Daily Lesson from Life 02 September 2008

"Tamil Nadu visit brings culture shock

RJC students were stunned to witness the ugly side of India's caste system first-hand. -Mon, Sep 01, 2008 The Straits Times

VISITING a poor villager in the remote Tamil Nadu village of India, a group of Singapore volunteers witnessed the ugly side of India's caste system first-hand.

The man - a Dalit or untouchable, from the lowest class in the caste system - had been beaten up because he had allowed his shadow to fall on someone of a higher caste.

'We were stunned to find out that they were so despised,' said Mr Michael Seah, a physical education teacher at Raffles Junior College who led a group of students on the trip in December last year.

The Dalits are not allowed to own land, but live on property owned by landlords, for whom they do farming.
The RJC group tried to make their lives better.

They refurbished a house, built a study area, and conducted basic English lessons for many Dalit girls who were not taught English as they have the lowest status even among the Dalit people.

'We also met the first Dalit woman to have attained a degree, but not before she was doused with kerosene in an attempt to burn her alive, all for her bravery to escape this existence,' said Mr Seah.

The team has produced a 15-minute documentary about attempts by organisations to improve plight of the people"

This is indeed a very rare reporting of the dark side of the Indian Caste System. The most frequently reported news are the progress made by India on the economic front. How the GDP has grown and how much Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has increased, etc. At times it seems that only thing that is worth reporting from India, and for that matters, China, is economic!

An economy is made up of people. If there are some people not treated right, the frustration and rage will eventually explored! The longer the suppression, the more violent the explosion! I hope everyone pays attention to this truth!

Lessons for me:

1. It is good that the RJC teachers and students learned about the extremely irrational, but probably traditional, caste system in India. There is not need to express too much shocks but to acknowledge that it is there and that the only people who will change this is the Dalits themselves. Outsiders can only help them if they too want that change!;

2. it is heart warming to learn of the exceptional deeds by a minority folks. e.g. the 1st Dalit woman who got a degree despite horrendous and cowardice act to burn her by 'defenders of the tradition!'. When people are committed to their causes, the force is unstoppable and know of no fear!;

3. with most reporting of the unfairness and craziness about some of the cultural burdens from some of the oldest ancient civilisations (China included), I hope that the people who were victimized can and want to regain their proper place in society and contribute to the bigger good of the community they are in. Hopefully nothing lead to more violence against those who spoke out and demanded positive changes!

May we learn from others while respecting that only the people themselves can decide what they want to change!