"Untouchability
is almost not there in the village now a days. It has really changed! They even
let us use the grinding machine at the village to grind our grains too!" Nalita said. I was a bit surprised to hear this from a member of a Hadi* Community in a coastal district of Odisha! Can this be true? Can it be
that all the Dalit rights organisations of this state are basically 'focusing only on celebrating
victim-hood and over-emphasizing the “they all oppress us and no one
follows the law” psyche', as some colleague mentioned the other day? I decided to probe further.
"You are saying that they let you grind your cereals whenever you go?" Binod was almost irritated at this silly question. He said, "No! How can they? We go on Monday before 12 pm. Then they get some
time to wash the machine and dry it, so that the others can grind their grains." Who
are they? What if it's not a Monday? What if it's beyond 12 PM? I don't have to
convey the answers to you, right? You already guessed it. And you guessed right. The people I was talking to would not even approach the shop beyond the allocated time and day. They have learnt their "place" too well as they have been taught this for centuries.
Hadi
is one of the Scheduled Castes of Odisha, India. Their houses are generally found
after you cross the main village and proceed towards the wilderness a bit. In
the hamlet where I attended this meeting, one of their issue was safe drinking
water although there was a big well already there in the main village. They
wanted us to get a mud-well sanctioned for them. They did not want to do what seemed easier to my urban mind! They did not want to get water from the existing well. They knew that was
too much of a hassle. "And what about buying groceries?" I asked further.
"The shopkeeper keeps the things we buy on a wooden plank and we collect these from there.
We in turn, keep the money on the same plank to be collected by the
shopkeeper." Truly speaking two things will never stop amazing me about
Indian culture. One is untouchability and the process of
pollution/purification. The other is the concept of "jootha" or
"eNtho" (as it is called in Bengali). How do these pollute and how do
these stop polluting you, will always remain a mystery! However, coming back to
the point. The wooden plank that is a bad conductor of electricity is of course
a bad conductor of "touch based pollution between two human beings"
too. The exchange that was not possible between two human beings could be done
simply because a piece of wood came in between. You ask how? Well! didn't I just tell
you that I made no head or tail of it. Must you embarrass me
like that?
"What all makes you feel bad?" I was talking to a bunch of children in another
village in the same district. "They don't even let us throw flowers in offering at goddess
Saraswati during the puja." I was wondering why were these children so bothered about that? My
urban mind wondered! In their schools, they were asked to go to nearby streams and wash cooking
utensils, they are asked to clean the classrooms, they are often called by
caste names (illegal in India) but why was it that this incident hurt them the
most? Sumanta said, "Everyone dresses up, Madam. Everyone is happy.
Everyone prays for good education. All pray so that they pass. Can't we even
seek that blessing? Can't we be happy when everyone else is?" I did not have an
answer. I choked instead and asked for some water. I looked back to my childhood days. It was the most important day
during our school life. No less in importance than the Annual Day. There are so
many beautiful memories associated to it. I never prayed to goddess
Saraswati in my school. It never mattered but then I knew nobody would ever
stop me if I ever wanted to. The heart of the child yearns for the forbidden. And then,
why it is forbidden in the first place, that is something one may rationally, never know!
So what makes the people of that village think that the untouchability is almost not there anymore. That the situation has improved? They started counting it out for me, "We can walk through the roads of the main village!", "Children of our homes are accepted in schools at least. Look at me, I am an illiterate!", "Physical violence against us is not so common anymore. Earlier, killings were common!", "We even get paid in cash for daily labor at times! It was difficult to get anything more than the day's food for the same labour earlier from the those castes!"
The more they counted the ways in which their lives have improved the more embarrassed I felt! How does one sleep well at night knowing these millions of fellow human beings accept a less than human treatment to their stride, every single day?
I got up from the meeting thinking which is more important for this community, to be conscious of the numerous ways (a local NGO has documented 80) in which one is discriminated on the basis of birth in this area even now or to measure the road already traveled and walk with definite belief that it would only get better from here. Or may be both?
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I Salute them for holding their heads high and seeing what has been achieved and feeling happy with that. We the blessed keep on counting what we have not achieved and what others have..... Salutations to people like you who are looking into these issues with open minds and keeping aside an hour in the guest filled working weekend to remember those for whom living a day more is a matter of pride and fulfillment. Coming to untouchability, while working in Barmer,yes it was so evident..... I had once taken fancy to the jwellery worn by the meghwaal community women and gone out for field work wearing these...to be admonished strongly for not dressing up aptly. Even the hairstyle tells whoo you are. Serving food and water in utensils kept seperately for people of these castes is a way of living accepted mutually. Asking the caste even before the name, expecting the meghwal people to vacate seats in the public buses for the upper caste people to occupy....what is this.... caste based living or discrimination? I am married to a gujju bhai but none of the families in the residential complex where we stay accept food and water from our house....my children are gradually turning towards being vegetarian fearing ostracism in school. My own in-laws during my visit to the village in Gujarat (bhavnagar district) performed a shuddhi karan ritual on me so that I can pay obeisance to the family deity and be formally accepted as a part of clan since I have worked with and have social intercourse with the dalits and Muslims....
ReplyDeleteOhh! Suddhikaran?! gosh! So what do you do now? Don't you work with Dalits anymore? But, in Odisha in a Kandhamal village I faced a lot of difficulty after accepting water from a Dalit(Pano). Kandhas, a tribe of this region did not want to give me admission to their homes anymore. Another thing, I think the caste atrocities of Odisha are much less spoken about. Dalits are a relatively voiceless lot in this region.
ReplyDeleteI do work with and are friends with Dalits and Muslims. I accept food, stay in their houses, celebrate Eid and eat biriyani as well. They are aware of this. I have told my inlaws that I respect your traditions and customs but cannot part with my beliefs and values. So, everytime there is a festivity or some ritual involving the devi mata (family deity), I submit myself to the process of cleansing. Sounds funny tai na?...but that's how it is.
ReplyDeleteI am happy that at least my dalit and Muslim friends are not denied access to the same vessels that we eat from nor am I openly asked by anyone to stop participating in Eid. It is all about tolerance now. ....))))
Actually, this tolerance is because I get support from my husband....otherwise, things would have been different. When I was working with the Catholic Relief Services...there were similar issues...purity - pollution concepts barring all forms of interaction with the beef eating community...but they were aware that there is no use telling me .... worse is that when you see your kids being brain washed....
It is about leading a dual life...very suffocating but for some well meaning choices....:)
Umm! Sounds disturbing for sure. And seeing your children getting brainwashed is very difficult indeed. I have a position here. Rationalists take a lot of crap in the name of "not hurting anyone's sentiment" but what about the rationalist's sentiment? Don't they get hurt? But may be that can be raised in another post, what say?
ReplyDeleteshotti bolte....disturbing yes...suffocating ...yes....kintu jokhon bhabi that there are people leading miserable lives...tokhon mone hoy......chalo theek hai. I do not and can not counter with fervour....it is about bringing a change from within....which has to be gradual and non threatening...about my kids....yes...it is a matter of concern...but because I have taken some decisions in life on my own, I have to stand by them...come what may...so, I aim at strengthening the roots of of rationalism....in the children...try to uphold the importance of values like tolerance and respect .... so that they can some day look and think through .....make wise decisions and then stand by them. :)
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