Caste System: Is Kerala still a madhouse?

The latest post on Maddy's Ramblings is a thought provoking article Vivekanada's Lunatic Kerala, which prompted me to write this post. About 100 years back Dr. Palpu, an Ezhava (considered to be low caste) brought to the notice of Swami Vivekananda the severity of the caste system in Kerala and the travails the lower classes had to endure because of it. Vivekananda visited Kerala to study the situation and reacted to what he saw. He felt that he had wandered into a lunatic asylum.

Presented below is an image of the caste system that existed, all over India, at that time. I couldn’t get the comments on it translated, but, really, words are not required. The picture tells the story. The author, Deyvid Aleksandr Raffo Setti calls it ‘Structure of the Indian society by castes’. I would have liked to give the caption ‘Indian Social System: Head to foot and below'.

A century has passed since Swami Vivekananda’s visit. Is Kerala still a madhouse? Difficult question to answer. The labels ST/SC (Scheduled Tribe/Scheduled Caste) and OBC (Other Backward Classes) are now worn like medals. None of them would like to be upgraded to the ‘higher caste’ grouping because of the advantage of reservations, other benefits and the bargaining power the present status gives them.

At the same time, one reads reports about cases being filed for addressing a person from the lower class by caste name; it is considered an insult. And, social integration is still far away. The upper castes tolerate the ST/SC and OBC only because there is no alternative.

Has the present system of reservation for the ST/SC, OBC group been truly beneficial in uplifting the downtrodden? That is another story.

Ends.

The images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
Picture of Swami Vivekananda is by Reji Navasree (rejinavasree@yahoo.com) on thermocol, a technique he has developed himself. See A village artist. The image of caste system is from Wikimedia Commons. It is Public Domain.

Also see: History of conversions to Christianity in Kerala – an overview

The Caste Wall Story