Root of Reservation...
In the last entire week, the incident which stole the limelight was Doctor's strike against OBC reservation in the field of medicine.
RESERVATION... one school of thought advocates it is an instrument to bring equality. The other school of thought tells just the reverese... it is to divide people in order to meet the vested interest of some socio-political groups. And the fight between the two thought-groups is on since independence. From 'discussion in drawing rooms' this has spilled over to streets often when either the quota-limit jumps with/without inclusion of a new section of the society in the reserved category or the quota enters into a new domain. Present medical student unrest/revolt is due to the later.
RESERVATION... though it takes certain tangible form in academics and jobs, but I think, it is very much there in the mind and action with even the so-called unreserved category from the early stages of life. Firstly, when a new born baby is named with a Surname - the caste tag, reservation germinates. Later in life, this tag plays its role on infinite occasions, small or big. Majority of marriages are in caste line, and the tag follows the person even after death in terms of the rituals performed. At all stages of life, in different socio-political sphere, this caste/community tag acts as an incentive or dis-incentive. Because of the inertia of caste-based practices of past, higher castes get an advantage, lower castes are in disfavour.
RESERVATION... the name carries it all. Even the sheer announcement of one's name does matter. I am not the only one saying this. Rather it is an experimentally proven fact, by World Bank. This year's World Developemnt Report (WDR 2006) says so in the following lines in page 24 of 300+ page document titled "Equity and Development" ... ''Striking evidence of the impact of stereotyping on performance comes from a recent experiment in India. Children from different castes were asked to complete simple exercises, such as solving a maze, with real monetary incentives contingent on performance. The key result of the experiment is that low-caste children perform on par with high-caste children when their caste is not publicly announced by the experimenter but significantly worse when it is made public (figure 5). If a similar inhibition of talent occurs in the real world, this implies a loss of potential output owing to social stereotyping.''
RESERVATION... many who are for it, argue that it is there to counter the "reservation" the high caste get in many other forms in society. It is a sort of 'government-oiling' required to decrease the 'frictions' the low caste experinece throughout in life; friction of all forms - social, interpersonal, or psycological. Isn't the root of this lies with the surname we carry? And... when we get the courage to drop our surnames to break the legacy of caste system - then I think, the authorities who ask for 'caste' or the individuals who declare the same volunterily - both would be ashamed of doing that. [Today invariably all forms carry the surname column, some even carry religion/caste column when the same is absolutely unnecessary.]
Lets give a big blow to this quota system by not declaring our castes... in both mind and action...
Lets uproot the reservation concept by naming our children synthetically... without surnames...
Lets imagine a society with only Sarthak Gauravs, and Nimisha Namratamayees...
RESERVATION... one school of thought advocates it is an instrument to bring equality. The other school of thought tells just the reverese... it is to divide people in order to meet the vested interest of some socio-political groups. And the fight between the two thought-groups is on since independence. From 'discussion in drawing rooms' this has spilled over to streets often when either the quota-limit jumps with/without inclusion of a new section of the society in the reserved category or the quota enters into a new domain. Present medical student unrest/revolt is due to the later.
RESERVATION... though it takes certain tangible form in academics and jobs, but I think, it is very much there in the mind and action with even the so-called unreserved category from the early stages of life. Firstly, when a new born baby is named with a Surname - the caste tag, reservation germinates. Later in life, this tag plays its role on infinite occasions, small or big. Majority of marriages are in caste line, and the tag follows the person even after death in terms of the rituals performed. At all stages of life, in different socio-political sphere, this caste/community tag acts as an incentive or dis-incentive. Because of the inertia of caste-based practices of past, higher castes get an advantage, lower castes are in disfavour.
RESERVATION... the name carries it all. Even the sheer announcement of one's name does matter. I am not the only one saying this. Rather it is an experimentally proven fact, by World Bank. This year's World Developemnt Report (WDR 2006) says so in the following lines in page 24 of 300+ page document titled "Equity and Development" ... ''Striking evidence of the impact of stereotyping on performance comes from a recent experiment in India. Children from different castes were asked to complete simple exercises, such as solving a maze, with real monetary incentives contingent on performance. The key result of the experiment is that low-caste children perform on par with high-caste children when their caste is not publicly announced by the experimenter but significantly worse when it is made public (figure 5). If a similar inhibition of talent occurs in the real world, this implies a loss of potential output owing to social stereotyping.''
