Hi,
DISCLAIMER: Most of this post is NOT entirely my work. Credit goes to various other people too. This is only a collection of write-ups that caught my attention and inspired me, and also my take on related issues.
I read this review about a tamil movie called Periyar. I strongly urge all to follow the blog on the whole.
http://dandanaka.blogspot.com/
I found GREAT reviews, not just a reflection of (irresponsible, indisciplined and (morally) degenerate) public taste. In fact, the opposite.
Anyways, read at least the review of the movie to get some context of what’s to follow.. The comments to the review were much more interesting than the actual blog, and resembled multiple arguments that break out daily at various places in India. Its about reservation, casteism, blatant non-secularism and partisanism by the government. And me being the doctrinaire I am, I’ve been involved in enough arguments. Too tired to make my point of view clear anymore. RESERVATION IS BIASED, SKEWED AND BASICALLY FLAWED AS A MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF A WORTHY IDEAL. And if you want to know why, THINK. I am all for equality and upliftment of the downtrodden. But I am NOT ok for it if it if the objective is achieved by pulling down those above. Fine, brahmins discriminated against other castes. Dreadfully ashamed for what my great great great granddad’s uncle did to his generation’s “lower castes”. Begging the forgiveness of your great great great granddad’s uncle on behalf of mine. But does that mean retribution is justified?
Is crime inherited? Can a grandson be gaoled if his granddad is convicted for murder? Then why is discrimination inherited? I find all this quite similar to Reverse Rascism.
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Back to the topic. Kaushik suggested that I read the movie’s review and see the comments. This is a comment by the author of the blog and review. He in turn quotes a comment in rediff”s review of the movie. PLEASE NOTE - The part in quotes is NOT my opinion. Its author has many valid points, and a few wrong ones as well. You choose. But do not hold me responsible for them. Below is a “cleaned-up” version of the article. For the full version, check out Comment#4 here. Surely worth a read, for the writing style if not for the content 
I especially agree with the second line – “…I wish I could write like this…”. Yes, I too wish
I felt this comment in an article by a ‘Dr Surya’ a TamBram, is worth repeating and reading.
This was a comment posted by Dr Surya to an article written about the ‘movie’ Periyar. I wish I could write like this… He has some amazing points.
Mel Gibsons shockingly intense and painful drama Apocalypto begins with these words of W. Durant,
“ A great Civilisation is not conquered from without until it has completely destroyed itself from within”.
India ( Tamilnadu in particular) is fast heading down this self destruct mode and nothing is a stark reminder of this than the state sponsored apartheid in the name of reservations.
Nowhere in civilized world has any nation ignored and insulted, rebuffed and destroyed hopes and lives and futures of millions of meritorious students and job aspirants in the name of reservations.The write up about periyar E.V.R. and the interview with a hitherto unkown IAS Officer on rediff, whose only claim to fame is a film being produced with Satyaraj and Kushboo as the lead pair in a biopic called Periyar got me thinking. Some one had to give the viewpoint of Brahmins however unwanted and controversial it might sound. So here it goes….
About the film, the less spoken about the lead pair Kushboo and Satyaraj the better. They would put practitioners of the oldest profession in the world to shame with their personal life stories.
Now let’s look into the interview this IAS Officer gives.
Periyar was not against God but against misuse of Gods name. Periyar was not against Brahmins but against Brahminism.
After reading this I actually managed my best to stop puking and going into a spell of convulsions before I could actually sit down and pen this write up.
Im sure the N Rams and Gail Omvedt types and the “secular” know all types out there would cry for my blood after reading this write up but Im fed up of hearing fake stories being put up by the secular media to support the disgusting activities of the anti Brahmin lobby that someone had the spit the truth on these peoples faces.Firstly a lie is a lie is a lie…. How many times you repeat it the lie doesn’t become true.
(…)
The anti Brahminism in Tamilnadu dates back to 1950s when India had just become an independent state and the real selfless freedom fighters made the biggest mistake of their lives. After driving out the Brits these selfless fighters stood back and said their job was done. Many Brahmins who were part of the freedom struggle who lost everything including family live and every penny they had rejoiced in the fact that India was a free state and they stood back to let vultures and their goons to share the spoils amongst themselves. The fact that Brahmins were smarter and more cultured as a race didn’t help issues. This only fuelled the jealousies and insecurities of some.
Right outside Chidambaram Natarajar temple stands this black hoarding – Kadavul illai illave illai. Kadavulai vendubavan muttal. Kadavulai vendubavan kaatu mirandi – loosely translated it means – There is no God. Only a fool prays to God. Only a barbaric idiot prays to God. What rights does an atheist have in critising the beliefs of a believer. He might have his opinion but when he says Im a fool and a barbaric idiot he steps out and interferes in my personal fundamental right.
Can these rationalists put the same board outside Jumma Masjid? So much so for rationalism and atheism. All this barking only against spineless Hindus. Arent muslims and Christians believers? Why not put up such boards outside churches and dargas? The next day they would be hunted on the streets like stray dogs. And the secular media will demand their head. So much so for their double standards. Their rationalism and atheism is pure anti Brahminism anti Hinduism in disguise.
Basic human jealousy is the cause of all evil. (…)
The only way Rajaji could be sidelined was by bringing in the caste factor. The violent Anti Brahmin protests in 70s is worse than the Gujarat riots of today. The media was terrorized in not reporting what had happened. Brahmins were looted, abused, their hair forcibly tonsured and women raped and killed. Not a single case of FIR was booked. Some Brahmin preists were beaten to death inside temple premises.
All this to ensure total obliteration of Brahmins in the social life of TN. Being the educated and so called elitist crowd Brahmins did the mistake of suffering in silence. And the reservation policy ensured the best brains in the state was refused entry in any educational institution of repute. These days politicians’ grandsons study in Anna University. Their only merit being family members of the ruling clan.
About the unfounded oft repeated lie that Brahmins are perpetrators of Casteism in TN and that Brahmins have robbed other castes of their position in governmental jobs, just look around. For 50 years we have had anti Brahmin Governments ruling TN. How have they managed to make social life in TN better? Have caste conflicts lessened? They have infact worsened and we have caste outfits virtually behaving like mafia dons in caste ridden pockets of TN. What have you achieved by such state sponsored apartheid?
If the Government in 2007 is doing what Brahmins have been accused of doing several hundreds of years ago, then the government needs to be treated with the same contempt with which those casteist Brahmins of yesteryears need to be condemned. If the Government justifies this action, then what’s the difference between a racist criminal Brahmins and the Government?
Even after 60 years of Indian Independence we still hear spine chilling stories of Takurs and Jats raping and burning SCs and STs and Koundars and Vanniyars in Tamilnadu burning down SC and ST hamlest and vice versa. So have the governments succeeded in weeding out casteism after the systematic rape of Brahmins over the years? Now who will take revenge for the present day state and how many more years of reservation do we need?
The desperate barrage of lies shelled out by this IAS Officer is at times humorous. (…)
It is said Periyar started hating Brahminism and not Brahmins because a Brahmin refused to feed him in Varanasi. Firstly no one knows if this cheap story is true. Even if it were to be true, how is it justified that you start hating an entire race based on what a Brahmin did in Varanasi years ago? Will a state decide its education policy based on what a Brahmin did to one politician? In what way are these better than Hitler?
Hindus and Brahmins are being ridiculed at any given opportunity.Canthe entire Brahmin race by the state? Arent we not entitled to a life in TN? Isn’t this untouchability practiced by the state?
However just look at TN today. Inspite of 60 years of hate, the best software brains and best neurosurgeons, the best businessmen, the best beauty queens all are Brahmins. The Brahmin race is very similar to the Jewish population. They are hated by everyone but the more the world tries to put them down the more they grow.
Inspite of all this we have grown and will continue to grow, the anti Brahminism in TN and India at large might have unsettled us from our place of birth but it has only made our lives better and more prosperous. In the end God ensures that life is a big equalizer. You might get a medical seat in All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to reservation but it doesn’t make you a great doctor. Our attitude is what determines our altitude and inspite of such casteist scoundrels we will continue to thrive.
Off topic and to the theme, yet again. Of all arguments, one with a friend here at IIT was different. He was saying that due to the oppression many of the backward castes are still backward. Sons typically get influenced by their parents and fare comparably to them. This way, the effect of oppression has been inherited and thus, even now, reservation exists. The government is right in implementing reservation. They are the representatives of the people and they need to do what is good for the majority of the population. Reservation will help in oppressed students come up in life. Flawed argument. With the same flaws. At whose cost? is my question. I sympathize with his concerns and share the desire to remove this feeling. But differ in the implementation, as said before.
Another argument is that the percentage of brahmins is almost microscopic. But their representation in all institutions is large. We need to correct that. Flawed again. What the hell? This sounds as if they got in based on their caste. They got in based on THEIR MERIT. I’d add, despite all odds against them.
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Some questions:
1. How is it justified in denying a student what he deserves, and giving it to somebody who scored lesser, purely by virtue (or is it sin?) of their birth, over which they had no control?
2. FIne. We are progressive people. Intelligent people. We learn from our mistakes. Really?? What will happen in another 100 years? Say the FC guy who was denied a seat because he was FC is handicapped and doesn’t succeed. WIll his son succeed? Lesser chances, going by the same argument in favour of reservation that children follow parents. Compounding to it is reservation which the kid is going to face. So he loses out. What about his son? Getting my drift? Snowball effect. And in 100 years, if brahmins are unsuccessful as a community, what? Let them go? How to redress? Reservation yet again, but in their favour? And then what about 400 years down the line? Reservation against brahmins yet again? When does this stop? More importantly, HOW?
3. What happens to a society that values (misplaced) sense of compassion and redressal more than merit?
4. Did anybody read Any Rand‘s Atlas Shrugged? Getting any ideas?
5. Who has the power to correct the situation? How?
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This post is dedicated to all those who argued and will argue with me on this topic. I love arguments. I thrive on them. But with logical, intelligent people, with the arguments staying strictly non-personal. On this topic, I’m tired of repeating the same thing over and over again, and being labeled as racist. Please read this post. If you think you have the qualities i mentioned, and can answer any of the questions or if you have anything else to add, please get back to me. Note that the “or” in the above statement is associated with propositions immediately around it, and then the whole thing is then in conjunction with the first statement. Its A(B+C). Not AB+C. And if you don’t understand what I said the A B C stuff, don’t bother – first statement itself out.
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karthrags
P.S. Don’t know if you noted the title. Wondered about the strange capitalization? Periya means “big” in tamil
Nice post, but mostly unwanted. Some answers though..
* It is not justified. But are the tests for a person’s ability to study in a particular place just?
* Snowball effect? Is that the same as the avalanche effect? Honestly, would it matter in a 100 years? Will the same things be of interest then too?
* Nothing. Life goes on. I didn’t do my BTech at IIT. Life did not close doors on me. Besides, there is world outside of TN!
* Lots of ideas from Atlas Shrugged. But, I strongly believe we must not motivate people in believing they “run” the society. Maybe if TATAs and Ambani’s met John Galt, society will start looking up.
* A lot of people. But the point is, will correction be necessary? Imagine the present way succeeds by some freak luck. Then a great portion of today’s downtrodden should be educated. No, I am not for reservation or anything. But in a society with a large portion of people educated in good institutions and doing decent work, how many times will there be a question of caste? How many times will you prof have worried about your/my caste? I worked in a company for a while. I don’t remember being asked for my “caste” status, even in casual talk. My name does not make it obvious to know my caste (or does it?). You don’t profess untouchability. i don’t. Many in our generation don’t. Don’t you think the problem will fade in a 100 years on its own? All that is needed is good education. Not just formal plus-2 degrees, but good graduate education. Something that does not teach casteism anywhere. It will never matter if Periyar/Annadurai/Karunanidhi were anti-brahmin. It wouldn’t matter that 3% of the society is brahmin. The idea that 3% of people can be brahmin is bad. One should not belong in any caste.
My two cents. And I hate controversy!
Hi.. unwanted? depends..
1*. you don’t want all institutions to have a common competence level. neither is it possible. this being the case, how else would students be admitted? institutions can set reservation based on caste, gender or intelligence. that is their prerogative. but the government show favouritism.
2*. if 100 years down the line does not matter, then why does 100 years before matter? why do people quote what happened 100 years ago as the root cause for discrimination and thereby the justification for reservation today? if this is valid, is it wrong to think ahead?
3*. same here. neither did my doors close. but why stating this??
4*. yup
5*. agreed on the point that castes shouldn’t be there, at least in the current definition of it. and yes, we don’t discriminate amongst ourselves. then why reservation? you are asking so what if it is there. i’m asking why is it there if its not needed. and most of your argument was founded on the “freak luck” you mentioned. if the present way succeeds.. chances?
1) Agreed. Institutions can decide how to handle that. But look at it in a slightly different way. Only because there is a disparity in what IIT can do and what a self financing engineering college deep south of TN can do, there is a problem of who should get into IIT. Don’t you think that is the first problem? Was JEE always this tough? No, forget our generation for a while. Go back to the time when there were only enough engineering aspirants that IIT could take. The number of aspirants have gone up with time. Institutions haven’t. Lot of people are waking up to what a B.E degree is doing to their neighbours. Of course, we do not enough money to construct 150 IITs in TN. But is the government being fair to those not getting into IIT or AnnaUniv/REC? Are the standards common? Are the options common? Is it possible to reduce the gap? Many engineering colleges are run by the wealthy. They can quickly match up the standards. Is there an enforcement? When quality education becomes accessible, reservation of any sort becomes unnecessary. I still don’t know I’ve pointed my argument right. The limitation is mine.
2) 100 years before matters. Because I like to believe that Hinduism today is what my history book taught me. So there were four castes. While moving from a caste to another simply meant changing your livelihood. Unfortunately, that system had a problem. Only those who chose to read the vedas got classified as brahmins. (did they do their job as a brahmin is an entirely new argument/debate). Since their job was shabby, with time people forgot why they were brahmins. X was a brahmin, taught his son the vedas so Xjunior was brahmin. Eventually, X’s lineage forgot that Xjunior was a brahmin because he learnt the vedas. They assumed, Xjunior is a brahmin, so they are brahmins; although they work in IT companies. Who is to blame? The 100 years of our forefathers who did things without an iota of understanding of their job. Thats why history becomes important. Why doesn’t future become important – because you can teach your son why he will not be a brahmin if he didn’t know the vedas. A select few would continue living the tradition. A vast majority will understand the original caste system. For this the vast majority needs to be educated. Thats all. Eduation, by hook or crook, caste or no caste, reservation or not.
3) I stated that because the sense of being left out is the reason people fight against reservation. They need to know that whatever is theirs is never given away. I know that sounds like advanced philosophy or even “give-up”ism. But that knowledge can leave the reservation debate aside and move on. OTOH, why are they not trying to reserve seats in sciences? We brahmins(supposedly knowledgeable) should be investing our efforts in that. Science and math in India are dying. And tomorrow is a world for science. We will need scientists. We will have engineers everywhere.
5) Chances, honestly, are bleak. The present reservation system does not reach the truly downtrodden. The person who takes care of our farm in our village could not appreciate the fact that I am in IIT. That day I knew I am not proud of being here. His sons are educated and in good jobs in Chennai. He would be eligible for reservation, but I am sure he is not totally aware of it. Can we make it possible? Maybe. Imagine a few IITs take up the cause and start summer awareness camps in the truly downtrodden villages. Tell them why their kids can do a lot better. Show them the governments attempts to get them in. Maybe set up accesible coaching centers/adopt schools for basic education? It will meet with a lot of issues. But are there enough volunteers to champion this? If the reservation system reaches the deserved, the system will collapse on its own in time. When people no longer feel a sense of “caste” and feel they can do things, they wouldn’t try to get a back door. Its a looong way there. But the steps may be right. Only the directions must be guided, and by the real well wishers.
I still don’t know i’ve written it all right.
@ Abhishek
For most part, I wasn’t able to grasp what Abhishek was saying, but a few things -
* “But are the tests for a person’s ability to study in a particular place just?” – It’s a simple case of supply and demand of essential goods. If there was free rice was available, rice-distribution would go haywire. Similarly, if everyone who wanted to get into IIT was able to do so, though the ideology seems nice & well-meaning, first of all, we need to ensure the standard is continously improved or at least remains the same, and for this, we need to set a min. level for people to clear. Under such competition, the (academically) “lesser” folks would just not be able to keep up with the rest and the mismatch would be obviously jarring —> Clearly not desirable.
