So i just learned about the castes system from a coworker...

[jinduy]

to not get too specific, i have indian coworkers who pretty much despise other indians who are of a lower caste than them. one coworker mentioned that his father told him that those from a lower caste lack common sense and you shouldn't befriend one (thus why he always turns him down for lunch).

any indians on atot can vouch that they do something like this or have friends who do this?

 

[BoomerD]

hmm, but don't you dare discriminate against them for being Indian...
<double standards suck>

 

[theprodigalrebel]

The poor & the uneducated out here still can't get over the caste system...but I'm shocked to hear educated Indians working in the United States have such beliefs. :shocked:

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
The poor & the uneducated out here still can't get over the caste system...but I'm shocked to hear educated Indians working in the United States have such beliefs. :shocked:

also we're all in the same department... IT

 

[Vonkhan]

in my 28 years of being Indian, I've cross across exactly 4 instances of discrimination / harrasment based on the caste in URBAN India.

Rural India is pretty different ... well kinda like being in Boone County, West Virginia

In all probability, there are under lying issues in your co-workers' case

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: jinduy
to not get too specific, i have indian coworkers who pretty much despise other indians who are of a lower caste than them. one coworker mentioned that his father told him that those from a lower caste lack common sense and you shouldn't befriend one (thus why he always turns him down for lunch).

any indians on atot can vouch that they do something like this or have friends who do this?

Damn, that's seems very racist. And idiotic.

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell

Originally posted by: jinduy
to not get too specific, i have indian coworkers who pretty much despise other indians who are of a lower caste than them. one coworker mentioned that his father told him that those from a lower caste lack common sense and you shouldn't befriend one (thus why he always turns him down for lunch).

any indians on atot can vouch that they do something like this or have friends who do this?

Damn, that's seems very racist. And idiotic.

i wouldn't call it racist... more like discrimination

keep in mind this exists very strongly in india today... at least what i read in wiki

 

[Bryophyte]

How do they distinguish one caste from another while living in LA? Name? Skintone? Language/accent? Dress?

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
How do they distinguish one caste from another while living in LA? Name? Skintone? Language/accent? Dress?

from what my coworker told me, you're born into it. an indian can tell by your last name most of the time. for example, 'singh' generally belongs to the highest caste

 

[theprodigalrebel]

(Let's see what I remember from Elementary School)
The caste system was this ancient India thing where sections of society were divided based on their profession. There were four basic types:

Kshatriyas: The warriors/soldiers
Brahmins: The priests/religious scholars
Vaisyas: The merchants
Shudras: The menial job workers

You were pretty much born into a caste and there was no way for you to change your profession or marry 'up' into a better caste. This was the ancient India thing. Later, I think it spasmed out of control and there now appear to be dozens/hundreds of castes.

How it is implemented today and why it is still followed is beyond my understanding. And the thing will never go out of style because apart from promising the 'lower castes' free electricity/jobs/education etc., there isn't much else the political parties have to offer in their election manifestos. Maybe it's affirmative action, or maybe it's reminding the 'lower castes' that they suck just because of their ancestry and surnames.

Read a local newspaper here: '22-year-old rural youth killed, had eloped with higher-caste girl, parents were against marriage' Or you might catch an article, 'Dalit (Untouchable lower caste) Man enters temple to pray, Priest and Mob beats him to within inches of his death for destroying the sanctity of the temple'. This stuff makes your blood boil. Weird shitza happens all the time.

Vonkhan is right: in Urban Indian, you will rarely see this ever come up EXCEPT during the marriage season. Even today, (the majority of) millionaires with Doctorates and Masters Degrees in Science will NOT marry out of their caste.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: jinduy

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
How do they distinguish one caste from another while living in LA? Name? Skintone? Language/accent? Dress?

from what my coworker told me, you're born into it. an indian can tell by your last name most of the time. for example, 'singh' generally belongs to the highest caste

Actually, Singh is just a really popular surname amongst the Sikhs (most of them hail from Punjab). Kinda like how 'Khan' is a really popular surname in Afghanistan (or Indians with Afghani ancestry...like ME!)

I am pretty sure there isn't a caste system in the Sikh religion.

 

[HamSupLo]

I didn't realize how horrible the caste system was until an Indian coworker recommended that I read A Fine Balance

 

[Vonkhan]

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel

Originally posted by: jinduy

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
How do they distinguish one caste from another while living in LA? Name? Skintone? Language/accent? Dress?

from what my coworker told me, you're born into it. an indian can tell by your last name most of the time. for example, 'singh' generally belongs to the highest caste

Actually, Singh is just a really popular surname amongst the Sikhs (most of them hail from Punjab). Kinda like how 'Khan' is a really popular surname in Afghanistan (or Indians with Afghani ancestry...like ME!)

I am pretty sure there isn't a caste system in the Sikh religion.

