The outcast

I am an outkast.

Spellcheck corrected it to outcast. Wait, Wikipedia says that means a person with social stigma. I meant to say, I am an outcaste, meaning I am no caste and I am so by choice.

Frankly it did not matter then for I do not remember getting any benefit from it during my schooling & college days and when I joined work. My CV does not require it and it was not mentioned in the profile my folks sneakily made when it was the day to do their duty. That I broke their dreams by taking the decision out of their hands only made them upset and it had nothing to do with the caste either.

My wife knows her caste but since she gets mine, she effectively got nothing and she has not shed any tears about it.

We encountered caste or its euphemism community in the application form for my daughter and the online system would not permit me to leave it blank which I think is a gross violation of my freedom so I opted for the NA.

Caste violence has taken many lives, shattered families and generally made life miserable for people on the receiving end. The other day a caste mob wanting to garland the statue of it long deceased leader clogged the traffic for better part of 2 hours and I really would not be surprised if that deceased leader is being tortured in his after life by the collective ill will of all the affected souls.

The point is has anyone actually gained from caste except for the politicians whose raison etre is their surname. That makes me wonder why do folks flaunt their caste in their names, is it to flaunt their exclusivity?

I always remember this scene…