Summary Of Caste In India

The novel also records the heinous system of caste discrimination practiced in Indian society. The caste system was a brutal oppressive mechanism that branded an unfortunate section of the society as untouchables and thrust them to the periphery. For several millennia caste constituted the core of social life in India. It dictated the occupation and the social interaction of a person. Nicholas Dirks in his introduction to Colonialism and culture remarks, „…. Culture in India seems to have been principally defined by caste. Caste has always been seen as central in Indian history and as one of the major caste is today- as it was throughout the colonial era – the major threat to Indian modernity.‟Describing the caste system in India Amdedkar

The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to keep cattle. The Hindus will not allow an Untouchable to sit when a Hindu is standing. The record of the afflictions and humiliations to which Kalua is subjected speaks of the pathos of an untouchable‟s existence in pre-independent India. Kalua the ox-cart driver was of the leather-workers‟ caste and so was considered an untouchable. Hukam Singh as a high-caste Rajput believed that the very sight of a person of low- caste would augur bad tidings. „Climbing on to the back of the cart, the former sepoy sat facing to the rear with his bundle balanced on his lap, to prevent its coming into direct contact with any of the driver‟s belongings‟They travelled conversing amicably but were careful not to exchange glances. The wretched living conditions of the out-caste and the sub human treatment they were subjected to is truthfully portrayed through the life of Kalua. The untouchables were not allowed to have their dwelling in the precincts of the village. Kalua lived in the chamar- basti a group of huts inhabited only by the chamars. It was a social taboo for the high-caste people to enter the hamlet occupied by these

When Neel’s forgery case is on trial, a petition is submitted on his behalf to mitigate his sentence as thepenalty would causehimself, his wife and innocent child to lose caste and be shunned and ostracized by their kinsmen. As the Raja of Rashkali Neel enjoys the privileges of a caste Hindu but once he is convicted, he loses caste and is made to clean the cell that he shared with Ah Fatt. When he had to take hold of the jharu, „he could not prevail upon his hand to make contact: the risk involved seemed unimaginably great for he knew that he would cease to be the man he had been a short while before.‟ (323) Crossing the sea also meant losing one‟s caste. Seeing the grimityas marching towards the river, Deeti reflects on the implications of losing one‟s caste. „She tried to imagine what it would be like to be in their place, to know that you were forever an outcaste.‟ (72) Inter – caste marriages and inter-religious marriages were considered as social taboos. Jodu a Muslim is beaten to the point of death when he is found with a Hindu girl. An outcaste marrying a woman of high caste was considered to be a serious crime than murder. Captain Chillingworth informs Zachary that Kalua has to be flogged the next day for murdering the silahdar and later the case would be heard by a judge in Port Louis. Zachary wonders why he has to be punished twice for the same offence. The captain replies that