Common Notions :
What is casteism in India ?
Casteism, in India, is a social hierarchy, where higher castes despise lower castes, officially named scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward castes (OBC), who are typically avoided from giving equal rights and privileges, in fields of employment, education etc.
Note : Hinduism and Casteism, being two “ism”, are system of beliefs, raising the question whether one system allows other systems within it.
As Per My Understanding :
In India, how does one know who belongs to which caste ?
Hindu castes, be it so-called “lower” or “upper”, are often recognized by the lastname of a person, which is not name of his/her father, rather the family name.
What is a Hindu family name ?
The concept of family name refers to the system of lastnames, where it is same for all members of a family, including previous and next generations of that family, irrespective of genders too. Historically, there are two main origins –
- Title – Often used as colloquial Indian English hearsay translation for “lastname” , names like Bandopadhyay (Banerjee), Roychoudhury etc. were rewarded by kings, hence typically used for “high” castes, serving as respectable social positions.
- Surnames – A more appropriate English translation for “lastname” like Karmakar, Ojha etc. ; the sheer Bengali meaning of which indicates, not Proper Noun as in naming, but Common Noun as in profession, serving as social function.
Note : Some religion/culture, are acquainted with a different system of lastname like father’s name, thereby changing every generation. Hence, the misunderstanding of family names as taboo classes i.e. caste names.
What is casteism in Hinduism originally ?
Caste connotes the skills of new generation cast onto the mould of experience of forefathers. For example, in case of the surname “Karmakar”, the word literally translates to “Smith” as in blacksmith/goldsmith in English, which is also a popular surname in the Western world. Being indicated by surname aka family-name of a person, the so-called general and lower castes, essentially represent the generations, however not as patriarchal lineage as in racism, but as professional skills, as in socialism, that were passed down from father to sons through generations, and has led to today’s name-calling, how people once addressed their ancestors due to their the then professions. Therefore etymologically, different castes represent category, but has no ordinal relation like high/low.
Do not memorize, but understand your culture.
Although this revelation occurred to me by the word “title” and “common noun” name of a study-mate, but for your example, I recall a highly respectable mild-mannered good doctor namely Dr. Karmakar who was certainly neither a smith by-profession nor so-called Brahmin by-birth. If I could think even as a child, independently of seers/gurus, then why cannot you ? I recall, the tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes”.
The Obtuse Objective View 