RESERVATION... many who are for it, argue that it is there to counter the "reservation" the high caste get in many other forms in society. It is a sort of 'government-oiling' required to decrease the 'frictions' the low caste experinece throughout in life; friction of all forms - social, interpersonal, or psycological. Isn't the root of this lies with the surname we carry? And... when we get the courage to drop our surnames to break the legacy of caste system - then I think, the authorities who ask for 'caste' or the individuals who declare the same volunterily - both would be ashamed of doing that. [Today invariably all forms carry the surname column, some even carry religion/caste column when the same is absolutely unnecessary.]
Lets give a big blow to this quota system by not declaring our castes... in both mind and action...
Lets uproot the reservation concept by naming our children synthetically... without surnames...
Lets imagine a society with only Sarthak Gauravs, and Nimisha Namratamayees...
posted by Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan at
6:24 AM
14 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 2:51 AM
Dear Friends,
Thanks for your resposes...and Sorry for a delayed respose.
Let me answer your queries by sighting one manifestations of reservation...
The entry level cut off mark is different for different categories.
The difference in cut off marks in examonations for different categories proves that fact. But at the same time we must acknowledge the fact that this "difference is shrinking every year". Some, 2 months back (if i correctly remember) I heard one student from Tamil Nadu saying on TV news channel, that the cut off mark for the TN Medical entrance this/last year for SC/ST is just "1 to 2" marks below OBC, and OBC is "1 to 2" marks below General [I have not personally cross checked the exactness of this info] and this was not the case may be 10-20 yrs back.
So, competition among SC/ST students, among OBC students themselves is increasing their competency and days are not far they may equalize or overtake the general cutoff. I say so, because their absolute number is more and they are competing for less seats, hence the level of competition is increasing everyday at more accelerated rate than that of general or upper-caste. And when the cutoff (i.e. the entry level "par"ness) equalize, then reservation looses its significance, and if at all there, it becomes redundant.
But for today, it is a much necessity. Backward communities need “space” to flex their muscles and run in the competition. India being highly populated and with a very narrow corridor of run-way (symbolizing opportunity) is already jam packed by upper-caste, who sometime push/pull (favor/disfavor) each other in that corridor and other castes are left behind at the entrance of the corridor itself struggling without even knowing what is happening inside - hence it is NOT a fair play without reservation. But, once they get space at the entrance, and start running, they even can beat the upper-caste, as, over time, the competition level in them will be higher since more and more participants (note, they are in very high in absolute number compare to upper-caste) emerge from their community. Hence, present scenario, reservation is necessary.
Including economic and other criteria (other than caste) that Anupam indicates while mentioning about upper caste solankies of remote villages does make sense. In my lifetime, I had filled couple of forms (one example is IGIDR entrance exam) where they not only ask to fill my parents income, but also the form had questions like all the education (school, college, university) I had are they in village/small town/suburb/city/mega-metropolitans. As everybody wud agree these things matter like whether one has education in village or city. And in this case, I believe, the institutes do note that if I have township-education, and another student has village-education, and though s/he is equal or slightly lower in competence, s/he is given higher leverage than me in the selection process. But yes, I agree, hardly any institute do this care; even these bu*lsh*t management institutes teaching those junk stuff (some claim to be the best in world in teaching how to manipulate and exploit) quite shamelessly do the reverse - stronger the background stronger is the chance of selection.
With economy being another criteria introduced along with social status, the situation (rich backward caste people kicking the stomach of struggling upper-caste students) will be remedied. So, lets welcome this reservation first, and at the same time appeal for the integration of economic criteria in the reservation so that the rich (mostly, another form of borrowed qualification like caste), be they from backward or forward caste do not get the scope to kick the stomach of the poor students, again, be they from backward or forward caste.
Hope, I answered some of the quesitons...
Further discussion is welcome...
By
Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, at 7:11 AM
Will removing surname remove caste? My answer is no. We are trying to distract the problem and try to solve a differect facet of it by wasting our energy in removing Surname in stead of working in the real cause.
If we want to remove castism we need to promote education, work at grass root and promote sarbe bhabantu sukheenah. IMO removing Surname or not removing them have little imact on castism.
By
Parsuram Panigrahi, at 9:07 AM
Dear Parshuram,
Removing surname is one of the many things that can be done to remove caste. But, I do feel it is an important means to have a casteless society. Beacuse it is like a showcase- which needs to be in propoer order.
