To wonder why the caste system is tolerated in this day and age?

[whoyouknow]

Was reading the news story about girls who were raped and murdered in India and it said they were targeted because of their low caste status. I know that people are capable of doing awful things to others who they perceive to be different, either due to race, religion or gender, but the caste system itself seems odd as all other religions at least pay lip service to the idea that we are all born equal.

Rubbish. Both Christianity and Islam promise that on Judgement Day all non-believers will be destroyed. Why do they have missionaries and mad men imposing their views on others either through force or bribery?

Just a couple more comments: "Backward caste" sounds pejorative but is actually used to identify people who are eligible for affirmative action (reservations in educational institutions, jobs etc.) No such facilities for those of us who are tagged WOGS.

RE The God of All Things: it is quite good except for the rather unrealistic portrayal of the mother. She starts off being someone who marries some one from a totally different language and cultural background and ends up as a victim! Arundhati says she modelled her on her own mother, but investigation by Indian feminists revealed that Roy's mother ended up as a high school principal which is a more likely end for an educated middle-class woman. The end would have been more believable if she had come from a village.

Our guess is that Roy provided this improbable end to pander to Western stereotypes...most of you guys know little and are not interested in doing any in-depth research. If you did you would know that caste started off as being a system of functional categories just like guilds in Europe. Over time it morphed into the rigid and repressive system it now is. In the modern context caste distinctions have become a base for getting jobs as the lady above points out. It has also become a ready-made vote bank in the political arena.

For reading: suggest you read Gita Mehta's Karma Cola: a hilarious account of the selling of the mystical East, or how we view all the New Agers picking up bits of culture where they understand neither the content or the context.

Finally happy to take comments and critiques...but please do make an effort to find out a bit more about other countries and cultures before making these comments.