#caste privilege

Ragamalika Karthikeyan, an editor at The News Minute who identifies as a genderfluid person and is a Brahmin, talks about how her upper-caste location has allowed her greater social access. “The fact that I came out late in my life, combined with the fact that I am a privileged person by caste, means the opportunities that I have with regards to work are much better than the opportunities that a trans non-binary person would have if they are from a marginalized caste,” she said. “I’m not seen as a threat on multiple layers in a workplace,” she added. Further, Ragamalika also mentioned that her authority is not questioned as often because of her privileged caste location. “I know that even cisgender and heterosexual Dalit people in leadership positions face much more questioning when compared with a queer or non-binary person with caste privilege in a similar position,” she said.

The fact of the matter is - the burden of proof of 'merit' doesn't rest on the shoulder of students and young people from marginalised communities. The onus is on the schools, institutions and organisations to prove, with evidence, that they are not dens of savarna monopoly over taxpayers' money. The onus also squarely rests on the shoulders of the savarnas to prove that their credibility and locus standi rests on moral tools of fairness, justice and equality and not on the well ingrained laws of caste privilege as ordained by Manu.

Democratic Health Party

Neglecting Top v Bottom Lines

Black Is Not His Property was originally published in February 2017, within the first days of the new President Trump's first coronation. It was the beginning of February, and my morning meditation intention was more specifically about how Black History is not germane to Make America Great Again white-washed Anthropocene history.

Are There No Depths To Which We Can't Sink?

There is truth to the fact that yoga has been commercialized and commodified. Classes at yoga studios and gyms in the United States are often expensive. Many yoga teachers are white, and so are most of the practitioners. There is no denying that given the saturation of yoga, the majority of those practicing and writing about yoga are non-South Asian. The representation of people doing yoga in online and print images are mostly of skinny white people. This is a legitimate problem that SAAPYA and others have called out. These images should indeed represent more racial diversity and body types. But let us not forget that among those who commercialized yoga and marketed it to wealthier and whiter people were many Indian gurus as well. One of them is Bikram Choudury of Bikram Yoga fame, who, according to a recent article in Vanity Fairis facing lawsuits for sexually harassing and assaulting female students. I am curious why South Asian Americans concerned about yoga’s cultural appropriation don’t call out our very own South Asian yogis. Is it because we don’t want to air our dirty laundry when it is more convenient to call out white people? The reality is that the injustices of chauvinistic and wealthy Hindus is not our dirty laundry. And as was true in the colonial era, these caste-privileged Hindus are still working hand in hand with the capitalist and imperialist west.