Purushashuta of the Rig Veda states the Brahmanical theory of the origin of caste, that the Brahmans have originated from the mouth of the Primordial Purusha, the Kashatriyas from the arms, the Vaishyas from the thighs and the Shudras from the feet (Rig Veda 10.90.11-12). Perhaps this forms the basis of common social perception that the Brahmans and other high castes are more meritorious than the other castes, merit/talent being inherent in their gene pool.

Earlier only the twice-born castes (the dvija castes) were eligible to receive education. The story of Ekalavya is a classic case of discrimination that the low-castes faced in the field education. Despite of being denied education from the Brahman Drona, he could excel with his own effort so much so that he even out-witted Arjuna in the battlefield. This was an anathema to the Brahmanical supremacy and therefore, as a conspiracy, Ekalavya’s thumb was chopped off. Traditionally, the gurukula-ashrams were only open for the Brahmans and other dvija castes. The same pattern of exclusion was also foloowed when the modern schooling system was introduced. Initially Daits etc wre not allowed to study in the private schools started by the influential high catse people. Even when they were allowed to study, they had to sit outside the class room and listen to the teacher through the window. Gradually they were able to sit inside the classroom but in a corner and at a distance from the high castes. They could neither interact nor play with their high-caste classmates. The teachers in the class also never touched the low caste students and looked down upon. The general idea about these students was that they are dumb and incapable of leaning owing to their less developed mental faculty. The attitude of disdain for the low caste and class students continues even today, when the teachers are usually from the high-caste groups. Teachers and students, belonging to high castes, often can’t take it and tend to raise eyebrows in disbelief when they hear a Dalit or low caste student tops the merit list or achieves some other distinction in schools, colleges or in their jobs. There used to be open or indirect comments about the capability of these students, or they sometimes face difficulty in having friends from upper castes in the classroom or in the playground.

A similar attitude of looking down upon the students of the disprivileged groups also results in having separate coloured application forms and answer sheets for the candidates belonging to SC/ST category in the IIT JEE entrance examinations. This would enable the teachers to discriminate even when they evaluate answer papers of the low castes.

Recently the AIIMS doctors were protesting against the proposed reservation for OBCs in Delhi by sweeping with the brooms and polishing shoes. This is again an indication of how we have treated certain jobs as unworthy of the ‘educated’ (high-caste) people and are demeaning and defiling in nature; and that it only fit for the low-caste and the non-literate people.

Caste consciousness, that makes us behave differently towards different castes, is still a social-reality in India society. For those who claim that caste does not exist in today’s India live in a self-construed world, or deliberatey choose not to see the truth. Even today in many villages Dalits are not allowed into the temples, are not tolerated when they become the Sarpanch and if they ‘dare’ to live a better life-style. Last year in Orissa, a girl and her parents were beaten up because she dared to ride a bicycle in the village road passing through the high-caste locality. In another incident, women belonging to barber caste (an OBC caste in Orissa) were paraded naked in a village near Puri, because their husbands refused to perform the traditional caste role of washing the feet of thebaaraati and accompany the palanquin in a marriage ceremony. In Urban India, the scene is not very different. The matrimonial columns in the newspaper or in the websites would give the idea of how strongly we want to maintain our caste privileges.

Colour of the skin is also important in the identification of a low caste from that of a high caste. If yo are fair in clour then it is safely assumed that you are from a Brahman Brahman parent, all dark coloured individuals are seen as born of low caste parents. This colour prejudice is basically a high caste propaganda in India and is also thoroughly internalized by almost all castes so much so that now it is now an undesirable trait for all especially in the marriage market. It is a problem for a dark coloured girl (and even a boy) to find a suitable match as this becomes one of the priorities.