.
And guess what, this articles is to emphasize the equality of everyone - you know - moving forward as one community, leaving behind the differences from our past, but all you can do is to dig up the past in a dirty rotten way and spread hatred.
the problem is not about the "sins" of our forefathers...muslims committed far heinous crimes...they are given reservation today...the problem is that we dont have the numbers....only way out is to proliferate....:P:P
ReplyDeleteOkay, this is going to be my last comment here, as I didn't come here to stir up a fight, but just to create some awareness about how Reservation is not illogical.
ReplyDeleteBefore I go, I just want to clear up a few issues raised here.
Firstly, I'm anonymous because the social media of south is dominated by people who call themselves "Tam Brahms" (I have a bone to pick with that itself. While everyone talks about moving away from the caste system, having known it's ills, it's surprising that people still want to retain that "Brahm" identity. What an irony!). Yeah, so I'm anonymous for my own security.
Secondly, everyone seems to think reservation as a revenge mechanism against Brahmins. Breaking news... It's not. It's just a mechanism to elevate those people who were pushed down. Reservation puts a ladder to bring up the lower caste people up, it doesn't push the so called upper-castes into a pit.
Thirdly, it is funny that a point is raised about Brahmin population being low. That is a fact for reservation. With such a low population, the Brahmin community gets maximum representation at all the top levels everywhere. The rest of the people (lower castes) with a huge population, gets barely any representation at the top levels. So, think, dear people. Think.
Finally, people who think these stories about Brahmins formulation rules against Sudras and others. About what goes into the fire - Silk sarees, valuables etc. do go into the fire and the only reason was to make the Sudras poorer. Read Manu Sastra. All the rules are there. You'll see how ridiculous they are, with the only aim of pushing down everyone other than Brahmins.
Hope I've raised at least a few doubts in the minds of people, here. Bye.
Firstly, Why dont the lower caste people today stand before the administrative offices to get their certificates just to get the free things and concessions? The brahmins have only negative points happening in the society and yet they put their caste behind theirs.
DeleteSecondly, Oh! You know that reservation is not to put the upper caste people down ? The guy from upper castes get 99.5 percentile and doesn't get into the top IIMs. But the reservation system provide the others with the prestigious seats with just above 95 percentile. If the upper caste ppl get 95 percentile, they are doomed.
Thirdly, It is because the brahmins focus on what there is to achieve in life and so the population is not a matter! It's individuals! If USA which has only one-third of India's population and it has achieved great heights and India has not, Will you say that USA should not be given the projects. Their economy should be cut down and given to India. They should not be put under developed country because they were rich during their ancestor period? Ridiculous!
Finally, You would have read some google, wikipedia articles which might have written by some "anonymous" people to just help continue the brahmins downfall!
The lower caste people though they are given reservation are not using it efficiently!
Hope i ve cleared ur doubts!
I am not a Brahmin I'm considered a forward caste and as far as the constitution of India is conserved people shouldn't be descrimininated by birth but the reservation system is the exact opposite I think the reservation system is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot Natarajan nice article a little controversial but I understand how you feel
ReplyDeleteFellas, no one knows what exactly happened back then during the age of our ancestors. And neither does anyone know for sure if the practice of Yagna was started by Brahmins to fool the Sudras. Over time, all have committed mistakes. No one can be made individually responsible for this situation.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mr.Anonymous must understand that Google just gives you related terms and opinions of a myriad of people. It documents enough lies to hide truths. So don't come talking about 'facts' unless you have some proof. They are just data. Not information.
However, I had similar views before, about the reservation system being partial and cruel, in a way. But really, we must be able to look at this from a bird's eye. For the general well being of all people. The reservation system can be made a little lenient but never can it be called off.
Think about it.
Btw, awesome post Vignesh. Light-veined :) . Job well done.
Though I don't agree with most of what Mr. Anon says, I'd say he nailed one thing. The Manu Shastra. Most of it is absolutely ridiculous. I really feel ashamed reading those verses, which clearly show exploitation.
ReplyDeleteHahaha. We are not going to fall from number one to two :-D They will hold us down and fuck us in the ass. The fall will be steep. You cant take peoples historical context. Brahms are like "Come on! It wassnt uzzz" We want them to forget everything.I've heard brahms "come one casteism was hundreds of years ago" not is wasn't it was 70 years ago! It's not like casteism ended and everything is amazing. It's like you vomitted and *poosh* you dont have to even clean it, everything sparkles! :-D
ReplyDeleteThe very name '4th World' sounds super-cool!!!
ReplyDeleteDespite the challenges posed, it is still the Brahmins who are forefront in everything! The reservation is quite challenging to them and brings out the best in them!
I personally like this, coz I was truly a victim of the 4th world problems: Had to drop a year! :/
Bw, your humour sense makes the post entertainig!
Wow! This thread of comments is so interesting. I agree with Advait's point of view. Reservation should not benefit rich people who get reservation just because they are from a particular community.
ReplyDeleteBut it does help some good students who could not do well because of lack of coaching facilities and proper exposure. Come on you can't expect every city to have good educational institutes.
Check out this very thoughtful article by Ramachandra Guha
http://ramachandraguha.in/archives/the-sociology-of-reservation.html
By the way Mr.Anonymous could have revealed his Identity.
ReplyDeleteBy the I forgot to mention that the article is well written. :P And nice comment Mr.Subramaniam.
I am guy who has had the opportunity to study in NITK because of the reservation system. I have been a good student all along and studied for all competitive exams independently. I did well in kcet but fell short in aieee. Even today I feel I should not have used that route but .. I dunno I felt that it was a great opportunity and didn't want to let it go
Nithesh: lol,nothing to worry. You have just denied a deserved person his place in your college.He should have taken more marks and must have been studying in other colleges now. you should be proud.Keep going.:) rock on :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteA great article... Left me smiling and thinking at the same time... And well, a really interesting comment thread I should say...
ReplyDelete