Out of nowhere, the caste problem among Goans seems to be vexing the minds of some in the community here.
The caste problem has been discussed many times on this forum and I have no intention of dredging it up, but I am writing only in reaction to observation of some of its symptoms. Like any other obscurantist hangover from an earlier time, the caste system does not play any significant role in Goan Toronto except for some families particularly during proposal-of-marriage times. A large number of our youth will want to hear nothing of it but there are some of our younger generation who are unduly beholden to their parents either because of promise of inheritance or of their own social inabilities and therefore susceptible to their parents' thinking. Believe it or not, there are some who would like their children to marry only Goans and that too from the same caste. These are anomalies and aberrations, but they do exist. It is facile to say that such people are usually less educated than others, but the truth shows else. Many of those regressing to the caste system on occasion, are reasonably educated and middle class. Naturally, they tend to be of the "upper caste" themselves since they perceive themselves as having more to lose than those of other castes marrying into them. This phenomenon of education I have observed among other Indians, mainly from the South of the country. You will find a nuclear scientist for example, with a caste mark on his forehead and traditional religious beliefs worthy of two centuries earlier. There are many humorous situations that arise out of this. Say, you will find an "upper caste" family with a marriageable daughter approaching the well educated, well mannered son and parents of a wealthier interested family. All goes smoothly until it is discovered that the father of the groom was a tailor in his previous life. Nobody notes that the earthly father of the God the girl's father blissfully believes in, was a carpenter himself. At least ironic if not comedic. Does it show the shallow veneer of the Catholic faith once shoved down our throats and carried on unthinkingly or is it demonstrative of something less forgiveable. I have been told that even in the Goan homes of the Catholic Goan caste system, the practice is slowly disappearing. Not fast enough as far as I am concerned, observing that the rare Toronto proposal experience is not so rare in Goa. Will reform in this situation help the Goan Diaspora? Not a chance. The whole of this generation will have to pass away and with any luck none of the tainting will have been brushed onto the next. Roland Francis Toronto.
