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03/28/2006:

"India: country of stark contrasts, fascinating people and holy cows"

Rai Merchant, the narrator and a major character in Salman Rushdie's novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet says about India: "The non-stop sensory assault of that country without a middle register, that continuum entirely composed of extremes."

"How can one define India? There is no one language, there is no one culture. There is no one religion, there is no one way of life. There is absolutely no way one could draw a line around it and say, 'This is India' or, 'This is what it means to be Indian.'" (Arundhati Roy)

It couldn't be said better. At first you are hit by a whirlwind of India's charm, its people so full of life and friendliness, the beauty of the bright-eyed children and young people, the dignity of the women dressed in colorful saris, the impeccably dressed men in Kurta and Pajama, or more western style jackets and slacks, all the different aspects of the streets that are teeming with rickshaws, bicycles, cars, cows and people: all this takes your breath away when you first arrive in India.

After some time, though, you might feel that seeing the daily and never-ending hardship of a huge part of the Indian population overpowers you with feelings of shame and disgust. I am of course mostly referring to the Dalit, also called the untouchables, because of the way the four castes (called Varna in a religious context) consider them unclean. The Dalits make up 20% of the Indian population and together with the lowest caste, the Sudra, they make up about half of the entire population. The Dalits are made to do all the dirty and polluting work there is, burn dead human bodies, deal with the animals, their hides and even their excrements, sweep and clean streets, deal with sewage and do various kinds of menial work. You can see them make patties from cow dung with their bare hands, for decoration and also to make fire when wood is scarce.
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