The Indian Identity Crisis Part I

As a child growing up in South India I was often told by my South Indian nanny to stay out of the Sun. “Or else you’ll be black like me and you will have to work as a maid”, she would tell me. The origins of fairness traced back to the advent of the Caste system. The Hindu Caste system (also known as ‘Varna’) instituted a color code along with class stratification. No, not exactly. That’s how we interpret the Caste System today. I mean it does seem rather obvious. ‘Varna’ in Sanskrit means ‘color’. But really there was never hierarchy based on the color of one’s skin. The Caste System was born as a means for specialization within the market place. The Brahmins were usually the scholars and priests, the Kshatriyas were the ruling class, that is, warriors and kings, the Vaishyas were merchants, while the Sudras were farmers and laborers. The ‘color’ part of it comes in only because members of castes wore bands of color representing the caste they were a part of. Over time, this division of labor came to be misunderstood as being based on the color of someone’s skin. The priestly Brahmin class was associated with whiteness or purity, and the inferior Sudras and “untouchables” with blackness or filth. The people of a caste, or varna, had to engage in occupations specific to them. One could not hope to move up the Caste system in this lifetime, but rather, would have perform well in their respective occupations in order to be reborn into a higher caste.

The Hindu Caste system was apparently abolished during Indian Independence in order to create a more egalitarian society. Although forbidden by law, the Caste system continues to prevail in the rural societies of India. Many Sudras and Dalits (post-independence terms for the ‘untouchables’) move from rural areas into cities in the hope that they will escape the Caste system. However, even in cities, these immigrants are segregated into residential areas based on their caste. Therefore Caste mobility is very hard to achieve. People of these lower castes believe that using skin-lightening creams, such as Fair and Lovely (How original, right?!) to get a fairer complexion has a positive effect on the outcome of employment. These people believe that with fairer skin, they will be mistaken for upper caste and will thus increase their likelihood of employment or getting a job interview. These sorts of presumptions suggest how strongly fairness may be preferred even in modern India.

One might ask as to why even the upper class and upper middle class indulge in skin-lightening creams when they are clearly set in well-paying jobs. The answer includes two things: the Hindu Caste system and the British Colonial period. The British have obviously been very influential in India (After all, the foundation of our present government is set on British institutions). A new standard of beauty was set during British Colonialism. Indians believed that fair skin signified superiority, dominance, and power, while dark skin represented the weaker, inferior masses. Indians are often flattered when mistaken for being European or American because of their liking for white skin and equate it with beauty. Definitely an issue of acceptance here, don’t you think? Why aren’t these Indians willing to embrace the many different colors that exist in their country? Why are Indians always striving to be something else?

So I’m going to stop rambling on about fairness and caste and social discrimination. I hope I’ve given you a good overview of the Hindu Caste System in modern Indian society. In my next post, I’ll talk more about the role Caste has to play in the Indian Political Stage. And trust me, it isn’t a small role.