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Ssc SOCIAL STUDY CIRCLE di (ESTD
1982) www.dalitindia.com dalitindia@rediffmail.com *********************************************************************** |
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DALIT CULTURE
There
can be no People without a Culture. There Culture may be too simple, or complexly
un-understandable, or primitive, and of values foreign to many. But No People can be without a Culture. Every
People, every society, every group and every sub-group has a culture of its
own, similar and common in many respects with the proxiimate people, or the
group of which they are a sub-group.
That is the Socia Reality World over.
But, if there are strong cultural
differences between any two proximate groups, that means those groups are not
only distinctly different, but have come together from altogether different
geographical and hence differing racial ethnic religious ritualistic social and
cultural backgrounds. If the two groups have been existing in the
same place or adjacent areas of reasonable proximity with access across the
area in between, for considerable long times of history, and if inspite of their co-existance for long
two proximate groups have distinctly different cultures unacceptable to
each-other, then there is something wrong.
They must have begun their existance in the area as antagonistic
conflicting groups, with one or both the groups coming to the region as
conquerors, or forced on to the area by some other powerful group or groups
living elsewhere, for their own personal or other interests! Dalits and caste hindus in this Country are
two such groups living in proximate places all over the Country for nearly
three millenniums, but still are different, looking diametrically in different
directions in many respects, opposed, antagonistic and can not digest or accept
the presence of each other, even though social necessities make the Dalits not
only necessarry but absolutely essential for the caste hindus survive. For everything essential for human survival,
right from food are produced only by the Dalits. Others live in this Country, only on the labour, work, produce
and creations of the Dalits. That makes
the Dalits an absolute necessity for the hindu society, particularly the
dominant caste hindus(DCHs) like the brahmins, kshatriyas and baniyas(BKBs) for
their very existance.
Inspite
of living in proximate areas vertually all over the Country, through out the
known history of the Nation, there are no Social Interactions between the
Dalits and caste hindus. And the DCHs are very remotely off and away
from the Dalits, though not in physical measures, except in the case of
many ST Dalits living in North East and isolated Tribal Belts. The DCHs have built up so much of dependence
on the Dalits for their basic needs that, they particularly the brahmins and
kshatriyas, have become total parasites living on Dalits' Labour, but with a
great aversion to both work and workers.
With the culture of the
DCHs set by the brahmins, is therefore a parasitic culture, while that of the
Dalits is one of hardworking people. This
is universally true all over the Country.
With these basic differences in social living and existance, are
superimposed on the basic racial varna differences of Black Dravidian Dalits
and Caucasian pale faced BKBs, with associated differences in food, dress, living
styles, rituals, tools and animals of use, means of living and social life, you
get nothing but conflicting antagonistic social groups. Living in conflict, with the DCHs robbing
the Dalits of their land homes fields farms cows and women, the DCHs and Dalits
have both built up only distrust and disgust towards each other. Trust friendship fraternity and brotherhood
necessary for any social understanding, social interaction, social mixing, and
coming together as a people to build a society have never evolved between the
Dalits and DCHs. Distrust. Antagonism, enmity, hatred, revulsion,
conflicts, fights, denigration and contempt for each other is all they have in
between. Time and trials only reinforce
these differences, keeping them apart, never coming together even when living
in proximity for many thousands of years generations after generations.
The
Culture of DCHs is one of cheating
stealing robbing and swindling others.
They are parasitic, shirking work and liesure loving. They take the form of begging, enforcing
fees and levies, collection of toles and taxes, priesthood and offerings,
donations and gifts, trade and commerce, money lending and other unfair
practices.
The
Culture of the Dalits is one of hard-work
and rest, honesty and simplicity, achievements and celebrations. Dalits are always creative and productive,
celebrations and enjoyments. Come with
that freedom, frankness, open heartedness, songs, steps, beats, drums, dance
and drama; food, feasting, festivals, thanks giving, worship, prayer and
sacrifices. It is an agiculture based
agrarian farm culture. Culture of the
Workersand working Classes. The
samething continues in the new-World of urbanised industrial areas. Work Workers Celebrations and Rest. Adulterated with ulterior motives cunningly
by the brahmins, stealthily by the baniyas, and extracted crudely by the
kshatriyas are liquor drugs and evil practices, particularly in the mode of
celebrations, thanks giving and rest.
