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For centuries, Dalits occupied the lowest rung of Indian society. Flickr user The Philosophy of photography - https://www.flickr.com/photos/matteo-gianni/109971376/. CC BY 2.0.

“Untouchables” Still Struggle for Equality in Indian Society

March 13, 2019

With 1.2 billion citizens India is the second most populous country in the world, and while today’s India is governed by a parliamentary system, for more than three millennia, India’s massive population lived under a rigid caste system that forced many Indians into occupational roles with no hope of advancement.  Though modern India has officially done away with castes, the old system’s influence is still felt, particularly among those formerly identified as “untouchables”.

According to Hindu texts, the caste system was brought to India by the creator god Brahma. The top caste was occupied by Brahmins, India’s priests and teachers. Next came Kshatriyas, who were warriors and rulers. Below them, Vaisyas made up the middle class of merchants and traders while Sudras were unskilled workers or peasants. Dalits were “untouchables,” outcasts who existed outside of the caste system entirely and were often relegated to undesirable tasks like street sweeping, toilet cleaning, and disposing of dead animals. A person’s surname identified to which caste they belonged., While one could never hope to ascend to a higher caste in a single lifetime, it was believed that through dedication to one’s Dharma, or caste-specific duty, one could earn a higher position in the next life.

In 1950, the caste system was abolished, creating new opportunities for social mobility and intermingling between India’s various social groups.  India even elected a Dalit president, K.R. Narayanan, who served from 1997 until 2002. Tensions remain, however, as Dalits, still identifiable by their surnames, continually find themselves subject to discrimination, harassment, assaults, and rapes. Many attacks go unreported, and local police tend to show leniency to the attackers.

India’s caste system has been likened to South African apartheid or the Jim Crow laws, both of which required many years of legislation and social pressure to affect changes which could be embraced by the general populace—if they were ever fully embraced at all. As India wrestles with its own history of social stratification, the future of its Dalits remains unclear.  But it is clear that Dalits, who make up a quarter of India’s population, are an integral part of Indian history, culture, and society, and they won’t be leaving any time soon. Greater equality could be vital to India’s overall health as a country.




JONATHAN ROBINSON is an intern at CATALYST. He is a travel enthusiast always adding new people, places, experiences to his story. He hopes to use writing as a means to connect with others like himself. 

In India Tags India, equality, parliament, Hindu, Dalit, Sudras, caste system, society, tradition, Arts and Culture, International Affairs
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Untouchable Beauty | The Gypsies of Tamil Nadu

December 21, 2017

I had heard of the Narikuravar, and even seen their camps sprawled out across pavements in the city, lending significance to their reputation as Gypsies. I was told their living conditions were appalling and to be aware of begging. As my local friend and I pulled up to one such settlement on the outskirts of Tiruvanamalai at 7am, plumes of smoke were already rising from earthen hearths and curious children began to appear from all directions. Soon, tiny hands were holding mine and dragging me down the sweltering lanes from one thatched hut to another.

Though I was in the heartland of conservative Tamil Nadu, these pre-pubescent daughters often wore lipstick, eye-shadow, and fake diamonds. The famed beauty of Gypsies is indeed jaw-dropping, and a touch out of place for the conditions in which they subsist. Girls seem to understand their charm and perhaps for a community whose females barely ever make it to middle school, it is not surprising that they flaunt the features which will attract a male suitor.

Although it is officially illegal in India, the Narikuravar still practice child marriage. Half of the female population are illiterate and spend their days making beaded ornaments or plastic flowers to be sold in markets by their husbands. They are incredible dancers. Their gaze can pierce your soul. And by the time a young woman is in her twenties, she has an abundance of little ones to look after.

Sadly, this is the same old story for so many marginalized and stigmatized communities.

The Narikuravar are considered ‘Untouchables’, India’s lowest caste, and this label has pitted them against a modernizing world in which they can stake no claim.

Education is undoubtedly the means to break the insidious stranglehold of superstition and backward thinking that too soon turns starry-eyed girls into weathered mothers. However, young women of the Narikuravar are equally oppressed by the archaic beliefs of elders, who think that education will corrupt a girl by empowering her to question her circumstances. After all, who will stand in the hot sun each day to fill jugs with water?

Written on the faces of these young ladies is a sort of ‘who cares’ expression, but when pressed about going to school, their rebellious attitudes prove to be as flimsy as the thatched huts they live in. It seems that their resistance to development is actually resignation to an unavoidable fate. For an Untouchable girl the future is a predictable one. By mid-life, the lines etched across a woman’s face tells the story that lips do not have to.

Yamuna Flaherty is a photographer and writer interested in tribal communities and is currently working on a project to dig a well for this Narikuravar village. www.youcaring.com/letsbuildawell

Check out Yamuna’s website or follow her on Instagram for more stunning photography and stories.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON ROAM MAGAZINE.

 

YAMINA FLAHERTY

Yamuna Flaherty is a multi-disciplinary storyteller, published author, and explorer who has spent the last 17 years on a global pilgrimage. Her photographic and literary work often explores the intersection between consciousness, culture, and identity. She is a regular traveler to India and has matrilineal roots in Tamil Nadu.

In India Tags untouchables, gypsies, narikuravar, photography, beauty, tamil nadu, india, caste system, Arts and Culture, Women and Girls
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