(Note: The underlying assumption here is that the test conducted to judge a person’s ability to get into a particular place DOES indeed manage to get the right people inside. If the test is flawed, it’s an issue with the test-setters).
* ” X’s lineage forgot that Xjunior was a brahmin because he learnt the vedas. They assumed, Xjunior is a brahmin, so they are brahmins. because you can teach your son why he will not be a brahmin if he didn’t know the vedas.” – Brilliant point. I hope people understand it.
* There is nothing inherently wrong with Caste as long as it doesn’t fan discrimination of any kind. All current problems are majorly becoz a few of our Brahmin forefathers screwed it some time back and fanned discrimination and inequality. If caste can give rise to identity and uniqueness ALONE, without any ill-feelings or discrimination, then I would love to have that.
Hi,
I am not in favour of reservation, but I feel your post is unjustified against a person, who was committed to his belief, to gain equality for all castes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaikom_Satyagraha
Please read through vaikom satyagraha to understand the effects of untouchability and blind faith which practicsed exclusion on whole sets of people from accessing a public road.
Hi nanda,
first up sorry for the delay. Your comment was sitting in spam, and I didn’t see it till now
Are you referring to the post I quoted or my comments on it?? If the former, yes its biased against a man who did good deeds (also). I don’t think its the latter, as I’ve not talked about any particular person, being neither qualified enough nor educated enough about them to comment on them..
Dr Surya’s writings are good, but if he feels that anyone can rise with the right attitude to any altitude, why the need for such an elaborate explanation?
Seems to me that he is trying hard to convince others much lest himself with too much defense. Writing beautifully alone isn’t enough, but your bouts of anger spill over and that isnt an attractive quality. You judge EVR and Anna about their temperament and short sightedness. Maybe that is 100% true, maybe I agree with you on that, but your temperament is equally , if not more undignified when you said “brahmins have the best software engineers, best beauty queens” LOL. That is quite funny. I can give you millions of non brahmin examples who have reached the top of th eworld today , the most recent one being our one and only proud darling of tamilnadu Mr, A.R. Rahman.
So, Mr. Surya while most of your post seems to make sense, you lash out at the end like an angry menopausal woman with your sophisticated writing. No matter how sophisticated it maybe your menopausal symptoms are prodigiously visible.
Stay grounded.
Sowmya
Hi Sowmya
Welcome to my blog.. My name is Karthik; I’m not Dr. Surya
I quoted an article written by him. I agree with you that some points made by him are not fair and are biased. But as I said in the beginning, there are SOME valid points in his article. I quoted the entire article because if I set out to expurgate his post, then my opinions will be injected indirectly (by omission of points I don’t like). Another reason was that his writing was good , though the topic and content is not entirely good. I enjoyed his writing, even if I didn’t agree with him entirely..
). Do you have a blog??
I feel its ok to claim that one (or one’s community) is good. The problem comes when one starts saying that ONLY he (his group) is good. This was the problem in Dr. Surya’s article as well..
And btw, you too write well (at least, sting well
Hello Karthik, Sorry, I didnt mean to come off as a stinging personality, but rather spilling my thoughts out loud. I do agree with a lot of the first part of his writing, which basically portrays the facts in black and white….and just when I was enjoying his writings….he gets arrogant…lol. Ofcourse I have some very close brahmin friends that I adore and respect, and I believe in keeping a level headedness towards issues as opposed to being biased.
No, I dont have a blog myself, and as you obviously can see, I meddle into other people’s blogs. lol.
Best fo luck to you and you are doing a good job. Keep it up.
Sowmya
Thanks for the compliment! Do keep visiting
and let me know if you start a blog..
Oh and by the way, I could have easily commented about this in that dandanakka blog, but somehow I felt that the author of that blog some “Escape…Great Escape” guy sounded dumb in his ideas. He more or less resembled menopausal Dr.Surya, the only difference being he cant write as well as Dr.Surya.
That’s the reason I chose to write here, because you seem like a level headed pleasant personality.
Wow
Thanks a lot 
