New Brahmins of Tamil Nadu
Although I am from Kerala, I have lived in Tamil Nadu more than I have lived in any other state in India. Tamil Nadu clearly is one of the best states to live in India. The law and order situation is far superior compared to other states and the people are very warm, friendly and extremely hard working (unlike my brothers and sisters in Kerala :)). The people are proud of their culture and rightfully so. The history, language and culture of the Tamil people are as old if not older than any other in the Indian subcontinent (Tamil is the language from which Malayalam, Telegu and Kannada originated. There are over 30 different Dravidian languages spoken in India and rest of the world with over 200 million speakers).
There are many differences between Kerala and Tamil Nadu (the most striking is the landscape. Kerala is very hilly and wooded. Tamil Nadu is almost desert like. When you travel from Coimbatore to Ooty you will have to climb the Nilgiri Mountains. Once you reach the top of the mountains (Doddabetta Peak) there are spectacular views of the plains that are approximately 9000 feet below). Another key difference is the role that a person’s caste plays in society. Tamil Nadu is extremely caste conscious (for great information about how some castes are interrelated to each other you should read a research note titled “Genetic study of Dravidian castes of Tamil Nadu” published by Indian Institute of Science). This is slightly surprising.
After Independence Tamil Nadu for the most part has been governed by parties (like the DMK and ADMK) that have an agnostic attitude towards religion (many observers of the state would argue that these agnostic attitudes only exists towards the upper class Hindus). But the government philosophy has not changed the realities on the ground unlike in Kerala where the Communist Parties (who have a similar attitude towards religion and caste) have been able to make significant changes in the peoples attitudes towards caste, land ownership and women’s rights.
In recent Tamil history the stirring of the caste pot began with Periyar E.V. Ramasamy (1879 – 1973). He was a reformer and a politician who founded the “self-respect movement”. He made tremendous contributions to changing the education system and improving the overall rights and privileges offered to members of the lower caste. However, his notions of equality for all did not apply to the Brahmins. He argued for the burning of the Vedas and for the destruction of the Hindu deities (he considered them Indo-Aryan). He also believed that caste system is due to Indo-Aryan influence and caste system did not exist is ancient Tamil Nadu (we now know that this is not accurate. Caste system is not tied to a religion or a particular ethnic group. Caste system is much more prevalent all over the world than we think). Periyar’s philosophy has left a deep imprint on the Tamil people that exist even today. Brahmins and most other “forward community” groups have been sidelined. One could say that the “backward communities” are the new Brahmins!! They are now dominating the Tamil society in the same way the Brahmins were doing a few decades ago.
The struggle between the forward and backward communities has ended. But the struggle between the backward communities and Dalits and SC/ST is ongoing. Recently the Dalit community of Chettipulam entered the Ekambareshwarar Temple to offer prayers for the first time in over 100 years. The entered with police escorts (the Dalits were prevented from entering the temple because of violent force used against them by the villagers). Except the priest all the other villagers refused to enter the temple with the Dalits. This is a sad state of affairs. Discrimination will not end by just because certain communities have opportunities now that they did not have before or because your community has a bigger quota in the education system than they did before. It will also not end just because you have successfully wrested control of the system from other communities. Prejudice is in our head. As Franklin Thomas said “One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings”. It is time for the Backward Communities in Tamil Nadu to step up to the plate and do the right thing.
Related posts:
- Incredible India: The Koovagam Festival In Tamil Nadu
- Promoting and Preventing the Tamil Language From Extinction
- Is Caste System In India A Hindu Issue Alone?
- Parties in Tamil Nadu Should Stop Harassing Kushboo
- Tamil is Part of Indian Heritage
Category: Culture & Religion