Caste System:Crisis of Religion & Evolution of Self-identity

Presentation By Sarjina Hossain Trima Fahmida Khanam

The anathema of casteism brings terrible consequences in modern era, especially in post-colonial society, defining the role and reputation of society’s people according to their professions. In Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand and Chandalika by Rabindranath Tagore, they criticize casteism in an artistic way. The theme of peace and social equality are drawn through the picture of Prakriti in Chandalika. Bakha, on the other hand is the male protagonist in Untouchable that focuses on the point of alienation and humiliation of being outcasts. But, the names of Prakriti and Bakha signify the movement of time. This presentation highlights religious hypocrisy and issues of casteism.

Two Main Characters in the light of Casteism

What is caste?

Caste is a traditional Brahmanical thinking about hierarchy , purity and pollution(Sharma,U.p.33). The word caste is derived from Portuguese word “casta” meaning pure breed(Sharma,U.p.2). In Indian Language “casta” is replaced by Varna, which means a type of social organization in which a person’s occupation and status is determined by the circumstances of

his/her birth.

Key characteristics:• The concept of purity-pollution• Inability to alter inherited status.• Segregation in location of living

areas.• Restricted access to temple,

and public places.• Generalized lack of respect for

their human dignity and equality

The Glimpse of Bakha

• In Untouchable Bakha is a scavenger boy.

• He lives with his father Lakha (Jamader of all sweepers),brother Rakha and sister Sohini.

• Bakha comes to us as a young man of 18,strong and able- bodied.

• Extra-ordinary quality of dreaming

The Nature of Prakriti• Prakriti is a

Chandal(Namosudro) girl in the dance drama Chandalika.

• She lives with her mother Maya who knows black magic.

• Their occupation relates to the disposal of corpses.

• Prakriti possesses self-identity consciousness along with the desire for freedom.

Effects of Casteism over Bakha and Prakriti• Not allowed to touch anyone

especially belonging to higher Hindu caste ,even by mistake.

• Collect foods which are thrown to them by higher caste the way a butcher throws bones to dogs.

• Not allowed to enter the temple in prospect of polluting others.

• not allowed to mount the platform surrounding the well used by the upper castes.

• Not allowed to touch upper castes .For example, when Prakriti wants to buy flowers, curd or bangles, the other higher caste girls humiliate her by saying “oke chouna chouna chi,o chandalinir jhee”(don’t touch….you daughter of a chandalini ).This scene clarifies her social position as a polluted outcast.(It is important to note that her counterpart Ananda is an untouchable converted to Buddhism.)

Other Religions providing Probable Solutions

• Buddhism: “It’s a new birth for me, a new birth, my new birth, my body awoke with jolt/my soul got conscious all of a sudden”

• The philosophy of buddhism subsists in the dance drama Chandalika. For Prakriti Ananda embodies liberation, and has shown her way out of darkness of casteism by asking some water from an untouchable girl like her.

• On the other hand, the desire for the love or companionship is indeed her inner wish to establish her self-hood like other human being, as it’s a taboo that an outcaste can never dare to live with high status and dignity.

Islam“They don’t mind touching us,the

Muhammadans and the shahibs”

In Untouchable Bakha complains that because of his untouchability only the Hindus and the other outcastes who are not sweepers always consider him as polluted and impure.

The Muslim tonga-wala understands the problem, and stands firmly to rescue Bakha. Metaphorically , he liberate Bakha from the torture of casteism

Christianity

The presence of Christian Padri colonel Hutchinson as an dedicated,committed chief of salvation Army( a Christian missionary organization use to motivate people to Christinity) gives some light of hope for the depressed Bakha.

“Bakha was struck with coincidence. How did the padri know he was in trouble”

He helps Bakha feel honored by talking Hindustani with him.

Bakha feels delighted and happy for having sympathy from him that he never gets in his own community.

Identity Crisis and the Emergence of a New Light of Hope

The characters of Bakha and Prakriti can be compared to a ray of light shooting through the darkness. Bakha is a scavenger boy while Prakriti is a chandal girl. Both are considered as untouchable and the society ignores their existence. But, they declare a new era of revolution for the outcastes by

Questioning about their self-existence. Raising their voice against hypocrisy of casteism Defining the lack of self –identity for the outcasts. The pro-Harijan campaign of Mahatma Gandhi in the late 1930s as

manifested in Untouchable is reformative in spirit: “they should realize that they are cleaning Hindu society ; in order to

emancipate themselves, they have tp purify themselves. They have to rid themselves of evil habits, like drinking liquor and eating carrion”

So , one can easily find that there still exists a long distance between their dream and reality.

Bakha Fantasy He is caught by the glamour of ‘white man’s

life. Understands the art of fashun( wearing

trousers,coat,boots etc) He sleeps with the blanket of gora. He feels amazed to see their life style( such

as sleeping in low canvas bed, eating eggs, drinking tea and wine in tin mugs)

Desires for education, so he requests Babu’s son to teach him lessons.(because, if he wants to be shahib, he must go to school for education.)

The pro-Harijan campaign seems to give him a new hope as Mahatma Gandhi told

“I should be so, not as a Brahmin,Kshatriya,Vaishya,Sudra,but as an outcaste,as an untouchable”

Reality Bakha’s friends cut jokes with him by

calling ‘Pilpali sahib’ that means imitaion shahib. Its indicates the reality of Bakha’s life and the truth that except for his English clothes there was nothing English in his life.

Though he desires for going to the school and getting educated, he was never allowed to go to school. Because, upper-caste teachers would never allow an outcaste to pollute their texts by letting their leaves to touch it.

His hopes fall when Gandhi said that the outcastes had the evil habits like drinking liquor and eating carrion.

Prakriti Fantasy

Like other women Prakriti loves to adorn herself with flowers, bangles, loves to taste curd.

Desires for the companionship of the monk .

She believes that if she gets the companionship of Ananda ,she can ensure her life-long dignity .so she provokes her mother to apply black magic to bring back Ananda.

Reality

Like other women she is not allowed to buy or touch flowers, curds or bangles as she is an outcactes. No one wants to deal with her in fear of pollution.

But In reality when Ananda comes to her life by means of magic, Ananda is not the same, is distracted and broken.

Present Circumstances of Outcastes

Conclusion

It is obvious that with the theme of untouchability both Mulk Raj Anand and Rabindranath Tagore were making an extremely bold socio-political statement against the discrimination of untouchables .But truth is that the system is not removed yet. It is continuously promoting class discrimination in the name of religion in this sub-continent.

Bibliography• Anand,Mulk R.Untouchable.New Delhi:Penguin Books,2001.• Chaudhuri,Sudipta. “Signifying The Self:Intersections of Class,Caste

and Gender in Rabindranath Tagor’s Dance Drama Chandalika.The Rupkotha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities.22 July 2007.

• Ghurye,S.Caste and Race in India,6th end. Bombay:Popular Prakashan,1969.

• Gould,H.Politics and Caste.New Delhi:Chanakya Publication,1990.• Sharma,U.Caste.New Delhi:Vinod Vasistha For Viva Books Private

Limited,2005.• Tagore,R.Gitabitana.Kolkata:Visva Bharati.