Lakshimi is a thirteen year old girl who lives in rough conditions in India. She lives in a land full of poverty and has never seen life without it. She has gotten her first blood and now that she is a woman, her stepfather is making her go work in the big city as a maid. I noticed the clear difference between these two places and thought it was rather curious. Why should one place live in the most dreadful conditions possible needing a tin roof while the others live in palaces with gold roofs.
I found out that according to asiasociety.com, that there are four different caste's. The highest in the system being the Bhramin who are the priest's. Next, comes the Kyshatryia who are the warriors. After that, are the Viasya who are the merchants and landowners. And finally, there are the Sudra who are the commoners, peasants, and servants. There are also the Untouchables who are the ones out of a caste. The street sweepers and latrine cleaners.
I thought that this was very interesting because India is such a different country than ours. The US doesn't have slaves that can't get out of where "they rightfully belong." Our countries society is definitely put into some different sections. I wouldn't call them caste's though. The highest in our society are the celebrities. The movie stars, the athletes, and the presidential officials.
I found this system extremely interesting too! I have been to Nepal, and while I had seen the poor, I never knew about this system. I also had never seen or heard in detail of situations like Lakshmi's, and this intrigued me. Upon further research, I found that not only are they classified, the caste system determines an individual's behaviors, marriages, and expectations. According to Go Nepal, the Untouchables are not allowed to enter restaurants, temples, and shops, and can not drink from public taps and wells. Also, inter-caste marriages are almost impossible, as it "carries a social disgrace." Nowadays, the caste system is not used as much, but it completely dominated Nepal for many years previously.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sam! that was really interesting! I really appriciate that!
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