Thread by @asuph

As someone raised in a Brahmnical (not just Brahmin) family, I relate so much with this thread. I came to Ambedkar through a long and torturous route -- having internalized many of the casteist prejudices very common in this community. 1/

https://twitter.com/gauravsabnis/status/1500797827227734016

Apart from the usual anti-reservation indoctrination, dismissal of mass conversions out of Hindu fold as "nav-buddha phenomenon", quite pejoratively, one of the most ironic things about this community is the belief in their own "modernism". I'm not even kidding. 2/

An average Maharashtrian Brahmin believes that they (I can't say we anymore, tho I have to, in all fairness, share the blame) are the most "reformed" of all castes, and that they "don't see caste". They will, as example, bring up some inter-caste marriage in extended family. 3/

Or how they now eat food cooked by "dalits", or such. And while, technically, some of this is true, this is just very surface level "reform" -- the only kind that most people are capable of. But even that is rare. And, worse, they are completely satisfied with their "reform". 4/

Imagine, this community, with a very high percentage of educated, even highly-educated, population, which has exposure to different cultures, languages, literature, setting the bar for themselves SO LOW. They are happy that they are not overtly bigoted (in their minds). 5/

But this is the group that has read the least of Dr. Ambedkar. They have, on average, a very low opinion of him ("he just copy pasted British constitution" -- is how they dismiss his contribution), and less said the better about his writings, which they rarely, read. 6/

Or encourage their children to read. You'd rarely see Ambedkar's books in Marathi brahmin households. Which is such a shame, given that he's such a towering figure -- not just as a political leader, but more importantly a social/socio-political thinker. 7/

So I had to learn about caste and casteism, of affirmative action and social justice, of endogamy, of structural inequalities and structural violence, and everything that is necessary in even a *basic* understanding of casteism through SM, and Wilkerson's book ... 8/

... Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. And I'm ashamed to say that I picked up Annihilation of Caste last year. Started reading what Ambedkar had to say, not just what people around me said about Dr. Ambedkar. 9/

"Reading Dr. Ambedkar in Brahmin Heartland" could be an excellent title of a documentary about the experience of lot of so called savarnas like me -- being kept away from this great heritage. False idols like Savarkar are idolized in this heartland. 10/

But Dr. Ambedkar gets treated with distrust at best and derision more commonly. For a while, I struggled with this -- this exclusion of a great political and social thinker from our collective lives -- assuming it to be accidental. But reading him, one realizes ... 11/

... that it's deliberate. That the façade of "modernity" that this community has built will fall, like a pack of cards, after reading a few pages of AOC. That keeping Dr. Ambedkar out of the hands of their children is *essential* for the very existence of Brahmanism. 12/

The need of the hour is for Dr. Ambedkar study circles for the savarna, to at least make them read his writings, not writings about him. It won't be easy to find takers for it, because those at the helm of Brahmanism have done a fine job relegating him to obscurity. 13/

Even in the liberal savarna circles, one finds a lot more deification of Gandhi/Nehru than of Dr. Ambedkar. And as @gauravsabnis identifies in his thread, once you read Dr. Ambedkar, even a few pages of AOC, you realize how big a thinker he was, how far ahead of his time. 14/

If you're born in communities like mine, do yourself a favor: read AOC. It won't be easy. Years of conditioning will raise its ugly head. But persist, and read. You owe it to yourself. Believe me! END/