Sanskritic Casteism

The news of a Muslim professor being barred from teaching Sanskrit at BHU and now the attack on a Dalit professor who supported his colleague brought back the memories(somewhat blurred) of a legend in my family told by my maternal grandmother.

This was the early 20th century. There was a Kannada Brahmin run Sanskrit school in Kasaragod(now part of Kerala). They had a requirement for a Sanskrit teacher. The school was government aided(Madras Presidency) and hence the district collector had some say in the recruitment. One of the applicants was my grandmother’s uncle. 

The collector at that time was a Malayali Muslim(probably a Beary). He forwarded my great-great uncle’s name. He supposed to have commented, “Why would it be always them? There should be one of us too”. Thus this g-g-uncle became a teacher there.

Once there was Saraswati Pooje in the school. The casteism was still strong in many spheres and religious functions were one of them. One of the students of my g-g-uncle came from a caste which was not allowed to be part of these functions. Now, the Malayali caste system was more complicated than it was in other parts of India. The non-Brahmins treaded Savarna-Avarna lines at different levels(or steps) without clear demarcation.

The priests ordered that boy to stand outside the class while the pooje was being performed. My g-g-uncle protested it. They didn’t budge. Then he also went out along with the boy saying, “If my student doesn’t have a space in the function then there is no place for me too”.

Bear Capture

We, a group of friends, decided to capture a bear. The strategy was discussed and we set out towards the location. The location turned out to be a flowing river. The current was strong. We wondered whether to jump into the river to capture the bear or wait for it to come out. Before we could conclude we saw a head rising above the water. It looked like a bear. We immediately dragged it towards one of the banks. One of us delivered a blow on the ear on one of the sides. I saw the ear getting flattened and sinking to the head. Another one struck the leg on the same side. The leg too was flattened and pressed to the body. We turned the bear and repeated the same thing to the other ear and the leg. The bear fell like a frozen block. I didn’t know whether it was dead or alive.

Burning Moon

My friend and I were walking from one gate to another. It was dark and cloudy and in the sky, an object was on flames. We looked intently and observed a disc behind the flames. It was the moon! The flame was engulfing it and spread across like lotus. We wanted to capture the burning moon. I readied my phone camera. But the moon just moved across and disappeared behind the clouds. The flame vanished.

Hallucination - i

Two figures came out of the lift. The male in the front was a stranger. The woman behind looked familiar. But I felt she was a stranger too as she could be related to the stranger in front of her. How could I know this unknown couple? I turned my head but felt a glimpse of a smile on the woman's face. We crossed. Then I remembered her husband and then her too. I see her almost every day.