Homes for the Aged
Goa Tourism
Archives:
COMING SOON !
* The META Mess
* Oh Raul !
Kattor re bhaaji TGF readers' bulletin board
- Filomena Saraswati
Giese
Some of us have already expressed our disapproval of the whole system. In the case of Cuncolim, there is an unfortunate convergence of caste and hereditary rights that had existed in the Hindu temple management and ownership system. When the temple was taken over and turned into a church, the Church that was Portuguese-run at that time agreed to keep the system of hereditary rights.
Even Hindu Gaunkars were allowed to have special privileges during feasts and this continues on in some Goan villages to the present day. Therefore, we are all paying for this error of judgement.
Churches that were built later did not have this system; hence
they don't have a problem. Luckily, many of us like Peter Nazareth had parents who did not believe in caste and were brought up without
such prejudices, and told that it was all unChristian.
The caste system was also one of job category, depending on what part of Brahma your caste originated from. For example, the Brahmins came from
Brahma's head, the Kshatriyas from his arms, the merchant Vaisyas from his
middle, and the worker Sudras from his feet. Sub-castes by job also exist.
Today, supposedly caste has been legislated out of style and
hopefully out of existence, given a few more decades. The Indian Constitution,
written by the untouchable Ambedkar, has legislated caste out of government
and civil life. But as the government has also institutionalized privileges
for the downtrodden castes, people are registering themselves as untouchables
etc. to get the privileges.
One Goan told me that this is happening even in
Goa that had no "untouchables" in the strict Hindu religious sense. The caste system is already eroding on the one hand through government action,
and being kept in place on the other, also by government action. This is the
problem for the Christian Dalits - having become Christian they
were no longer "untouchable" and can't get the special privileges set aside for
untouchables.
The contradiction is that the institutionalized caste system could exist side by side with the idea that the Self exists in everyone and we are part and parcel of that Self. Hence many greatly venerated Hindu Saints were of the lowest caste and some untouchable. And in order to be defined as a Sanayasi and great yogi, one had to give up caste and material supports, and partake of defiled food etc. rejected by ritual Hindus.
So the contradictions on the question of caste are difficult
to explain. Hopefully, the new generation of computer programmers, airline
pilots, surgeons, factory workers, etc. will prove that putting people in job
categories for centuries is a ridiculous idea whose time has come and gone.
Filomena Saraswati Giese February 3, 2000