GREAT INDIAN RESERVATION: UNITING PEOPLE BY DIVIDING THEM SINCE 1950

“Breathe in, breathe out. Calm down. I’m sure you’ll get into a good university!”

It was the second round of CET counseling. I was just reassuring him to get his mind off reality.

“Yeah, easy for you to say that now, considering that you already got into one.  Where is this amazingly good university that I’m going to get into? Please tell me Abhi, I’m waiting.” (Sarcasm overload)

“Trust me, okay? We’ll figure something out. I’m sure you’ll get into a good one.”

“Yeah, once I’m done shooting everybody who has a reservation, my turn will come. That I’m sure of!”

All I could do was blankly stare at the message.

So, this was during the sunny April and May of 2014 that my batch of 12^th graders appeared and tested their luck in the entrance exams. It’s amazing how nobody cares if they are lucky enough to get decent marks to crack these entrance exams anymore. What matters is if you are lucky enough to be born under the right caste. Yes my folks, we are talking about the ‘Great Indian Reservation: Uniting people by dividing them since 1950’

After what seemed like a very long wait, the aspirant engineers and doctors finally received a token of love from the universities, in the form of ‘CET’ and ‘AI Rankings’. I remember this one incident very clearly because nobody had seen it coming! A friend of mine gave her IIT entrance tests, and she did not get in. She was one of the smartest people I had known in my life! Apparently, there were around 10,000 people smarter than her (not to make it very obvious, let’s say her ranking was 13,000). In the same class, was another student, smart; not smart enough though, who appeared in the same exam. His ranking was 19,000. Today, he studies in IIT Madras. If “Oh, wait, what just happened?” was the thought that flashed into your mind, then don’t be surprised, this isn't the case of one or two people, but thousands in this country. Isn't it evident when people from general category cannot make it to their dream college or job, but they see their ‘very good’ friend sitting right there, happy, even with lower grades, or job experience? Oops! No longer a very good friend!

Welcome to India.

The caste system isn't something new in India. It has been there ever since Aryans set their foot on this side of the continent, and that was around 1500 BC; a long time ago. But out of everything history has contributed in enhancing our rich culture (which includes the Vedas, the Puranas, the amazing town planning from Indus Valley, which we desperately need today!) caste system is the only ‘contribution’ that has dug its roots deep into our soil, like a weed that just can’t be plucked out. Every year, hundreds of seats get reserved for SC, ST and OBCs, which I agree isn't a bad thing. What really bothers me about this entire set up is the fact that even though the majority of the people in India belong to general category, the numbers of seats are just not enough. Let’s take a very small example. What if a student who has scored 68% and has an AI ranking of 19,000 comes from an extremely rich family which can afford any college in the country, manages to get a seat (free of cost at times) because he has a reservation, but a Brahmin boy living next door with limited means, who has scored 90% and has an AI ranking of 9,000, doesn't get a seat, because hey, it’s the problem with the caste he was born to (a factor that he clearly can’t control), isn't it fair? No, it isn't fair.

What seemed like a boon once, to be born to a higher caste, seems like a bane now. How is it logical for the government to promote equality by dividing us? If the backward sectors of the society have to be treated equally, then why not treat every category as the general category? When did the definition of ‘equality’ change to ‘favoring the select few”?

The government needs to amend its laws as the times change, because the mentality of the society changes with every generation that adds up, or goes extinct. Reservation should be given based on the economic background of a person, that the caste he was born to. Knowing that India has a huge sector of the population below poverty line, it might seem impossible for this to happen, but doesn't it seem logical that a person is valued and judged based completely on his knowledge and ability than the caste which he was born into, which isn't even in his hands?

To throw more light on the fact that reservation doesn't show its glory only over the education system (even if my article hovers over it), but also over other fields, here are some statistics that might help us understand this better.

Public sector jobs are divided into 4 categories: Group I (or A), II (or B), III (or C) and IV (or D). In 1959, out of all the people who took up jobs in the public sector, approximately 1% were SC in group A jobs, around 2% in group B, 9% in group C and 17% in group D. Explicitly, very less number of high profile jobs were taken up by SC and their proportion increased with jobs that require lesser qualification or skill. With reservation tightening its grip over the Indian society, the numbers mentioned above rose to 10%, 12%, 16% and 21% till 1995. Clearly, this was a positive change, a change towards equality in terms of caste. But do we still live 1959? Are our thoughts still on the same path as in was in 1959? The answer is clear, no. Today, with reservations dominating the country, general category faces the threat of unemployment or poor education, not because they are not skilled enough, but because their skills don’t matter.

Reservation wasn't a bad idea, after all, looking at the above data, but the way reservation is being implemented now is terribly wrong. Do we need to reserve seats in an organization which already has limited seats, where people without reservation have to suffer? Can’t our government simply increase the number of seats or colleges which provide admission to all sectors based on merit? Can’t the reservation be implemented based on the economic background of an individual? Who is truly benefiting from such a system? Clearly, no one.

Reservation in itself is a way to enhance caste inequality in India. Filled with irony to the brim, it focuses on eradicating caste system by implementing it indirectly, poisoning the minds of kids born in this generation who can look beyond caste, creed, and gender. We have spent enough time concentrating on the pleas of the reserved class of the society, isn't it time to take action before general category becomes the new “reserved”? Just something to think about.

