whites blacks muslims and castes

HOW MUCH WILL YOU PAY?

In many a class room in the US the following question is often asked of white students.

Imagine that you are asked before you are born how much money are you willing to pay to be born a white rather than a black. What will be your answer ?

Most whites say amounts ranging from $5000 to $50,000.There is then a debate on the responses . It then is revealed that whites do not fully appreciate the agony and the discrimination that blacks suffer on account of their colour and race. Blacks are willing to pay several millions to be born white. ! Whites are astounded at the strong feelings of blacks about colour and race and its impact on their lives.

One of the features about human thinking is the difficulty we have in understanding other people , their perceptions and experiences.

In the Indian context we could ask the question –WHAT MONEY ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY TO BE BORN IN A FORWARD CASTE RATHER THAN AN SC/ST OR A DALIT? A HINDU RATHER THAN A MUSLIM IN INDIA ?
My forward caste friends might say that SC/ST people are exaggerating their problems and politicians are ‘ playing the caste and religion card’ for political ends. I agree with the latter –more about this later—but it is difficult for a forward caste person to understand what the SC/ST or Muslim is going through . It is true that in some states there is no more the virulent form of caste discrimination that is now found in states in the north thanks to the social reforms movement that started in the South in the early 1900’s. This is not yet evident in the north hence the frequent occurrence of horrendous incidents of discrimination.

A Princeton university study has shown that in the employment market in India candidates with names that indicate their ‘ low caste’ origins are discriminated against. A counter argument is that these candidates are not preferred because they got their high qualifications by a process of dilution of marking standards even at the entrance exam stage. This may be true.

The other side of this is the way some people play the caste or community card when it suits them.

Md. Azharuddin was loved and admired as one of India’s very successful captains, an elegant batsmen and excellent fielder. But when he got into serious trouble in the match fixing scandal the first statement he made was that he was being framed because he was a Muslim .It came as a shock to millions who never ever looked at him with communal eyes and gave him our love and admiration Clearly he was playing the communal card . To his credit he withdrew his statement.

Witness the way Salman Khan puts on his Muslim traditional skull cap whenever he is dragged to court for his multifarious offences .He also plays the communal card on such occasions forgetting that the mainstay of his popularity and his billions is his vast army of fans that cut across the communal divide. When not going to the courts he prefers minimalist attire !

The likes of Laloo and Mayawati once they came to power and made their fortunes are now as distant from their clans as anyone could be. They have done nothing constructive for their people –education, vocational training etc for example. They have now enriched themselves on a scale that will make anyone blush.

My conclusion—discrimination, divisions and the animosity arising form it are hardwired into the human psyche. It is not true that it is only in recent times that there has been so much hatred and discrimination . It has always been like this. It is our tendency towards nostalgic thinking that makes us refer to the ‘ good old days’ I prefer the term ‘ bad old days’.

Humans have a tendency to feel superior to some people and feel inferior towards others. We bow and scrape before some and throw our weight around others.[Just see how I.A.S officers lord it over you and obtain reports of how they bow and scrape to ministers]

I understand from sociologists that even among dalits –the lowest in the obnoxious Hindu hierarchy—there are layers and those perched in the upper layers hate and will not share a glass of water with those unfortunately ‘ below’ them!

There is this biblical metaphor about the Tower of Babel that God deliberately created so that mankind would never unite and live happily ever after. Priests of all religions being ‘men of God’ can only perpetuate the divide.

I have many reservations about priests and politicians. I can do no better than quote Denis Diderot

MEN WILL NEVER BE FREE UNTIL THE LAST KING IS STRANGLED WITH THE ENTRAILS OF THE LAST PRIEST.

K.R.RAVI

USA

boy marries dog

BOY MARRIES DOG

‘One-year-old boy married to dog in Orissa

This was a news item on the net.

The report went on to say as follows

‘ Driven by superstition, the family of a one-year-old boy married him off to a dog to keep him free from diseases all his life in Orissa's tribal-dominated Jagatsinghpur district’..’ The infant groom was identified as Sipu, son of Radha Mohan Singh and the six-month-old canine bride was named Moti. The dog was attired in a yellow saree, while the groom was sitting next to her.A tribal priest performed the rituals in the presence cheering villagers.’‘The boy's father said he decided to marry off his son to a dog in the belief that this would ensure disease free life of him.A visibly happy groom's mother Gita Singh said that she would feed her bahu (daughter-in-law) like a child"The female canine will ward off all evils from my son," she said.

If you were a city guy you might dismiss this story as relating exclusively to tribals . If you are my friend Prof. Macarthur of a University in Washington D.C. you may say that you expect nothing better from a superstition ridden India. If you were an official of the British TV regulatory authority you might say - what else can you expect from a Hindu society that in Britain sought to advertise on BBC TV a Ganesha pendant which when worn on one’s neck would ward off evil. This ad was disallowed though I am not sure if a similar rigorous standard is applied to evangelists who make even more outrageous claims –more about that later.

I could not but draw my professor friend’s attention to the several TV programmes on TV in the US every morning and sometimes all day, that show evangelists introducing people who were paralyzed waist downwards but then decided to petition Jesus through the evangelist and lo and behold the paralysis afflicted person began to dance and run for the first time in decades.

The pastor then tells you to send in your prayer requests to him [presumably with a cashier’s cheque attached] and he will draw up a petition to Jesus on your behalf and presto you will be rid of your ailment no matter that doctors hold our no hope whatsoever .My Prof friend cringed when I told him this. ‘Do you mean to say that these things are actually appearing on US TV?’

‘Every day’ I assured him. I added for good measure that over 70% of Americans are superstitious and more than that percentage actually read the daily forecast on Astrology columns in the papers and also –this really shocked him—the world’s highest paid astrologer was not an Indian but an American, Marjorie Orr !

There is this evangelist Benny Hinn who is very popular in the US and who makes frequent visits to India where in front of lakhs of people including celebrities demonstrates cures to blindness, cancer diabetes etc. The Rationalists Association seems to be reserving its contempt only to Hindu godmen.! What this association has not done but has been done by a Hollywood movie called ‘LEAP NOF FAITH’. See this movie please. Few even in the US ask Hinn or his followers why have hospitals , doctors or a medicare system at all if Jesus would cure all ailments.

Prof Macarthur—a scientist- asked me what made people believe in superstitions.

My limited knowledge of human behavior tells me that whenever we are faced with uncertainties and fears—which is almost always---we try to make sense, to try and control our lives, to seek refuge in certainties, to seek an anchor and finally to seek the assistance of some force bigger and more powerful that we are. This has been mankind’s attempt through the ages. We are not able to concede that random events which are not in our control rule over our lives. Our pattern making tendencies take over and inexorably impel us to make sense and grapple with what is essentially totally random. Enter God, enter evangelists and godmen , enter Gurujis or Matajis, enter astrologers and soothsayers.

As for curing diseases there is the placebo effect and also a lesser known phenomenon called automatic remission.

More about that in another blog.

Meanwhile may the stars favour you !Step out of your house with the right foot first. Do not walk below any ladder, wait for a few minutes if a cat crosses your path and God or an evangelist/godman save you if the cat happens to be black!

K.R.RAVI

USA.

.