Respecting Cultural Beliefs

If you came to India and were expected to respect the caste system because it is part of the culture

What would you do?

Some random rules:

-if shadow of lower caste person falls on you, take a bath
-if lower caste person touches food or water you were going to eat discard it.
-don't eat, drink or sit near a lower caste person
-lower caste person must sit on lower level and preferably in corner of room or outside
-all dirty jobs to be done by lower caste persons only [conversely a person of lower caste is automatically disqualified for any high caste position]
- all tribal, indigenous peoples qualify as lower caste

 

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It would help to see ALL the rules, rather than just a biased select few.
Do you have a list of ALL the caste rules you could put up or link to ?
Just curious.

 

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so there are good caste rules? :bugeye:

 

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As a Muslim and a native of India (I presume) you must know that the caste system was instituted after the conquest of the Indus and Punjab by Aryan tribes.

Being such an ancient practice, even modern laws aren't enough of a stimulus. What needs to happen is a change in mindset, and for older beliefs to die out. This hasn't happened for a reason that must be part of a deeper social dynamic--on the one hand, India is where you find notions of selfless living, and on the other its a place that's quite brutal and utilitarian, where life is cheap and children don't get to have a childhood, etc.

The questions should start with why such practices, the caste system, child labour, and many other things, are still happening in a country that is a democracy, where "everyone" is supposed to have a say. Why does a government have so little authority, or willpower to change things, when it comes to addressing this?

 

Maybe, maybe not, it would help to see them all.

 

Isn't that like asking to see every US law? :shrug:

 

I guess we'll find out when we see all those rules, won't we ?

 

First off the bat, I would not voluntarily choose to live in such a system. However, if for some reason I had no choice except to live in that system, then the answer is that I would not live by the rules. I would violate those cultural norms to whatever extent is allowed by enforceable law, and perhaps then some. Keep in mind that my behavior would not be based on any xenophobic nationalist fervor or mindless browbeating, either. I actually like India a great deal, and if the USA had such rules which forced you to be cruel to others, I would likewise violate them again and again.

 

Caste rules are fixed by the local panchayat so they are not rigid. The general rules which I have given are the ones which are followed almost universally for the Shudra and Chandala caste [Chandala = very low caste or untouchables]

General overview of caste system:
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_caste.asp

 

They are the world's largest democracy. They are leaps and bounds ahead of shitholes like China in spite of some significant obstacles. As an example, India does not have any single majority language that is spoken on a universal basis. I think Hindi is the most commonly spoken... but only like 35% or so of the population speak it. From what I know, businesses mainly use English to communicate on as wide a scale as they can reach. However, most Indians cannot speak English. Imagine if the USA were linguistically divided in this way and how much it would hurt our infrastructure. As well, tons and tons and TONS of Indians (most, in truth) are still living in isolated, rural locales that are often connected to the rest of the country only by single cellular phone that some big shot in a town will rent out to everybody else for every single phone call. Not joking.

India is a cool country and it lauds itself as the world's largest democracy. There's a cost to being so large, however.

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actually people tend to forget that europe also had a caste system (except that they called them "estates"

what effectively killed it off was industrialism (IOW reducing everyone's scope for work to the sudra ... at the mercy of a handful of vaisya types)

On a side note, the notion of varna being determined wholly by birth (janma) is not something supported by vedic literature (although you do find numerous references to it being founded in guna and karma - or quality and work)
(IOW there is an argument that to follow the caste system properly is not to have the parameters determined by birth ... but practically speaking the whole varna system is turned on its head in kali yuga, so things become complicated when the sudras- by quality and work - are heads of state)

 

I read some of your link, and I personally wouldn't agree with the cast system.

On the other hand, I can respect it if they themselves truely believe in it, and it's kept them going. I would have to read a lot more on India's history to make an opinion on this.

Another example is Nazis and Communists. I don't agree or like the way they treat their people, but I can respect the Nazis for how they took a crumbling nation (Germany) and made it a world superpower in a matter of a few years, although Hitler messed it up by trying to take over the world and slaughter millions of civilians (in a nutshell).
I don't like the Communists either for what they do to their people and have killed millions, on the other hand I can respect Communism for how it has greatly reduces crime in some cases.

 

Just remember that a Shudh Brahmin would not share a table with you, because it would contaminate him, if that helps to bring perspective.

 

That's a man I would be trying to hug.

 

Contaminate him with what?

 

his impure presence

The general trend when the gora sahibs came to visit a Brahmin for meals is to either eat before hand [or after, depending on how important the gora sahib is]; it was easier with the British, who understood class differences and did not get offended [or did not care most probably] if the Brahmin would sit at one end of the table and not eat with them. The Americans would find it harder to comprehend.

 

What's impure about it?

 

He's not of their caste and hence a lesser being. I'm not sure but probably being a meat eater was also built in. Perhaps LG could enlighten us. I usually avoid this kind of stuff

 

technically he couldn't even share a table with himself

kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ - In the Age of Kali, everyone is born a śūdra.
(Skanda Purana)
:shrug:

 

That's hardly an answer..
How does being of a low caste make you impure and a lesser being? And how is it imagined that this kind of impurity would be contagious?