Yup, there is no caste system within Sikhs or Muslims (2 of the other main Indian religions) altho those 2 often differentiate on the basis of the place of their ancestral origin (Like Patiala Sikhs or Bihari Muslims).

Singh is a predominant name amongst Sikhs, but plenty of North Indian Hindus have it too.

But ya, u can distinguish the class / caste by last names.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
How do they distinguish one caste from another while living in LA? Name? Skintone? Language/accent? Dress?

Apparently it's last name. Or so says one of my Indian co-workers.

According to her though, the caste system is really only helpful for her when she's dating (she's Kshatria, her mother is Brahman, but caste follows the father). She says it helps her prospects to have people know she's from a higher caste.

ZV

 

[HamSupLo]

what about indians marrying non-indians? how does that work?

 

[Vonkhan]

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
what about indians marrying non-indians? how does that work?

My parents weren't too fond of my whitey gf (now ex)

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
what about indians marrying non-indians? how does that work?

Depends on the person and their family values.

 

[HamSupLo]

which would the family disaprove more? lower caste Indian or a non-indian?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell

Originally posted by: jinduy
to not get too specific, i have indian coworkers who pretty much despise other indians who are of a lower caste than them. one coworker mentioned that his father told him that those from a lower caste lack common sense and you shouldn't befriend one (thus why he always turns him down for lunch).

any indians on atot can vouch that they do something like this or have friends who do this?

Damn, that's seems very racist. And idiotic.

How is that "racist" when they're the same race, but different castes?

 

[Compton]

Originally posted by: theprodigalrebel
Kinda like how 'Khan' is a really popular surname in Afghanistan (or Indians with Afghani ancestry...like ME!)

KHHHAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[handoverfist]

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
which would the family disaprove more? lower caste Indian or a non-indian?

Non-indian about 90% of the time I would say.

 

[toolboxolio]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
hmm, but don't you dare discriminate against them for being Indian...
<double standards suck>

I am Indian. The "caste" system is a feeble generalization of how a different culture treats others classes in society. There is no caste system from where I come from. My grandfather was born into a poor family that lived in a shack and farmed their small piece of land.

Through his life, he saved and took any opportunity to educate himself and became a well respected man. He started his own radio repair shop when my father was born and started a small movie theater around when I was born.

Made enough money to send all four of his kids to the USA along with their children (one of them being me). Now we are all grads of college and work all over USA and the world. All from one man who was supposedly in a lower-than-sh!t "caste."

There are lots of Indians who are more ignorant than the worst racist you can think of in the KKK. Those are the Indians that perpetuate the image of a "caste" system in India. They are plentiful, but not the majority. India is a free country and is becoming more democratic and socially diverse every day. It just has been so corrupt for so long that there are sharp distinctions of groups in India that don't associate with each other (super rich vs. super poor).

I was always taught to give anyone a shot, because lots of people have given us shots. Caste systems are BS and a bad reflection on my cultural background. It's like saying everyone in the USA are evangelical extremists. (In that they see non-evangelicals as sinners and lower forms of humans).

I lost my track of thought. But my final point is that if there was such a thing as a caste system, it is not recognized by my family. If it were, I'd be a poor farmer who never tried to move up.

 

[ColdFusion718]

How would they determine which caste 'Peters' belongs in?

 

[novasatori]

You keep calling me Babu, it's 'Singh' mother fvcker!

 

[judasmachine]

Originally posted by: toolboxolio

Originally posted by: BoomerD
hmm, but don't you dare discriminate against them for being Indian...
<double standards suck>

I am Indian. The "caste" system is a feeble generalization of how a different culture treats others classes in society. There is no caste system from where I come from. My grandfather was born into a poor family that lived in a shack and farmed their small piece of land.

Through his life, he saved and took any opportunity to educate himself and became a well respected man. He started his own radio repair shop when my father was born and started a small movie theater around when I was born.

Made enough money to send all four of his kids to the USA along with their children (one of them being me). Now we are all grads of college and work all over USA and the world. All from one man who was supposedly in a lower-than-sh!t "caste."

There are lots of Indians who are more ignorant than the worst racist you can think of in the KKK. Those are the Indians that perpetuate the image of a "caste" system in India. They are plentiful, but not the majority. India is a free country and is becoming more democratic and socially diverse every day. It just has been so corrupt for so long that there are sharp distinctions of groups in India that don't associate with each other (super rich vs. super poor).

I was always taught to give anyone a shot, because lots of people have given us shots. Caste systems are BS and a bad reflection on my cultural background. It's like saying everyone in the USA are evangelical extremists. (In that they see non-evangelicals as sinners and lower forms of humans).

I lost my track of thought. But my final point is that if there was such a thing as a caste system, it is not recognized by my family. If it were, I'd be a poor farmer who never tried to move up.

:thumbsup: