I'm back !.

I had quit posting due to two reasons, the first being my preoccupation with my US Visa paperwork and due to onset of fatigue and disgust with some criticsm I received for some of my posts.

I read in a recent interview of a famous tamil scholar and literary Mr.Jayakanthan, who said I expect my writings to evoke some form of response from my readers, it could be appreciation, kudos, dis-belief, surprise, sadness or even hate, disgust or brick bats from the readers. If I've not elicited these response I've failed as a writer.

This thought inspired me to get back to CD with a vengeance.

In the tamil community of the CD's, I'm the Amar, while TK is the Anthony.

Thanks TK for standing by me and inspiring me to get back to posting. I also had received a few PM's on me not posting in CD.

In real life TK is a wonderful person, who has spent countless time and money to help new immigrants. It pains me to see him being attacked by people who have taken his help. I applaud his strong conviction and never say no/die attitude which has taken him to 987 posts as on date. Many times I feel TK keeps the CD clicking, without whom things would not be moving along.

I propose that we could make TK a moderator so that the \"Boo-Hoo\" club gets a Quota and a fair representation in CD.

A humble request to my fellow CD's-Please attack the written statement and not the author.

Thankfully my place had been taken up by Nightmare and other.



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As a \\\"TAMBRAM\\\" I want to present this article for discussion in current \\\"Quota\\\" debate happening in India.

Eventhough many of the policies of the current DMK government is not helpful to TAMBRAMS, I would like to place my appreciation on record to the DMK for supporting the case in favor of \\\"The Sage\\\"(as mentioned by Jake 3D), which was wrongly foisted on him by the erstwhile government there.

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http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/23franc.htm

Are Brahmins the Dalits of today?

May 23, 2006


At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public sectors, nobody talks about the plight of the upper castes. The public image of the Brahmins, for instance, is that of an affluent, pampered class. But is it so today?

Doctors in arms

There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!

There are five to six Brahmins manning each Shauchalaya. They came to Delhi eight to ten years back looking for a source of income, as they were a minority in most of their villages, where Dalits are in majority (60 per cent to 65 per cent). In most villages in UP and Bihar, Dalits have a union which helps them secure jobs in villages.

At Ground Zero of the quota protests

Did you know that you also stumble upon a number of Brahmins working as coolies at Delhi's railway stations? One of them, Kripa Shankar Sharma, says while his daughter is doing her Bachelors in Science he is not sure if she will secure a job.

\\\"Dalits often have five to six kids, but they are confident of placing them easily and well,\\\" he says. As a result, the Dalit population is increasing in villages. He adds: \\\"Dalits are provided with housing, even their pigs have spaces; whereas there is no provision for gaushalas (cowsheds) for the cows of the Brahmins.\\\"

The middle class deserves what it is getting

You also find Brahmin rickshaw pullers in Delhi. 50 per cent of Patel Nagar's rickshaw pullers are Brahmins who like their brethren have moved to the city looking for jobs for lack of employment opportunities and poor education in their villages.

Even after toiling the whole day, Vijay Pratap and Sidharth Tiwari, two Brahmin rickshaw pullers, say they are hardly able to make ends meet. These men make about Rs 100 to Rs 150 on an average every day from which they pay a daily rent of Rs 25 for their rickshaws and Rs 500 to Rs 600 towards the rent of their rooms which is shared by 3 to 4 people or their families.

Did you also know that most rickshaw pullers in Banaras are Brahmins?

Do our institutes connect with the real India?

This reverse discrimination is also found in bureaucracy and politics. Most of the intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assembly are held by Brahmins -- the rest are in the hands of the Yadavs.

400,000 Brahmins of the Kashmir valley, the once respected Kashmiri Pandits, now live as refugees in their own country, sometimes in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi in appalling conditions. But who gives a damn about them? Their vote bank is negligible.

And this is not limited to the North alone. 75 per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins. A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh (Brahmins of India by J Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the 'backward classes' prevented them from providing secular education to their children.

Who are the real Dalits of India?

In fact, according to this study there has been an overall decline in the number of Brahmin students. With the average income of Brahmins being less than that of non-Brahmins, a high percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level. In the 5 to 18 year age group, 44 per cent Brahmin students stopped education at the primary level and 36 per cent at the pre-matriculation level.

The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line -- below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all-India figure.

There is no reason to believe that the condition of Brahmins in other parts of the country is different. In this connection it would be revealing to quote the per capita income of various communities as stated by the Karnataka finance minister in the state assembly: Christians Rs 1,562, Vokkaligas Rs 914, Muslims Rs 794, Scheduled castes Rs 680, Scheduled Tribes Rs 577 and Brahmins Rs 537.

Appalling poverty compels many Brahmins to migrate to towns leading to spatial dispersal and consequent decline in their local influence and institutions. Brahmins initially turned to government jobs and modern occupations such as law and medicine. But preferential policies for the non-Brahmins have forced Brahmins to retreat in these spheres as well.

Caste shouldn't overwrite merit

According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).

Priests are under tremendous difficulty today, sometimes even forced to beg for alms for survival. There are innumerable instances in which Brahmin priests who spent a lifetime studying Vedas are being ridiculed and disrespected.

At Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy Temple, a priest's monthly salary is Rs 300 (Census Department studies) and a daily allowance of one measure of rice. The government staff at the same temple receive Rs 2,500 plus per month. But these facts have not modified the priests' reputation as 'haves' and as 'exploiters.' The destitution of Hindu priests has moved none, not even the parties known for Hindu sympathy.

The tragedy of modern India is that the combined votes of Dalits/OBC and Muslims are enough for any government to be elected. The Congress quickly cashed in on it after Independence, but probably no other government than Sonia Gandhi's has gone so far in shamelessly dividing Indian society for garnering votes.

From the Indian Express: 'These measures will not achieve social justice'

The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.

How reservations fracture Hindu society

Anti-Brahminism originated in, and still prospers in anti-Hindu circles. It is particularly welcome among Marxists, missionaries, Muslims, separatists and Christian-backed Dalit movements of different hues. When they attack Brahmins, their target is unmistakably Hinduism.

So the question has to be asked: are the Brahmins (and other upper castes) of yesterday becoming the Dalits of today?

Francois Gautier

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

Sankaracharya,
Welcome back. This board was devoid of some constructive posts that you contribute from time to time and i hope that your unbiased postings will continue.
Thanks for coming back.
TK

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Quote:

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Originally posted by tamilkuravan

Sankaracharya,
Welcome back. This board was devoid of some constructive posts that you contribute from time to time and i hope that your unbiased postings will continue.
Thanks for coming back.
TK

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Well said - perhaps the person who posted an article defending the OBC reservations will realize the plight of the so called Upper Classes in India.

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all is well that ends well

Hmm.... very interesting ..... what a case !! what a defence !!!

It appears that TK, got a good lawyer to defend himself....

At least, I would suggest practicing law, might help .both of you .. good luck...

I have no idea if the post from Naud-- thought I was defending TK in my post. On the contrary I am against what TK was saying about reservations of OBC people.

I am a staunch supporter of Capitalism - which means you have to earn what you want without hurting any other persons if they happen to be better than you.

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all is well that ends well

Quote:

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Originally posted by indianamerican

I have no idea if the post from Naud-- thought I was defending TK in my post. On the contrary I am against what TK was saying about reservations of OBC people.

I am a staunch supporter of Capitalism - which means you have to earn what you want without hurting any other persons if they happen to be better than you.

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