Cast in Stone

Our long train journey was coming to an end and we were to arrive at Madurai Junction in another few minutes. We were a bunch of rural management professionals (work in progress) and it was our first field work to understand rural social dynamics. As per our institute curriculum we were to spend the next 5 weeks in understanding socio-economic situation of a village called Saraikeni where we were supposed to stay also. The field work was being assisted by one Mr Thevar belonging to the district milk union. Our sociology professor during her brief had told us that Thevar is a caste name of one that is very powerful in these parts of Madurai region. She had also told us that caste equations are almost cast in stone in Tamilnadu in general, more so in southern part of TN in which Madurai is the major city. It was then my fried LogX as I usually called him whispered into my ears that I should not disclose his caste name to anyone during field work. When I asked him why he said that he belonged to the lowest category in the caste order. I didn’t understand him fully at that point in time. It was during field work that the full import of his disclosure got understood by me.

I never had much exposure to caste dynamics although I was twenty-one by the time of the field work. Yes, I knew I belonged to a Tamil brahmin community and brought up in Chennai city. I heard of Mudaliars and Nadars and some of my sister’s friends were from that community. Our maid of long standing was from a lower caste. But being brought up in a three- room house the maid had full access to the house. My mother used to hand over the day’s left-over food to the maid in the night. I never saw any other discrimination that we speak of today. Later in the college when I first met LogX I learnt that he got admission through the SC quota. In the IIT where I studied, I never got any other exposure to caste beyond the admission quota business. Nobody bothered about his family history. What mattered was you alone. LogX and me joined this professional rural management course there-after.

We were accommodated in the village school which you would find just as you entered the village. The agricultural fields were separated and the houses were in clusters as per caste groups. There was a small a Brahmin Agrahara earmarked for the Brahmins. I soon got to notice a Dalit hamlet located outside the village. As the field work progressed, I got friendly with a vendor by the name Karuppusami, in his middle age who went around the villages selling veggies, some fruits and other oddments. It struck me that I should join him in a cycle and made the proposal to him. He laughingly said while I was welcome but I should be prepared for some bad reactions. Not knowing what he meant I was delighted and told my group who also welcomed the idea.

As I moved around with Karuppusami I realized he was a good teacher of sociology. He told me that in the villages he moved around Dalit lived separately. They had their own water sources. Things have improved from his childhood. Their children go to the same school as others though they kept to themselves. There were Dalits among teachers as well. They ate beef unlike others and were looked down upon. Some of them had some small fields. They worked as cobblers as they had no issue dealing with dead carcass from where they extracted the skin. In the towns Dalits did the job of sewer cleaning for the municipality and the households. But some restrictions remained even now. As an example, he said Dalits cannot take part in the annual festival of the village deity but otherwise they could to the temple.

He of course could not explain the reasons for the caste-based discrimination. It has been the case since his grandfather’s time he explained. As he would say deivam (God) is one they say eloquently but it seems discrimination exists in the access to deivam. One morning Karuppusamy had some illness and I persuaded him that I should take his cycle and his goods and make the sale as he had made some commitments the previous day. I had by then knew of his daily route and also the folk songs that he used to sing as his signature tune. One such tune went like this koondah panayolai kuyilanuyum ponnolai, koondah panai saindhal kuyilpoyi enganayum. The song meant that Koyel birds rests on the palm-tree variety Koondah and if that palm tree is cut down where will the Koyel go? Can there be anything more beautiful than this two verses?

Soon after my substitution for Karuppusami word had got around that I was getting very close to Karuppusami and there were mutterings from other caste people. It was time for our professor to arrive to take stock of our field work and the matter came out openly when Mr Devar had subtly mentioned the issue to our Professor. She raised the issue in his presence but said this is part of the learning and as an adult one should be able to take such issues in the stride. I for my part said that Karuppusami was such a good teacher and I was glad for such an opportunity for me to go around with him and get insights into his insights. She also requested Mr Devar to handle the matter with tact and not encourage such mutterings.

As it so happened that the Deputy Sarpanch of the village met with an accident and I was one of those students who had the same blood group and I was happy to donate blood to him. When the sarpanch became conscious he asked for me and thanked me profusely stating that deivam has sent me to his rescue. I said I would do this for anyone. A few days he got discharged and once again asked for me. He asked me what he can do in return. I told him that even Karuppu used the same words that deivam sent me to come to his rescue and luckily deivam does not discriminate by blood type among caste groups. I added that even the doctor asked me to confirm my blood group and nothing else. He got my point and kept quiet for a while and then said even then I should ask him something in return. I said that I am asking on behalf of the deivam and said that in the upcoming village deity festival Dalits should also take part. He got shocked by that request and said that it was for the panchayat to decide that. In response I said I have made the request. How they would decide is something for them all to consider. Saying that I took leave of him.

A few days later when we all were returning from an evening show Mr Devar stopped by us in his scooter and excitedly said “thambi (brother), what a brilliant request you had made and I have to come to inform you that panchayat has agreed to your request.” He added “in the history of Tamilnadu state this would bring forth a revolution.” I looked up to the sky and pointed the deivam to him.

So it happened that the news of the panchayat decision spread like wild fire. The Chief Minister upon hearing this had personally decided to attend the temple festival and welcomed this transformative decision. The stone-cast had cracked finally.

Karuppusami came to see of us at the station and he had packed a few plates of chicken biriyani lovingly for our journey. He said as a parting shot that what he had told me about the deivam has come true.