/* Most of my friends who care for me don’t even care for my
caste or region and they are being friendly with me in spite of all the
cultural differences. Then you may wonder, what is the necessity to highlight
such a minor problem
My answer is "We feel sad because of injury to a part
of body, but we won’t celebrate because all other organs are working
well." */
Conversation between two people
X: Hey, what’s your full name?
Y: Some Pulla rao (or) Pulihara rao……
If Y’s name is appended by any caste name, the discussion is
over. Or else, comes another question
X: What’s your surname?
Y: Some ABC……….
If X is not able to determine the caste name even then,
there comes the main question in the form of a low whisper
X: “WHAT'S YOUR CASTE?”
I faced this situation approximately 10 times in my life and
I am sure most of us faced at least once. If you think there are only 10 people
among the thousands around you that concern about your caste, you are wrong.
Once a person finds that you’re from a different caste, he alerts all other
members as if an ISIS member was found in FBI. We even hear the words “He
belongs to some X. So, don’t trust him”. What is that stupid logic that decides
the character of a person based on his caste, but not on his attitude, behavior
or educational qualification?
When a file is created in a computer, it asks “Save As Type”
and depending on the response, the file is classified. Similarly in our
society, when a person is born, he is saved into people’s mind with caste type.
Sorry, a person’s caste is decided even before his birth. Then he has to carry
it until his death and also has to forward to his successors. Some people argue
that they are preserving their rich cultural heritage. Let me ask you a question. How many of you
know your great grandfather’s name? Isn’t it silly to use words like customs,
heritage, legacy without even knowing basics of your family tree? Here, the
point is that a person’s interest in his caste is because of the feeling ”Since
all other caste people are showing affection to their respective castes, I will
show affection towards mine.”
Just remember a simple logic “You don’t leave your money
just because someone else had lost it. Likewise, you shouldn’t leave your
character which is more important than money just because some idiot lost it.”
Many people try to defend politicians, heroes of their
caste. Even I used to do it in my mid teens which I later realized was one of
my biggest mistakes. We support because we think these politicians are working
for our caste. On contrary, the fact is that no one will work for it. They work
for their passion and in this process everything related to them(region,
religion, caste etc) gets fame. Moreover,
I’m sure that every hero and politician wants to be accepted by all sections of
people.
Instead of finding caste of a successful person, find his
path to success. A person watching a movie with you may take that path of
success and can become a super star after 10 years. And then you should not be
the one who would be still staring at the screen inquiring his caste. Create
your own identity. It doesn’t come from your caste. It comes from you. It comes
from the determination to face any hardship on your way to success. It lies in
your eyes that are waiting to see your dream turning into reality. It lives in
every single drop of your blood that is ready to struggle for months and years
to experience that single moment of success.
