Katie taylor, world history 6 October 28, 2013
Thoughts and reflections on: Caste
By: Jonas Blank
The caste system in India is not only apart of the Hindu religion, but also a major part of Indian society. The caste system started with the legend that human race descended from the body parts of Manu. The people who came from his mouth are the highest caste called Brahmins, those who came from his arms are Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas came from his thighs, and the Shurdras from his feet. The caste system is meant to be a sort of karma. It is a way to reward good people after they are reincarnated in there next life and a way to punish the evil people by putting them in lower caste in there next life. The caste system resembles a ladder that you can climb by being a good person in one life so that in the next you could possibly raise a caste. For many people the caste system only places limitation on there life. For the lower casts especially the lowest cast called the Harijans their caste limits, what jobs they can get, where they can go to school or if they can go to school, who they can marry and often places them in poverty with no way out. These limitations on people's lives are one reason why many people wish to get rid of the caste system entirely. Unfortunately there are several reasons why the cast system will never die. In resent years the caste system has not just been seen as a religious system for punishment and reward, but for many people in higher castes, their castes come with power, money and privilege that they don't want to lose. 
This makes it so that all the people who have a say as to weather the system stays or goes are all people in high positions, that due to their caste, wouldn't want loose their power and money. The government has made it nearly impossible to get rid of the caste system by setting up quotas and aid programs for lower castes and making most civil service jobs caste specific. Many politicians cater to the desires of the lower casts in order to gain easy votes, but in the eyes of the government as along as people are kept restricted by their caste they will be many poor people dependent on government jobs. And the main reason why the caste system will never die is that the caste system is eternal no matter who acknowledges it. It is a part of Hindu religion and will stay a part of the spiritual world even if it no longer remains in the physical one.
The caste system is a very controversial issue. Many people eventually conclude that the caste system is not necessarily a good or a bad thing because in someways it unifies India and in others is divides it. Because of the bonds in each subclan or jatis in each caste, the people in each clan take care of each other unifying the people of the India. In other ways though the caste system separates India. For many years it was widely believed that Brahmin could not even eat food made by a Harijan or even touch one. In many ways the limitations and restrictions for the lower castes segregate the castes and makes it impossible for the India to ever be completely unified.
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