Survey: the caste question
It can be said with confidence that all Hindus in the UK would strongly condemn the recent events in the Indian state of Orissa, whereby a certain class of Hindus have been denied access to a temple simply because of their caste.Â
Most of us know, that caste in its rigidified or hereditary form does not reflect the true essence of Hinduism (see previous Hindu Voice article).Â
As a Hindu in Britain, is that does caste still play an important part in your life, or any role at all?Â
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SURVEY
December 27th, 2006 at 3:08 am
with immense gratitude to hindu voice uk for even asking this question may i humby point out that the questionaire does not reflect the complexity of the issue. in its essence cast contains the much vaunted check and balances so deeply prized by the american constitutional democracy. it provided the social,political and cultural structure which enabled indians to prosper and as late as 18th century produce over 40% of the worlds gnp. hindus had a code of conduct which was to my understanding cast based. once any illiterate indian villager would have pointed out to any one who asked what makes him a hindu; his shikha, his clothing,his respect for the cow and the brhman etc… i see indians in the west have no use for any of these (includes me), thus i continue to wonder what should be the basis for our identity in the modern times.speaking an indian language, celebrating diwali, holi and durga puja, is it enough. it would be curious to see how many responders feel cast pressure when it comes to marriage.om
December 27th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Caste effects me all the time. I am a brahmin, yet i do am not a pandit, however anything i do i consider my brahmin ancestors…i ask my self, “would they have done this” and “would they of appricated this”.
I personally think inter-caste marriages are a good thing, however they can cause important values and tradditions to be lost.
December 27th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
I am also a Brahmin, being a pro Hindu guy caste doesnt affect me at all, and I do not look at others as though they are inferior, To me treating all Hindus equal is more important.
December 27th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
Caste doesn’t affect me at all. Our parents chose to come to England, and with that, comes the consequence of being “westernised”. I think the caste system has very little meaning in England - in India, then yes, it’s an important tradition and way of life, which I don’t dispute… over here, the very idea is becoming diluted, with inter-caste and even inter-religion/race marriages. I think this is a good thing, as we live in a multi-cultural society, and diversity can only be a good thing going forward. But I do agree that certain traditions will be lost, which is a shame.
In my opinion, I don’t agree with the whole caste system anyway - for me, it is yet another social division between people. It’s bad enough that we have divisions between religions, let alone further subdivisions within the actual religions themselves. I’ve met a few “higher caste” individuals, Sikh and Hindu, who pride themselves on the very fact, and had an air of arrogance, that they were the best caste, and that all the others were the lowest of the low. Casting promotes the idea that some people are better/wealthier/prosperous than others. When really, it’s just promoting arrogance and snobbery. No human being is superior or better than any other. No religion is superior or better than any other.
From my experience, and the people I have come across, this highlights the fact that the whole meaning of the caste system isn’t truly understood and respected in this country.
December 30th, 2006 at 3:11 am
I think all Hindus should unite for the Religion to survive, caste should not prevent people from inter-marriage or deny people social equality. My mother was a Brahmin and my father was a Kshatria, so what does that make me? There are some Brahmins and some Kshatrias that I don’t get on with and some other Hindus, whom I do get on with, but don’t know what castes they belong to, should I not treat the latter as equals and socialise with them? I certainly think so, after all, we are all suppose to have divine spark or atman with us.
Nehru.
December 31st, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Caste is the one thing that the buttheads from the west and the traitorous liberal Anti Hindu Hindu’s and the Godless Communists always use against us.
In the end we are Hindu.
The sooner so called people in India start realising this the better, but as we all know, the salvation of Hinduism is not going to come from the Hindus in India it is going to come from the NRI Hindus who have awakened to their rightful heritage.
Like the “300″ of Sparta we need to group, train, become strong in mind and body and then spread the good word back in the Motherland.
‘Nuff said.
January 1st, 2007 at 12:17 am
I like that Jack. I strongly believe the NRI is the answer. So Yes count me in always as one of the ‘300′.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
My genetics give me language, reason, ambulation… My society gives me context and sustencance. I am not some entity that just popped up. I can see caste as a division of hindu society or I can see caste as the summary of genetic and social gifts given to me before I even had an ego. How is it that people who have grown up hearing about how hard Indians have to work to succeed in the west because of the unfair practices of the powers at large see that caste is not active in their lives.
The question is too easily interpreted in a pseudo-hindu context. Are you a brhamin, a dalit, a some other category? No, the real question for Hindus is what is in human nature that limits our vision. Why do we accept social roles as cloaks to wear whereever we are. You see, this is a universal question. Do you define yourself or does your gentico-sociological background define you. The simple answer is easy - both. The hard answer is why we live.
But I think the surveyor wanted the pseudo-Hindu context to the question.
hariaum