a tiny discussion on caste and history.

[note. I'm not trying to generalize on all indians... all stuff based on things that I have come across countless times... there are good pple please!]

the conversation on Priya's tagboard is darn interesting... all these things abt castes and all... and since I know nothing abt them I decided to ask me mom... of course this is all just a past time thing... I find the caste hierachy and all that nonsense - well... nonsensical. '

anyway... one thing I know... is that I'm *supposedly* brahmin... brahmins WERE near the top of the social ladder once upon a time... cause they were the ones who like did jobs that required a lot of education and stuff... they hardly did physical work... and specialised in vedhas and stuff... this equates to pot-bellies :D

the brahmins it seems were decendants of aryans... possibly east-european migrants into initially north india... they came up with sanskrit and all... and the other pple were generally decendants of dravidians [sec 1 history]... generally the first pple in india... mainly in the south...
[so I could be related to JK Rowling... *yah. I can dream*]

anywaysh... right now. you can tell... I'm one of the stupider people so it doesn't matter... Well... the brahmins... at least how my grandma's generation potray it... followed very strict rules... something called "maddi" is very brahmin... that's something like being VERY clean and pure and all... well... the simplest and most logical thing is like having a bath in the morning... acceptable lah... but the stupider thing is that if someone who hasn't had a bath comes and touches you... you become impure... like tcha!!! anywaysh... a girl who's like having her monthly "youknow" shouldn't touch anybody else... according to them that's being dirty... crap. anyway... pple actually wash their whole house after the 3days are over... this is utter nonsense... and that's why my mother and I keep my schedule with Aunty Flow under wraps when going to south india and all... cause I have relatives practising this till today... I mean they are good pple... but blinded by, in my view, nonsensical beliefs... they haven't seen the world... that's the problem...

and the other "very brahmin" thing is "pat-thu"... like you cannot eat yesterdays food today and all... which makes quite a bit of sense if you generally want to prevent food poisoning... but the crappy thing is if something from yesterday... let's say a bowl of rice touches todays curry bowl... well... you shouldn't eat that as well...

on a much more sensible note... the upper castes were generally vegetarians... and that's the only thing I don't regret my family passing on to me.

I find this stuff... quite.... urm... distasteful?[to put it politely]... cause we're talking abt this in today's context... dunno... my subjective views maybe...

and the brahmana sabha newsletters are a waste of paper... and according to shrew... most pple go to the events to socialise with long lost friends and all... not to learn abt the pride in being brahmin... I mean like... BLEAGH. and all this caste segregation and a billion different languages [meaning cultural identities], fuelled by corruption, an attitude of "I won't do anything... I won't let others do a thing] are some of the reasons why India will never socially progress... I'm indian. and I'm proud... I'm brahmin... I sorta don't care.

anywaysh... I sorta asked my dad abt my ancestary... frankly... there's nothing much more cause I know my hometown and all... having migrated from india in obviously my generation... It'll be more fun for a Singaporean born to trace back... anyway... I know a bit abt my greatgrandfathers now... my dad's paternal grandfather was like in Secret service as a spy for the british :D now that's cool... he was like helping them bust kalla sarayam activities... and had a ford car and bungalow and all... but then died poor leaving my grandfather a lot of debt to repay... ;) My dad's maternal grandfather was the head of seyaamangallam... the village in the outskirts of thrichy... which I've visited a few times... me dad's been there quite often in his childhood... and the place is like utter movie type... with the kollidam river to go play in... and that greatgrandfather owned a lot of land and vayals it seems... the village has only a couple of families living in it now... and our house has bats in some rooms and all... :O

ok... enough of crapping... my motheger wants to use the PC for her office work...
and this is exactly why my parents should squander $2000 and get me a labtop:D

karthirika.

note... yups... I'm very extremist when it comes to castes and all... cause most of these things are prevalent today