Done only to cheat, swindle and rob the Dalits of their creations and
produce! Still these DCHs claim
themselves superior both culturally and intellectually! Frauds!
The
shameless DCHs go around the World saying that they are cultured, civilised,
and are scholarly. What is the
scholarship of the brahmins? What are
their achievements and record? They
could not educate the people even today!
They could not even compare themselves with the achievements of the
distant missionaries in the North-East and their work in the rural areas, and
Tribal-India! They could not make
the people scientific. They could not
make the people rational. They could
not make the people thinkers. They could
not make the people inventors. They
could not make the people creative.
They could not make the people honest.
They could not make the people useful.
They could not make the people productive. Anything worth mentioning in this Country are that of the West,
British, Missionaries, Moghuls and Islam!
If anything else exists, they are also mostly influenced by these, are
by the Romans, before that the Arabs, Greeks and Persians. Otherwise they are of either the Southern
Dravidian Origin, are pre-historic achievements - destroyed thanks to
these DCHs, in a Nation of relative Peace and Settlement, with a continuous habitation
and social living of the people with out any break. Yes, breaks there are in the civilisation, construction,
building, founding of cities, evolution of arts and crafts right from pottery
to agriculture and farm practices and road building to irrigation. One nagging question that always haunts or
lingers in the mind is that why Indians have never built anything lasting after
the Indus Valley Civilisation! Why and
how it was not only destroyed but also kept hidden and forgotten? Why the hindus who came up thereafter, never
created anything as magnificient as Pyramids, or later day South-Indian
Temples. Nothing ever as spectacular as
Taj Mahal! Never as grandeur as the
Agra Fort and Red Fort before the Moghuls!
Never as tall as Qutub before the Muslim Slave Dynasty! Never as magnificient as the Parliament of
India, Presidential Palace, South and North Blocks before the British!
The
Culture of Dalits is one of hardwork, and not of rituals and liesure that are
characteristic of the DCHs. Out in the
early morning to the fields and fishing much before the sun-rise. Whole families working - old andyoung, men
and women, boys and girls equally, sharing and jointly. This
in stark contrast to the DCH Women indulging in make-ups, artificial
beautification, and the like! Wherever
the DCHs have intruded like a thorn, they have become a problem. Oneside they have all taken the bulk of
produce leaving the Dalits and their children hungry, and on the other they
have begun to control the basic means of production - the land, leaving the
Dalits without job!! Added to that hard
liquor and drugs, the enslavement of Dalits was complete!
The
Culture of Dalits, radically different from the DCHs was adversely affected by
the surreptious exploitative activities of the DCHs. The
Productive Work Culture of Dalits was slowly transformed into a Culture of
Poverty and Joblessness, but with more and more DCH controlled endless inputs
of dangerously hard Liquor and Drugs. What
remained with the Dalits were the Arts and Crafts! In the end even those were taken away by the brahmins, to become
Masters in Arts, Cultural Ambassadors and Inter-National Czars and Czarinas of
Crafts!
One thankful aspect of Indian Life is that,
whatever the DCHs may do, and whatever cruelty and base deeds they may indulge
in to keep the Dalits down, the DCHs are never willing to work themselves. Here
the unwanted hated Dalits become relevant!
So the Dalits are an inescapable need for the Indian Society!! This is the secret for the Dalits Survival,
and the truth behind being allowed to survive inspite of three millenniums of
unwanted proximate helpless existance with the DCHs.
Essential
and unwanted, the Dalits are no doubt denigrated humiliated and
marginalised. Antagonistic, and radically
different, the Dalits are totally different culturally and socially! Immersed in Work in an exploitative environment, and steeped in
associated poverty of shortages, the Dalits' Culture is a peculiar mix of
Culture of Work and Creation, Poverty and Production, Enjoyment and Happyness,
inspite of Sufferings and Shortages!
This is a direct result of the exploitations by the DCHs. It is this Culture, which the DCHs feel is
no Culture. It is these Dalits that the
DCHs say are People with No-Culture!
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