Caste Away

I am sure that most of you have heard of the caste system that has persisted in India and defined her societal interactions for thousands of years. The caste system is a hereditary system of classification into the social strata wherein an individual inherits from his/her parents at birth their position in society. As a birthright, the caste into which you are born is your caste for life and upward mobility from the lower castes such as the scheduled castes (which generally consist of former "untouchables" ) and those that fall within the Other Backward Classes (this is the "technical" term for a grouping of over 3000 lower castes) is impossible.




Though the caste system has been illegal in India for over 50 years, its influence is still starkly evident every day. There exists in this country a palpable sense of position that time has not yet erased, and a knowledge of being better, or lesser, than your neighbor. The idea that "All Men are Created Equal" is absolute nonsense here, which gives rise to some very uncomfortable and difficult situations for a Westerner like me. And as hard as I try to understand, I simply can't and I am often frustrated and infuriated by the side effects of this backward and ignorant system.




Eric has already described the violent and demeaning scene between the police officer and the auto driver, a consequence I believe of the caste system. The effects are usually not so dramatic, but the result is always the demeaning of the "lesser" person. For instance, my trainer, after knowing me and working with me for many months, still insisted on calling me only "Madam". So during my workout he would encourage me by saying "Good work Madam", "Fantastic Madam", etc. I found this to be quite uncomfortable as I felt that he was elevating me to a position higher than the position at which he placed himself. I strongly feel, and hope that all other Westerners (and ideally, all humans) agree, that no person is better than another. There is a time and a place for addressing others with respect, but the gym is not one of those places. So I asked that he please call me Suzi. His reaction to this request was that of complete confusion. He asked, "Do you really like your name, is that why you want me to call you by it?" I told him that no, I was no more fond of my name than the average person is, but that my friends call me Suzi and I hoped that he would please consider me a friend.




This issue of position is also disturbingly evident in my workplace. The professors here are no less than tyrants that seem to delight in berating, belittling, and demeaning those that they view as "lesser". This includes, well, everyone. Post-docs, graduate students, master's students, junior trainees, janitorial staff, kitchen staff, support staff, administrators, service representatives, salespeople; it seems that almost no one is immune to their wrath. I have personally witnessed this and it is a sight that literally makes my stomach turn. There are certainly bad bosses all over the world, but I have never seen or heard of such mistreatment of employees to the degree that I have witnessed here. (And remember that I am in one of the premier research institutes in the entire country, a place for higher learning!) The students and staff seem to tiptoe around for fear of arousing the attention and subsequent anger of any given professor. As you might imagine, this does not particularly lead to an atmosphere of collaboration and honest discourse if one is constantly living in fear of your boss, so ultimately the science suffers (and I am sure all other forms of industry suffer as well due to this environment). I have seen my boss berate and humiliate many of the students in our lab, lashing them verbally for little or no reason at all. Particular care is taken that this be done in the middle of the lab, to assure the maximal humiliation by the presence of a captive audience. It is disgusting and despicable and I honestly don't know if I can continue to stand by and watch this type of behavior for another two years. The professors are nothing but bullies, so insecure in their own intelligence (often for damn good reason) that they exert their position of power by instilling fear and loathing in their students, constantly kicking them down to keep them in their place. This results in a population of meek, submissive worker bees, afraid to think or question for fear of being the target of the boss's unpredictable rage. I sometimes consider it a miracle that any Indian educated in India can think for themselves, as it seems to me that this urge is immediately quashed by a tyrannical educator.








The complete and utter lack of respect for students by their bosses was made evident to me yesterday, when I heard the story of a senior graduate student here. Students at the NCBS have a tenure, and if they have not yet finished all of their work for completion of their PhD, they have to ask for an extension from their boss to continue to provide a pitifully small stipend as well as to set aside a room in one of the hostels (NCBS has two dreary dorms where students stay, not for free, without television, in some cases without internet, and the student has to provide even a bed for the room). This particular student has had a successful graduate student career by any measure, she is hard-working, she is intelligent and she has submitted a paper to a very reputable journal, which is currently under review. Her tenure is up at the end of July, and she has asked her boss for a three month extension during which she would be writing her thesis, the final requirement for completing her PhD. Her boss, who has been her mentor for the past seven years, said no, why would he continue to pay her while she is writing? What this means is that she has no income and she will be thrown out of her room unless there is some intervention on her behalf. In addition, because her PhD isn't yet completed she is not free to pursue a post-doc or other industry jobs that require a PhD. That is what seven years of intense work gets you, thrown out on your ass without any concern for your well-being. That is how the "lesser" people are viewed by the professors, expendable commodities that you throw in the garbage after you have finished with them.



I have so far been fortunate enough to not be targeted by any of the professors here. I am not sure if my Western heritage provides me with some unseen force field against the caste system, or if it is just a matter of time before someone tries to make me aware of my "place". I hope that if that day comes, I am prepared to stand tall and make known that not I, nor anyone, is lesser than anyone else and anyone who thinks different is an ignorant fool.