PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Recently I took an auto rickshaw to my office, as I was unwell and didn’t have the strength to ride.  Soon after I settled in the seat, the driver looking at me through the rear view mirror asked if I am an Iyer. (Iyer is the synonym for a Brahmin in Tamil Nadu)  I get very irritated when people, particularly strangers ask me personal questions and I nodded vaguely.  The driver then told me that he was carrying fish in the same auto and asked if it was objectionable to me.  I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and said that I had a nasal block and so could not smell anything and even otherwise I would not have objected.  He kept on talking and suddenly said that he hates Brahmins.  India is a paradox and very rarely people have a neutral attitude towards anything, including Brahmanism.  People either have great reverence for Brahmins or hatred towards them.

I have come across many people insulting and making fun of Brahmins for their accent, appearance, rituals and vegetarianism at schools, colleges, public places and offices, but always ignored.  An over-ambitious acquaintance of mine bulldozes everybody around to realize his goals.  When a person he tried to pressurize did not yield, he made derogatory remarks about the Brahmins as a whole, as the other person is a Brahmin and I felt it was unwarranted. 

All through my life I have never perceived myself as a Brahmin.  In fact, I am considered a rebel. Even before the term “global citizen” became popular, I thought I was one.  In an interview, actress Shabana Azmi had said that the demolition of Babri Masjid made her conscious of her Muslim identity.  The sarcastic and hurting remarks by my acquaintance made me conscious of my Brahmin identity.  Generally I don’t react or respond.  But this particular episode, made me think as to why people have so much of hatred towards Brahmins and why even the educated, empowered and elite also don’t spare them.

When the auto driver raised the issue, I decided to share my ideas with him and I first let him finish his talk.  He told that he grew up in a remote town in south Tamil Nadu and while he was in school, his best buddy was a Brahmin.  They studied and played together, but he was never invited to his friend’s home and this bothered him very much.  One afternoon, he went to meet his friend at his home uninvited and his friend kept him engaged in the front room.  He expected his friend to take him inside his house, but that did not happen.  He felt that though he is a “caste Hindu”, and richer than his friend, his friend’s parents were not warm and looked down upon him.  He alleged that despite poverty, Brahmins are proud and arrogant and have a split personality.  They are outwardly social but at home are very orthodox and that they are inhuman and the root cause of all problems in the country.  He also said that Brahmins are very prejudiced and don’t encourage or support non-Brahmins in any of their endeavour.  He even started talking against Hinduism.

When he paused, I started talking.  I told him that Hinduism is a very ancient religion which has evolved over a period of time and is still getting enriched with the contributions of several intellectuals.  The culture, religion, art, knowledge, social norms and spirituality have always been enmeshed in the Indian sub-continent and hence difficult to handle them as watertight compartments.  A person cannot understand the intricacies of Brahmanism or Hinduism when he/she has preconceived notions about it.

For several centuries, Brahmanism was endorsed by rulers, merchants and the landlords.  With the arrival of Europeans, the scene started changing.  The system certainly had flaws and hence not survived in its original form.  The British rule and India’s Independence changed the social picture completely.  Indian Government has adopted a secular Constitution, providing equal opportunities to all communities.

I explained to him that Brahmins perceived their home and their body as “Temples” and believed that maintaining a sterile atmosphere was a must and excluded and stayed away from all those who didn’t conform.  Rules and regulations are stipulated in the scriptures for everything starting from rising from bed to retiring to bed and the present generation which is caught between the two worlds tries to follow a few rules as per the scriptures at home.  Their priorities, table manners, rituals and lifestyle are beyond the comprehension of others and hence are ridiculed.  I questioned the driver if his friend or his family members offended him or caused any harm to him in any other manner and he said “No”.

Since the driver made a mention about his caste and that too proudly, I recollected an article I read in a newspaper.  In some of the villages in South Tamil Nadu, even now, caste Hindus build walls around the colonies of the most backward, thus restricting their entry into their villages.  “Honour Killings” are very common in that region.  Referring to this and the other atrocities against the down trodden in the region the driver hails from, I questioned the role of Brahmins in these activities.  He replied that no Brahmins are involved in this and all of them have migrated from those villages and towns several years back.  Then I asked him if his disposition towards all human beings irrespective of the caste/religion is uniform.  He laughed sheepishly and did not answer.  I then asked him “is this not hypocrisy?”

I told him that the problem is due to faulty thinking and a person is as big or as small as he thinks.  Though “knowledge” is available to all, not many pursue it.  People are happy cribbing about their ancestors being denied access to “knowledge”.  Any person who focuses on “knowledge” is sure to succeed as knowledge not only makes a person humble, but also confident.  I told him that several positive changes have taken place in our society in the last century and we never speak about them.  Take for instance weddings!  In olden days, the guest list included only the close relatives.  The present day weddings are an indication of cultural integration.  Many marriages are happening between communities and the most important event – the feast.  Feasting together was unheard of a century ago.  Is this change not worth celebrating?

Though most of the Brahmins have adapted to changing times, some of them continue to practice age old traditions at home.  I told what a person wears or eats is an individual prerogative and unless it causes harm to others or to the society, nobody has the right to criticize or question it.  I told him, if a person insults or hurts him, he has to settle scores with him or her directly and not hold grudge against the whole community for ages.  I told him that inequality will continue to exist in some form or the other in a world where the resources are limited.  If it is not on the basis of caste, it would be something else and that the focus has to be on minimizing the gap and mudslinging is not the solution.

I advised him to acknowledge and appreciate the social changes and shed his inferiority/superiority complex over other castes.  Most of the Brahmins have migrated to urban areas and the present generation has no idea of orthodoxy or their lineage. I told him not be obsessed about proving them wrong.   I also requested him not to pass on his pride and prejudices to his next generation.

I spoke to him in a uniform tone and he listened patiently.  It almost took us one hour to cover a distance of 8 kms.  When I reached my destination, the driver thanked me for the ‘gyan’ I shared with him and promised to change his attitude.  He expressed regret that I have not chosen teaching as my profession, for I could have shaped up many lives.  This is the best compliment I have ever received.

After reading this, you should all be wondering if I have ever advised Brahmins on these issues!  Yes I do it quite often.