Anjali.. I followed caste system not out of scared.. but because,
caste or jaati had its own culture and customs, which i want to preserve..

there is no confusion b/w varna, caste and kulams..

Varnams - Higher Classification of people based on profession..

Caste or Jaati - its group of people or community, having common
profession or occupation,

Kulam - its subsect of a caste having common ancestry.. mostly based
on parental lineage

Also, i would like to clarify that there are NO rigid hierarchies in
indian caste system.. this existed only in western nations, where
nobles are in higher level and serfs are lower level serving them..

The king is at the top with absolute powers in terms of ruling..
The brahmins are next to the king.. they worshipped any king who
protects them..
Then all other castes had their own self-regulating structure..

Today, the brahmins are accorded highest seat in social hierarchy, and
projected as though they virtually suppressed everyone..
If we read the history, we understand this is false.. its simply not
possible..

Because out of the four varnas, the brahmins are the most weakest
sections and they lived most simple life.. a brahmin cannot even sell
grains..

The power rests with the kings..

Next, there were considerable upward and downward mobility of castes..

Nandha kings belong to shudra varna..

Shivaji was a shudra king..

There were vyshya kings and even brahmin kings..

Once Rajput rulers, now BC's and MBC's

The gujjars were from Jat lineage, the once powerful kings.. now they
fight for ST's

There is no specific hierarchy in social system...

Marriage of Cousins:
--------------------

This is another topic of research.. because, in some of the
literatures of our caste, there were references that before marriage,
the bride should not be related for three generations back, and the
groom should not be related to the bride for past 7 generations.. i
dont know when it got diluted..

Also, here the term cousin sister is too generic..

the marriage was done b/w one's daughter and his sister's son or vice
versa.. the popular term of "Athai mahal" or "maman mahal" which was
romantised in tamil cinema..

So in any way, we are seeing that caste system is NOT evil as
projected in our syllabus and by our media.. there are many drawbacks
and issues in that system.. and that needs to be corrected.. but to
ask for abolishing caste system is like killing a person for some
defects..

Regards,
Senthil

------------------------------------

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