And you must be aware favoritism and injustices happen daily in all activities at all levels from a small college to PMO on the basis of surname and associated caste.
Lets try to answer... What the surname is doing in the name? If it is no a caste tag, what else it is??
Those who are from higher caste may not able to realize that, but those form lower caste must be feeling low with that tag being associated with it. And it has serious impact on performance, thats the WDR reveals.
Inter caste marriage is all the more powerful strategy to remove caste. Have u marked whats the name of the two kids in film: Bombay (a film based on Hindu Muslim marriage and riot)- if I remember correctly - Kamal Basir and Kabr Narayan... we need more and more interacste marriages and sythetic surnameless names so that the coming generation get out of the ugly caste notions at the earliest.
Thanks.
By
Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, at 4:00 AM
Dear Hippu,
I do congratulate you for your effort to form a caste-less society. Have you heard about any American name? What does Clinton mean from Bill Clinton? I don't want a surname less society as it will create a confusion in figuring out who is who. Without surname, if somebody tells bill said this, I would question whether its ex-president Bill Clinton, Software tycoon Bill Gates or chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems Bill Joy. So surname does help in identifying a person.
Have you ever asked what are the severely caste affected states in India? It is definitely not Orissa. UP, Bihar, AP and Tamilnadu are the states with severe caste problem. Hariyana, Maharastra rajstan etc are a little behind them. Let us take a tamilnadu as a case study. They do have a very big surname (3 to 4 words) and difficult to figure out who is from which caste from their surname (normally they put initials of their sunrame such as k.v.p. in stead of kollayapalli venkataraman panduram). Why is caste such a big problem there? That is because one belongs to a party a community based on caste. Unless we try to revoke the mindset, surname or no surname does not make any difference.
Let me address another question raised by you. You said about the uneasiness with surname of the people who are from lower caste. It is more to do with the mindset than reality. In my childhood I was walking in the hadi sahi of my village. A small kid ran close to me and about to touch me. He was severely beaten up by his father because he was about to touch me. Unless they themselves think they are equivalent to others, it is impossible to create a caste less society. I have no problem in being identified as a brahmin. I have problem when somebody says brahmin is superior to xyz caste or inferior to xyz caste.
Let me tell you another interesting fact. There was a SC girl who was studying in my school. Her father changed her surname to Mishra. There were some difficulty in getting aid for her education as an SC. So her father again changed her surname. So it is not always true that the people are averse of their lower caste.
Hindu-Muslim discussion is one of my fav discussion. I am keeping it away as we are discussing about caste.
I have a few questions for you. How much effort is required to remove surname from everybody? I think it is pretty big. You may be aware that Jayprakash Narayan tried for the same and did not succeed. So it does need much more time and enrgy. Will the same work when political party ask vote on the name of caste? Will it ask when somebody attends class later and joins the club based on their caste sooner when he joins college? Will it work when TV channel does their voting analysis based on caste 24hrs a day and 7 days week during election?
By
Parsuram Panigrahi, at 1:06 AM
Dear Parashuram,
I saw this response now. Now I have changed my setting to get a mail with comments.
First of all thanks for the nice explanations. My responses –
1. Yes surname helps to identify the person. The kind of ‘identification’ you have talked about i.e. to remove confusion b/w names like Bill – is a ‘side effect’ of surname, not its primary purpose. This side effect can anyway be achieved by adding one more word to the name. For example, Parashuram Pravat and Parashuram Pravash can also distinguish between two persons without use of surname. As far as this distinguishing benefit is concerned, simple names are more capable – as there is high chance that I may come across two “Saswat Das”s than two “Saswat Saurav”s, for the simple fact that surnames are limited.
2. Surname is part of the game, not the whole. If I have a hidden surname or no surname (the examples you had given from Tamil Nadu), but I do other religious and caste-based practices like I call a Brahmin to do a puja before entering in a new house, I consult jyotish in taking decisions, I marry inside caste, I practise untouchability – then I am protecting and professing caste. Name is not only the issue. The conducts are to be also casteless. However name is an important item as it is the very first thing about the person, others come afterwards. The states examples you have given where the conduct of the people, the practices they follow are in caste lines, hence caste is prominent in their lives.
