Me too sir; as far as the Brahmins are concerned, I had never seen (maybe rarely) Brahmins having caste-aversions; of course in deep south and a part of CBE, NBs showing aversions in 70-80s I had seen. My servant can walk across; my security can; we have no aversions. As in HQ I had seen a lot of SCs approaching me for obtaining some benefits, to speak to bosses. As a matter of fact even them did not show aversions to us. But as an advocate writing like this...... KR IRS 29 9 23
On Fri, 29 Sept 2023 at 13:14, sivaraman <[email protected]> wrote: > In my 61 years that i spent in the govt state and central in various > capacities and in the international organisations as well as a DIR in the > private sector companies I never heard any talk on the caste of anybody. > Our cook here in Chennai is a dalit. > > Sent from my iPad > > On 29-Sep-2023, at 11:14 AM, Rajaram Krishnamurthy <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > *KR This article appeared yesterday in Google. I refuse to believe his > version; but can it be true even now? Or is electioneering strategy to get > sympathy from? KR IRS 29923* > > *Born Dalit: Always in and out* > > There is no real coming out in caste > > *Rajesh Chavda* <https://scroll.in/author/23412> > > On September 23, 1917, Bhimrao Ambedkar cried like a baby under a tree in > Vadodara. > > As the newly appointed military secretary of the Baroda state, Ambedkar > moved to the city of Vadodara. But nobody would rent him a house because he > was an “untouchable”. He eventually had to lie about his caste identity to > the owners of a Parsi inn to get a place to stay. But when it was > discovered that he was Dalit. he was attacked by his Parsi neighbours. > > Ambedkar – who had studied at New York’s Columbia University and the > London School of Economics – was forced to flee like a fugitive and spend a > night under a tree. > > He later recounted that he “wept bitterly. After all, I was deprived of my > precious possession – namely my shelter.” > > I grew up in a village just 40 kilometres away from Vadodara. My parents > still live there. > > How much has casteism changed since 1917? > > I now live in the UK, where I work as a corporate lawyer. I visited my > parents for two weeks in August. > > I have two brothers. They were not as lucky as I have been and were unable > to study beyond high school. Since they found it difficult to find good > jobs, I set up a photocopying business for them in 2004. > > But with the Covid lockdown of 2020, they had to shut their shops. When > they reopened in January this year, the income from the business was > insufficient to sustain both of them. We decided that this business would > be handled only by our elder brother and I would set up another business > for the younger one. > > After speaking with a few people to get ideas about potential gaps in the > market, we decided to set up a stationery shop in a neighbouring town. I > started looking for a shop to rent there. > > I found three shops. When I went to negotiate with the owners of the first > two shops, I did not want my caste identity to become a hurdle so I told > them I was a corporate lawyer in the UK and that I was going to finance the > business. Both quoted me an exorbitant amount of rent. > > When I went to see the third man, I changed my approach. I did not tell > him what I did for a living. > > That meant, however, that he did not have a basis on which to try to form > a bond of trust. So he immediately looked for another potential source of > familiarity: he asked me about my caste identity. > > I had to make a choice. If I told him my real caste identity, he would not > rent the shop to me. > > I chose the safer option. I told him I was Chavda, a name that is used by > members of both “pure” and “impure” castes. > > “Oh!” he said. “We are of the same caste! I have nothing to worry about.” > > I got the lease – only because I lied about my caste identity. > > This was not the first time I have had to do this. > > In 2015, when I moved from London to Delhi to join one of India’s top law > firms, I rented a flat in one of the city’s poshest parts of the city so > that we could be as close to my daughter’s school as possible. While in a > conversation about our neighbours with someone familiar with the building, > he suddenly warned, “Don’t be friends with the flat on the second floor – > they are from a scheduled caste.” > > Here was a person who lived in one of the city’s most affluent > neighbourhoods who thought a Dalit did not deserve the friendship of a > person from a privileged caste. I wondered if they would have rented me a > flat if they had known my caste identity. > > Although I was a partner with one of the country’s top Indian law firms, I > did not have the courage to reveal to him that I too was from a scheduled > caste. > > It always feels unnatural, unwarranted and imposed when I have to identify > myself as Dalit. Because caste identity is an artificial construct. The > caste system does not need to exist. > > However, growing up in an Indian village, there was no escape from my > imposed identity. Everyone in the village knew what caste I had been born > into. > > But when I was away, where people didn’t know me, I always lied when they > asked me about my caste. > > When I went to study at National Law School in Bangalore, there was again > no escape as I had received the benefit of reservations as a Dalit. I > assumed that everyone knew my caste identity because of the way our names > were listed in the register of students. > > Thus, until I was 22, I was mostly out as Dalit against my will. > > When I started working in Mumbai and later in London and Singapore, a > comforting cloak of anonymity descended. When people asked me about my > caste identity, I mostly lied – although I worried about being found out. > > On social media and in my articles, however, I have been open about my > caste identity. But this openness has often made me anxious. > > I continue to lie about my caste identity in situations where I foresee a > disadvantage in revealing that I was born Dalit. > > Thus, there is no real coming out in caste. > > It’s always in and out. > > I had a conversation about this recently with a friend who was born Dalit. > He is a very successful executive at a major global corporation and works > in Europe. > > He has changed his last name as he does not want people to know of his > caste position. > > When we discussed the dilemmas of revealing our caste identity, he asked > why we would willingly bring this curse of the Hindu order upon us. > > I am crying dry tears as I write this on September 23, 2023 – 106 years > after Ambedkar cried like a baby in Vadodara. > > *Rajesh Chavda is a corporate lawyer in the UK.* > > > > -- > On Facebook, please join https://www.facebook.com/groups/keralaiyerstrust > > We are now on Telegram Mobile App also, please join > > Pattars/Kerala Iyers Discussions: https://t.me/PattarsGroup > > Kerala Iyers Trust Decisions only posts : https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrust > > Kerala Iyers Trust Group for Discussions: > https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrustGroup > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "KeralaIyers" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/keralaiyers/CAL5XZooLiwHCLky%2BQPQY9uutN-A8J8NGe12zWKfv99tBQtQ%3DVQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/keralaiyers/CAL5XZooLiwHCLky%2BQPQY9uutN-A8J8NGe12zWKfv99tBQtQ%3DVQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > On Facebook, please join https://www.facebook.com/groups/keralaiyerstrust > > We are now on Telegram Mobile App also, please join > > Pattars/Kerala Iyers Discussions: https://t.me/PattarsGroup > > Kerala Iyers Trust Decisions only posts : https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrust > > Kerala Iyers Trust Group for Discussions: > https://t.me/KeralaIyersTrustGroup > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "KeralaIyers" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/keralaiyers/8B9DCC6B-CA6C-47C0-AECA-2CA8740BF434%40gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/keralaiyers/8B9DCC6B-CA6C-47C0-AECA-2CA8740BF434%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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