Caste Census

To understand the caste system we should go back in history.
In its original form the caste system served as an instrument of order in a society where mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled; where the ritual rights and the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste.
A well-defined system of mutual interdependence through a division of labour created security within a community. In addition, the division of labour on the basis of ethnicity allowed immigrants and foreigners to quickly integrate into their own caste niches.
The caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities, where it functioned much like medieval European guilds ensuring the division of labour, providing for the training of apprentices and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialization. For instance, in certain regions, producing each variety of cloth was the speciality of a particular sub-caste. Additionally, some philosophers have argued that the majority of people would be comfortable in stratified endogamous groups, as they were in ancient times.
Flexibility in caste laws permitted very low-caste religious clerics such as Valmiki to compose the Ramayana, which became a central work of Hindu scripture.
There is also precedent of certain Shudra families within the temples of the Sri Vaishnava sect in South India elevating their caste
The following is a list of changes in varNa cited in Hindu texts:
 Manu eldest son [Priyavrata] became king, a Kshatriya. Out of his ten sons seven became kings while three became Brahman. Their names were Mahavira, Kavi and Savana.
 Kavash –ailush was born to a Sudra and attained varn of a Rishi. He became mantra-drashta to numerous Vedic mantras in Rig-Veda 10th Mandal.
 Jabala’s son [Satyakama] born from unknown father became Rishi by his qualities.
[Matanga] became a Rishi after his birth in low Varna .
This has existed right from the puranic times and society made the castes according to the professions existing at that time.
The Brahmins were teachers.
The Kshitriyas were warriors or protectors of the complete population.
The Vaisia were business men and the Sudras were the service class.
Each was dependent of the other and they made up society.
Swami Ramdeo has aptly described the existence of each caste in each of us. Each person is made up of the four castes.
The head which does the thinking may be considered Brahmin.
The arms of every person may be considered as Kshatriyas.
The main body may be considered as Vaisia and
The legs and feet may be considered as Sudras as the do all the work for the whole body.
A person performs the task of the Brahmin when he teaches his own children. He is a Vaisia when he goes out to earn a living for his family. He may be in the army and be a Kshatriya of serve as bank clerk and be a Vaisia or be a bank peon and be a Sudra.
All four parts are essential for the whole man.
If he has no arms or feet he is useless.
If his stomach or lungs do not function properly, he becomes invalid and if his brains do not function, he is sent to the lunatic asylum.
Similarly society is made up of all four and all four are essential for it to function harmoniously.
As long as it functioned on the basis of professions it worked properly but the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, to keep their holds on the others, made it their birth right.
Thus a child born to Brahmin parents was declared Brahmins no matter what professions he followed and so was the case of the others.
Now the Brahmin boy may become a shopkeeper but he remains a Brahmin and a Sudra boy remains a Sudra although he teaches in college or may be doing puja in some temple.
Caste is now seen as anachronistic. In the modern age the class difference our ancestors knew does not exist.

The time when any person used to act as scavengers is long passed, they are now called janiitors.
We all have modern commodes in our homes where we do our own cleaning.
Bata and other shoe companies have made the work of a cobbler redundant.
Washing machines have made the job of a washerman superfluous although we have seen persons ironing clothes at street corners. Most of them although are not washermen by profession.
Everybody now joins the army and it is not the preserve of the Kshatriyas.
Same is the case of business. People of all caste who have a small capital and some place, open a shop.
Teaching too has become a lucrative profession after the government increased the pay scales of the teachers and so people of all castes have become teachers.
We now have new professions.
IT professionals, BPO professionals, Export executives, doctors, engineers, lawyers, stewards, and so on.
Under the circumstances, it is about time we gave a new definition to the caste system.
This will always exist.
A doctor would like to marry another doctor and an engineer would like to marry another engineer and a business man would like his daughter to marry another businessman.
Unlike the laws of physics, here, likes attract likes and unlike repulse.
It is not to say that the opposite would not be true.
The human body is very complex and each human being is different. You cannot put them in straight-jackets.
When we look for our partners, we search for compatibility
In the Indian context where arranged marriages are prevalent in more than 70% cases, we look within our caste for compatibility.
However, where the very structure of the castes has changed it is unwise looking for compatibility within your caste by birth. It is better to look for compatibility within professions with weightage being given to living habits and eating preferences.
Considering the above, the Indian government’s plan to have a caste census is retrogressive.
Since caste as we know it is dead, we should make the census on the basis of professions as on date with present annual income.
Since people have a tendency to fudge the annual income to prevent the income tax people from prowling around, this should be compared with the luxury goods in the household.
If still, the government persists with its asinine action let us all do what Morgiana did in Alibaba.
When the captain of the thieves had found out that Alibaba had stolen their wealth he marked Alibaba's house with a cross so that he would be able to locate it later on and kill Alibaba.
When Morgiana came out of the house she noticed the cross and guessed that the Captain of the thieves had marked their house.
So she went all over the town and marked the door of each house with a cross so that when the thieves came to attack them, they were befooled.
When the census people come to mark your caste, let the whole of India mention that they are Scheduled Caste (SC).
After 60 years of Independence, our politicians are again dividing us for their own selfish ends.
Help the poor but on the basis of income and their resources.
Give them free education right up to the undergraduate level.
Give them food, clothing and books and a place to stay so that they can study properly
Make laws so strict that nobody who discriminates against any caste, low or high faces stiff punishment. Unfortunately, the people who commit these crimes against these poor people are themselves politicians or their supporters who go scot free and then they talk of more reservations.
If the law of the land had been followed, without any corruption, the position of the whole of India would have improved.
So let us slap the government on the face in its attempt to divide us.
When the census people come to mark your caste, let the whole of India mention that they are Scheduled Caste (SC).

Some portions of the above are from Wikepedia