3. Your friend is beaten by his father, because the father remembers the beatings he got from your forefathers who practiced, protected and proliferated the caste-system. A master practicing slavery can not throw the responsibility on the slaves and their mindsets. Not fair. While your friend was severely beaten, did you or any onlookers saved your friend from the lashes and made his father realize that the situation have changed, and embrace your friend in public as a fellow being? I hope you get my point. High caste people are the culprit, so they cannot run away from their responsibility.
4. If people are not averse to their lower caste, then why the father in your next example changed the surname of her daughter to Mishra in the first place? So, given no extra benefit, given an option people will move to higher caste, simply because higher castes are 'higher' – in social prestige. With education aid/reservation, people will do a tradeoff as there are now benefit of being in lower caste. Its like an option – the uglier you choose to be the more beautiful wife you will get; people will do a tradeoff as per their preferences. Some people may prefer to remain ugly for a benefit. Conversion from religion partly happens due to such kind of tradeoffs.
5. I agree, universal surnameless names is a Herculean task. There are practical difficulties; and people in past are not successful. But efforts can be made for everything that downplays caste. To have surnameless name is one of them.
Thanks,
Hippu
By
Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, at 4:15 PM
I agree, universal surnameless names is a Herculean task. And the effort required won't yeild the required result. A man from lower caste was burnt alive in UP because he eloped with a woman from higher caste though it is ruled by BSP who represents lower caste. Whether the man has a surname or no is of no impact. When 2.5 million minnas and gujjars are up against each other, surname has nothing to do. When the quality of education is diluted by likes of Arjuna Singh surname has least to do. When Panas and Kandhas (both belongs to lower caste) are up against in Orissa surname has little to do. We need to teach ourselves about caste and it has nothing to do. Education is what we need at the moment.
Look at all the election result, it tells which caste voted for which party, what is the caste equation for candidates. What is the caste equation for ministers etc. Nitish Kumar does not have a surname. But he has a strong support of Kurmis/bhumihars in Bihar.
I agree efforts must be made to downplay the caste. However removing surname takes more effort and yeilds little return. It may help somebody who comes to office with a car and feels bad because of his surname, but wont help the poor untouchable who was burnt alive or 2.5 million minnas and Gujjars who are up with arms against each other. Education to mass is the first thing to do and we need to tell everybody we are all equal.
By
Parsuram Panigrahi, at 12:26 AM
Yes, we need to “tell everybody that we are equal” plus we need to ‘act’ in equality spirit…otherwise...
If we just say that we don’t believe in caste system, yet make it a point to marry within caste.
If we say we believe in equality, yet demand dowry, practice untouchability, allow madras to run, carry the sacred thread.
If we say we don’t believe in caste system, yet carry our caste tag – i.e. surname
Then this is double standard.
To drop surname is not a sufficient condition to have a casteless society, but it is a necessary condition i.e. caste system need not go if surnames go, but with surname being there caste system will not go.
One thing, we can not attribute all the blame to education – Most practitioners of caste are well educated. Also we read in books, sing in songs that we are all equal. But what we do inside homes is important. I am against all caste based practices, practiced privately or publicly.
Media needs money, politicians need votes. It is no surprise that they will thrive on caste. They will strike where the nerve is the weakest. They are not the ideals to follow. Neither they are the excuses. At individual level, more are more people who acknowledge the ills of the caste-system need to come out with symbols and practices which are caste-free.
The other day one of my friends from Bihar who carries a name Sudhanshu Kumar (in fact all his siblings and cousins are Kumars and Kumaris) shared his personal experience. He said, those who are interested in his caste, after not getting any clue from his name, ask him his father’s name; if father’s name is another Kumar, then they directly ask what is the caste he belongs to. Name being surnameless helps. At least it exposes people who are interested in caste as they have to specifically ask about the same. This, under normal circumstances will dissuade many people from taking note of the caste. Inter caste marriages coupled with surnameless names and mass-rejection of caste based practices are the obvious means to build casteless society.
Since you have re-iterated that - caste has nothing to do in life and that’s what books need to teach us - let us free ourselves from its clutches in actions and practices.
By
Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, at 7:55 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 9:32 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 10:35 PM
Completely I share your opinion. In it something is also idea excellent, I support.
By
Anonymous, at 11:28 PM
It seems to me, you were mistaken
By
Anonymous, at 2:03 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
tamil animal sex stories, at 8:32 AM
top [url=http://www.c-online-casino.co.uk/]uk casino[/url] hinder the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]casino games[/url] autonomous no consign bonus at the best [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]baywatch casino
[/url].
By
Anonymous, at 1:04 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home