http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/09/30/castes-that-cripple/
Castes that cripple
By Saani | Published September 30, 2011
I’ve been blessed with ignorance when it comes to identifying castes and ethnicities in Nepal. And yes, I knowing used the word “blessed”. I’m sure many could argue that my cultural blindness is a negative thing and that I’m robbing different people groups of their individual identities but I see this as the opposite – regardless of shape of eyes, color of skin, accent, food, and clothes, I am able to see everyone as simply Nepali.
I figure where this will get me into trouble is if I ever have to act like a witness for anything, I’d fail at the descriptions that most Nepalis would use. “He looks Rai,” “She looks Newar” gives me literally no mental image as to what a person’s physical features would be.
At a time when the “Nepali” identity is being questioned and reworked, I can see why people would give me the stink eye for my lack of knowledge. But, if what we’re trying to do is get everyone on an even platform, this “ignorance” is what we should be striving for. I believe that true equality is when we can look at people and not see the differences that we use to be biased and prejudiced.
I don’t know what traits distinguish Gurungs from Magars and I only have a vague sense of which last names are linked to “high” caste and which ones are “low” but if there is one caste that I am able to identify with almost 100% accuracy – it’s the bahuns.
When my mother used to make comments stereotyping them, I’d always get mad at her and tell her that if she, as an educated modern woman makes a statement like that, then what hope do we have for social change in our country? Back then, she had smiled at me and told me to just wait and see. Unfortunately, as time as passed, these characteristics have made themselves apparent to me.
In any circle I’ve drifted through, it take all but five minutes to spot the bahun. They’re usually the ones who are the loudest, the most snooty, and the one with the janney attitude that is every so annoying. Observing these traits I’ve also begun to recognize some traits like the long nose and fairer skin, but it’s the personality and the behavior that stands out the most to me.
So, in order to not be racist to another people group in Nepal, I began to question why people are the way they are and it didn’t take long for me to come up with a theory: bahuns today still possess a sense of authority and entitlement.
For centuries they were looked up to, admired, and people would submit to their every need and demand. For this simple reason, they adopted a sense of superiority. This idea of being better than everyone had been inbreed and birth through countless generations bringing us to where we are today: more bahuns and high caste people still hold more power and position in most realms, they still think they’re better than everyone, they’re still the ones who think they know it all, they’re still living out all the habits of arrogance that our forefathers used to discriminate against our own people.
All of this, needed to change. I’m under the impression that it will take time and education before we see names of all castes in high positions, but until then, I’m going to try to forget how to pick out bahuns and focus on how everyone really is just Nepali.
Saani has no real goals and aspirations but she sees opportunity in everything and goes with the flow. This is probably because she loves exploring and discovering. She writes for fun but for the same reason she also cooks, reads, and spends a lot of time on random websites that offer a chance to learn all sorts of tid-bits on life
http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/09/30/castes-that-cripple/
