Barking up the wrong tree

As an indian, I have to say, this is not very surprising news. Caste-ism is of course a big no-no in professional hiring decisions/relationships, but it still dominates the social setting.

we *do* have social networks separated by caste in the US: http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

I'm not well versed either in the Indian caste system, or how much of the population is online. Since India has over a billion citizens, 500K means 0.05 percent. That fairly low when taken across the entire country.

I'd be interested to know both how many Indians are on Orkut, as well as if there are other social networking site which show this same phenomenon. I tried to visit the actual article in the Global Post, but it was missing.

As an Indian-American who went back to India after almost 5 years it was surprising to see that castism was alive and well. Politics especially is driven by caste. Oddly one of the most memorable points of the trip was when my grandpa asked my uncle what being part of a caste meant. Also another was when my grandpa told me to wash my mouth before going to the bank to talk to a Brahmin since I just ate meat. (Then again Brahmin's are traditionally not supposed to handle money.)

I think at this point caste is slowly losing importance, but it's still there as a legacy. You can't destroy a generations old system overnight.

I think this surprises you because when you think of caste you think of hierarchy. Bill Mill above also immediately thinks of "class divisions." While yes that is a significant part of "casteism" or the "caste system" whatever you want to call it, it is hardly the only part or even I daresay for most of us the most important part.

A caste is a group of families from a particular geographic area who share a common lineage (perhaps mythical.) common religious beliefs and food habits, and often an occupation. (Though historically most Indians have been farmers regardless of their "official" occupation.) Aren't these the kind of factors people of any stripe look at when considering a marriage?

Or look at it is this way. There are web sites like Jdate for Jews who want relationships with other Jews. Is this because they are "chosen people" or simply because someone who likes Israel and doesn't celebrate Christmas etc. is more likely to want to be with another person who likes Israel and doesn't celebrate Christmas? Ditto for websites and Facebook groups for Blacks, Mormons etc.

I am a Gujarati Brahman who was born in the UK and has lived there and in the US all my life. I married my wife who is also a Gujarati Brahman whose family lived a mile away from mine in India in Texas. (our parents met at a wedding and exchanged our email addresses.) Our children for whom India is basically a place where bedtime stories are set will no doubt do the same as us because that is what they are comfortable with. No other reason.

This is abhorrent. India will do itself in if it doesn't end caste, arranged marriage, and child slavery. Sooner or later the world will take notice.

I was born in India, lived there till age 7, and have been in the US since then (I'm 34 now). I've made frequent trips back to India over the years and have been amazed at the massive changes that have occurred there since the mid '90s. That being said, this news is not at all surprising. Even with all the buzz in the news about India's global status as an "up and comer", the reality is that literacy rates hover around 50% (at best, and lower for females); approximately 50% of the population lives in a rural environment with poor access to basic infrastructure (roads, running water, electricity, functioning sewage systems/toilets, access to schools). That 50% represents over 500 million people!

Just because the gov't declared that the caste system would be abolished does not mean that this has happened in practice. It takes a long time to change people's mindsets.

I agree with some of commenter Jaldhar's observations. The caste system (and specifically, the intricate, even confusing, sub-caste classifications) helps to find similarly compatible mates. WIth over a billion Indians, you have to find your way through the noise somehow!

Am an Indian living in India and there is nothing to be surprised about at all. Caste identity runs deep here. Everything from politics, marriages and at times even the locality you live in is determined by the caste you are born into. And its not as if there is widespread suppression of the minority or lower castes on the basis of it. Yes it still exists and is a huge problem in some of the more underdeveloped parts but these days its turning into more of an identity thing. People identify themselves with others of their own caste.

And social networks would be the first place I would expect people to see flaunting their caste. Dating forms a huge part of the social networking experience and won't it make sense to join a community where you'll find girls with whom you have a realistic chance of going out with?

It is a fallacy to assume that with the advent of technology caste wil go away. I have seen computers being adorned with vermillion when they are brought for the first time to a office. the first place that everybody takes a new vehicle they've bought is to the local temple. My friends who work at shops which install pirated softwares onto mobile phones say that the biggest demand is still for softwares which predict your future on the basis of Hindu astrology.

The more things change the more they'll remain the same.

Btw, this is an amazing blog. The most interesting one i have subscribed to for sure.

This is not surprising at all. Before social networks there were (and still are) mailing lists/yahoo groups based on last names (an indicator of the caste and place of origin). I am in an arranged marriage and my parents had subscribed to such mailing lists. In the end, I met my spouse through our "offline" social network. She was the same caste. A lot of my friends share a similar story so I guess the transition to a caste-based social network was the logical next step. It would be interesting to know the age and the number of married vs. single users on these caste based social networking sites as I cannot imagine any uses for the website other than looking out for prospective singles. Caste-centric event and festival announcements are prevalent in regular social networking sites as well.