We must thank Cecil and Mervyn for working so hard to find some "pros" in the diabolical caste system among Catholic Goans. No wonder we cannot kill this many-headed, multi-beneficial monster.
While some of us have been focusing on the abominable discrimination that the caste system represents and all the heartache and destructive effects that it has caused among families throughout the years, while diluting the fundamental tenets of our Christian religion and making hypocrites of so many, and others were looking to do serious "research" to find out if the system even exists, it seems that there are some REAL benefits that we anti-casters had completely overlooked. What were we anti-casters thinking? Are we so crass and callous that we would deny the community these wonderful benefits? So, let's recap: 1. We can use caste to punish an unruly offspring by "forcing" him or her to marry a "dominant" person of the same caste, citing the caste system. That should really straighten them out in a hurry, eh? But what if the dominant person belongs to another caste? Well, then I guess we jump to the anti-caster side. By the way, maybe Gilbert's "research" can find how many of us have kids we can "force" to marry whom we parents want, especially when they are unruly and rebellious to begin with. I'd really like to know this. I had a hard enough time just getting my kids to clean their rooms. 2. We can use caste to get rid of a truly undesirable offspring by finding someone from the same caste and brainwashing them. And here I thought that undesirable offspring could be easier gotten rid of by opening them up to a wider "meat market" regardless of caste. 3. We can use caste to "dump" someone we have been dating with no intentions of marrying. Now that's a really uplifting use of caste, isn't it? 4. Finally, vote banks, we must have castes so we can get them all voting is a certain way, which fits in nicely with the political climate in India, but I don't know how well this benefit would work in the diaspora. Actually, they forgot one major benefit that comes in handy in India. Don't "scheduled" castes get special privileges in college admissions and government jobs? Abolishing castes would jeopardize all those plum set-asides. So, I guess we anti-casters can all give up now. Abolishing discrimination cannot stack up against all these wonderful benefits, can it? I'm finally beginning to realize why the system has lasted for so many hundreds of years. Now, where's that bottle of caju I just brought back from Goa? I really need a double peg, right now.
