Flavours of India: Racism

Last evening, I was talking to this old friend. She is an Indian married to a extremely handsome and charming African-American. She was worried about her daughter's new school, where some of her classmates had problems about her ethnicity. Though both of us avoided mouthing that disgusting, troubling word, I knew exactly what she was talking about.


But wait a minute, racism is not just a disease in one part of the world, and it is not restrained to just one race of people. Oh yes, like the Six Hats training program at my first job, anyone can wear a Racist-hat any time. And in India we do it, in different ways. No surprises there. Our racist views and actions driven by them come cheap too, are you listening, you dollar-mongering world?

I remember a time when I was eight, and travelling in a bus when a frail, silver-bearded old man, with a white cap( indicating he was a Muslim) boarded the bus and no one offered him a seat. I could hear the word 'Mia' being said several times. I did not understand it back then, but later learnt that being a 'Mia' was a passport to being lynched in broad daylight, with the cops cheering. And by the way, it did happen.

We have different flavours of racism. The most easily recognisable, is the caste system, where a rag-picker and a bank-teller are people who, will never ever share a table. And the colour of your skin, your last name, the state you belong to, the religion you follow, and yes, the fact whether you are a meat-eater can all be stacked up against you, and dear Lord, you sure can be a victim of racism.

So if you are from the northern state of Bihar, you must have a lot of cattle at home and in your barn, if you are dark-skinned then you are a 'Madrasi', if you follow a non-vegetarian diet (eggs, not included) then you are a Brahmin, and if you are a non-vegetarian (eggs, included) then you must had had an inter-caste marriage. The list is endless.

Yes, India is a democratic country, you can live the way you want. But we still are very caught up in these flavours.