Thread by @netshrink

Thread: I tweeted about Ekalavya & this Assistant Prof Savitribai Phule Pune University tweeted the reply below.
So let me tell you my own experience. I think 1st person accounts are important.
Disclaimer: I am not a savarna nor am I a Dalit. Honestly, I don't know my caste ++

https://twitter.com/tulidey_TBL/status/1373620155054399492

I grew up in Mumbai in 70-80s studied medicine at G S Medical College (KEM Hospital). Proudly got in there with "merit". Reservations & caste really did not impinge on my life except occasionally when savarna classmates said I had "wasted" a seat by not taking admission++

under OBC category. I didn't much pay attention to it Had many savarna friends. I do remember a group of seniors referring to students who had come in through reservations as "bhangis" & laughing. To me this was all irrelevant. Didn't bother me at all. I had some great +++

Brahmin friends who are friends to this day. After graduating, I left for UK in 1991. In the meanwhile I fell in love, got married ( irrelevant that she was born a Brahmin). Our families never had a problem. We decided to return to India in 2000. India tugged our hearts +++

I settled in Pune & started practice. That's when I first started noticing how frequently caste came up in conversation here. But in our own cocoon, this did not really impact me. One of my wife's relative who was a Dr in Konkan said there are not psychiatrists there +++

& convinced me to start going there once a fortnight on weekends. It was fun, I enjoy Konkan & it's people! Over time we both fell in love with the place & around 10 yrs ago decided to buy a small plot in a nearby tourist town to build a holiday home..+++

Everyone, especially my father-in-law was enthusiastic about the idea. He offered to do the land hunting. That's when the problem started. He would find a local agent, find a plot & we would go to see the property. Almost always owners would ask my surname, then ask his +++

look at us quizzically. One asked me my 'gotra'. I didn't even know what that was! My FIL just would make some excuses & we would leave. One agent finally said listen the only way you will get the land is if you buy it on your father-in-law's name. He's a proper Brahmin +++

My wife & I both detested the idea & refused. Over the next 2-3 yrs I also stopped visiting there to see patients on weekends. I could not being myself to make these long journeys on the weekends. My heart was no longer in it +++

So what is the point of telling this story? First, this has not at all impacted my life negatively. I have had all the opportunities without being impacted by caste.
However...

1. I learnt that caste is structural. How highly educated or how much financial resources one has is immaterial.
2. The fact that one has helped a local population does not mean they will ignore caste. One sympathetic landowner even said, look I don't mind selling +++

you the land, but I have young daughters to marry & I cannot take the risk.
3. This happens not only in small towns 200-300 Kms from Mumbai, but also in Pune. When I was helping draft 🇮🇳 mental health legislation in 2013 , one savarna friend would derisively call me Ambedkar ++

and laugh about it. Again, fool that I am, I never understood this until someone quietly told me what was happening.
4. I had experienced racism in UK - who hasn't - it did not affect my career. I worked with a wonderful Scottish origin prof from Jamaica who treated me +++

like a son & gave me the best work opportunities. I still have many white friends in UK.
Ironically, it was one of reasons to return home. Wanted to live in a place where I would not be discriminated for who I was. Caste is India's equivalent of UK's racism.
5. This isn't +++

about individuals, but about systems & societies.
I haven't experienced even 1% of what Dalits & Bahujans have to experience. I have seen the quiet nods & winks, referring to someone as category walle, to finish off their chances +++

Everyone does this in front of me, bcoz they assume I am a savarna (I am so educated & I am married to one) & are comfortable displaying their bigotry.
I have many wonderful savarna friends who are not casteist at all. +++

However, I am not sure they are aware of the huge impact it has on Dalit lives.
These are structural problems. Merit is a mirage, accumulated caste privilege of many centuries.
Caste is alive, well & kicking in 2021. END.