On Gaddar - Part II

Rao Veluri (rveluri@smtpgate.anl.gov)
Thu, 06 Mar 97 19:38:48 CST 

     
     On Gaddar - Part II
   
     pantulu aavulaku garaka tecci gaDDi vEsi
     kuDti bOsi pinDi beTTi budagaricci paalu pinDi
     paalu meegaDalu pantulu pasandugaa mingitunTe
     sallaboTTu pantulanTE anTaitadi adagakanE
     
     Gaddar says that he is referring to the dharma; the hindoo dharma in 
     this line. maadiga is destined to take care of the cow all the way; 
     including after its death (by bringing the soft shoes made out of 
     cow-skin for the 'owner' of the cow), but the same maadiga is denied 
     even a few drops of butter milk - in the name of anTu- or 
     untouchability! He is questioning this age old atrocious practice, he 
     calls it dhrama. No. He does not give any epic or vEdic references
     to what he is referring as 'dharma.'
      
     matam maarcukunTEnEmO  manasu Saantistadani
     kasTaalu pOtayani kraistava matamulO cEritE
     kamma kraistu, reddi kraistu maala kraistu, maadiga kraistu
     anTaraani pisaacmu enTabaDutu vunnadi
     
     The British were careful in converting and yet preserving the inherent 
     hindoo caste structure. The Englishman used religion and the rifle 
     very cleverly to perpetrate his rule. Gaddar agrees that some very few 
     untouchables acquired the privilege to sit in the church alongside the 
     other hindoos! (I agree with Gaddar here. I have visited churches in 
     Andhra, Orissa and Bengal where services for the daLit converts and
     the 'baaboo' converts were neatly separated! When I asked why can't 
     the christian rikshaw puller be seated in the same row as the
     christian mukherjea baaboo is seated; I got an evasive reply - It's 
     for hygienic reasons! Not caste!! That's a lot of baloney, I knew that 
     30 years ago, I know it now!)
     
     The Indian christians living in India, for most part do segregate 
     along their caste lines! They still marry along the caste lines!
     Or, much worse, some add Saastry, Mukherjea, Mahanty, or a raavu at 
     the end of their names! 
       
     maala maadigala naDuma mancineeLa baaigoTTi
     maalOLLa giraka dikku gajamlOtu ekkuvadovvi
     maalOLLa giraka dikku maadigOLLu raavoddani
     manalO manamiddaramE tannukoni castumTE
     taakulaaTa peTTi doralu tamaasha coostunnaaru
     
     This is after our political independence. The so-called 'doralu' are 
     our politicians. War breaks out when a maala's vessel accidentally 
     touches the maadiga's tumbler while trying to get water from opposite 
     sides of the same well! The women fight; the men kill! Gaddar
     says it is a deliberate ploy of the politicians! They get votes as a 
     favor for bringing the water well; and the same well keeps these 
     two large castes constantly separated and fighting! And, the 
     'doras' have a field day!
     
     sarpancu graamapancu santakaalu teesukoni
     karNam kanakayyaku kODipunju kaala beTTi
     girdaavar gaani gurudakshiNa cellinci
     tahasildaar samtakamuku talapraaNamu tOkakocce
     erraburraga unnavu maalananTe nammananDu
     nosaTi meeda maadigOLLa muddarEsukOmanDoo
     
     For a job or for admission into a school, the untouchable has to obtain
     a certificate from the bureaucrats, who always belonged to the moneyed     
     castes. Gaddar personally experienced the horror. Since, he has a
     lighter skin than most of the untouchables, the tahasildar refused
     to give a certificate. Gaddar has to obtain a certificate from the
     social welfare department. And, when Gaddar was working in a Bank,
     his superior asked on his face: How do we know these people, who
     came for loans are untouchables? Are their faces black? The same
     manager, Gaddar mentions, has never addressed in respectable terms
     even when they came to pay back the loan. He always addressed
     them as 'orE!' 
     
     End of Part - II To Be Concluded in Part - III 
    

     Regards.

     Venkateswara Rao Veluri