THE KISS OF ACCEPTANCE

PDA is not a crime. It's high time we accept it.

I am a South Indian.

No, that is not how I introduce myself to others. That is what the people around me take into consideration, just a second or two before they judge me. “Traditional/Conservative/Madrasi/an alien!” Or the most frequent statement, “You can’t be a Southie, you’re fair!” (Like, what?) And I don’t deny their judgement, partly because it is a wee bit true. Mostly, because I study in a university situated in South India, but filled to the brim with North Indians. One basic “college” survival skill is to ‘never go against the majority’! Coming from a South Indian family, not a very conservative one, but not very liberal either, it was a culture shock when I first decided to take a walk in the campus- my first day alone in the university. Why? I had never ‘ever’ in my entire life, seen a couple stand and kiss on the road. Not that I hadn't seen a couple kiss before (I had to drag my friend a million times from the basement of our school, interrupting the holy exchange of saliva with her boyfriend, because we were getting late for math class), but in public? Whoa. No friggin way! With my bad eyesight, and my temporarily ‘out of service’ brain, I took some time to realize what was happening, and turned away to look at something else. Anything else! My pace increased. I walked away and found myself in another road. The next thing I knew, I had called up three of my friends back home, in a span of 10 minutes, and burst out- like a motor mouth- about what I’d just seen. Oh believe me; I do not come from the 1990’s version of India. I’m talking about the society today.

What I noticed after I stepped into this university is that society changes from place to place. Back home, I studied in the same school for 14 years. I went in the same van to school for 14 years, played with the same people and shared food with the same ‘forever hungry’ group of friends. Went to the same places, and came back to my home, which is located in the same place for 15 years now. Nothing around me changed, except the size of my clothes, shoes, and a few oldies near my home that passed away. Yup, they died. The way my parents treated me changed slightly- maybe, but not much. And the neighborhood I stayed in, oh my god, it was probably one of the most conservative areas in Bangalore. Just because the non conservative kids had exported themselves to other countries and their conservative parents from the 50’s had stayed back, now retired, with a pet or two, scolding every kid who even uttered the word “play” on the road. Forget about kissing on the road, we maintained a fair but not very obvious distance from the opposite gender when they were around; sometimes even when they weren't around. Now let me make this very clear, not all parts of Bangalore are like that. The neighboring locality itself isn't like mine. Of course, we all have our share of childhood crushes, relationships, holding hands, first kisses (not me), a lot of kisses that followed (still not me), broken hearts and a lot more. But one thing that refused to happen in public was the kissing, the affection, the “PDA” basically. Public display of Affection.

As I finished my high school, my long summer- packing things, my goodbyes to a lot of people, I finally ended up in college, and all of a sudden, I was kicked out from a timid, conservative society to a ‘bang on, young and energetic, youthful’ society! Students, students everywhere! The humans above the age of 30 in this town either work for a bank (which serves the students) or as a faculty member in the university. That young a town it is. Let me be very frank. Eventually, I felt very awkward looking at a couple kissing in public. They were there everywhere! Maybe if I grew up in an environment like that, I would've been used to it, but I wasn't, and I didn't know what to do, except ogle at them like a retarded idiot. Once a person steps into college, they obviously want to experiment with everything that was denied to them before. It’s a fact. And that’s how I ended up in a club. A shady club. Being the only sober kid in the group, I sat back and started to look around and observe people with whatever amount of light was available there. The same thing happened again; showers of kisses. Couples, drunk kids, random kids, everybody. That is when I realized, I had to change. My views had to change, because the world wouldn't stop for me. The time zone I lived in wouldn't freeze for me, and with the generation moving forward, with every new step towards the future, only I could help myself by accepting this and moving on. The next day, I saw a couple making out. I didn't feel a thing. Nothing. It was almost as if I had seen it so many times, like seeing flowers grow on the footpaths, like seeing leaves on trees, like seeing something as ordinary as that.

Often, we don’t consider such actions common or normal in our society. We have the police barging into every rally, every protest and every campaign that supports PDA. We have the conservative class looking down upon PDA. But what is wrong in showing love and affection to a person? If we can fight in public, if we can show wars and its effects on television, broadcast it to the world, why can’t the Indian society accept peace, love and affection? If I could change my views, I am sure anybody else can too. By seeing PDA, one may get disgusted for a day or two, maybe a week. But after that, it just becomes a part of his daily life. I came across this beautiful quote, “Normal does not exist. What may seem normal to a spider, may be destructive to a fly”, and that explains the current situation and the mindset of our conservative society. What may seem normal to them, may be suffocating to the present generation, who dwell on freedom, liberty and openness. Yes, I agree, few thing think it is against our culture, but hey, aren't we the people who belong to the land in which there were people who carved out those beautiful sculptures in the Khajuraho temple? Sculptures, that were carved not a decade or two ago, but around 950 to 1050 AD. Now that, my folks, is a very long time ago. If PDA wasn't seen as an offense that time, by our own culture, why now? Not only in the south, which is considered to be 'conservative', but the north too. Why, in this country, is it considered an offence? 

We can only hope that this small whisper reaches them, and maybe… just maybe ring the same question in their minds.

Lean in; hear me whisper now, for we can only hope.