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Re: Castes??? (Post - 4)
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To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: Castes??? (Post - 4)
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From: Prasad Gokhale <f0g1@unb.ca>
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 15:22:14 -0400
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In-Reply-To: <4it1ap$6rl@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: University of New Brunswick
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References: <4it1ap$6rl@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
Caste barriers: The approach in action (part 1/2)
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"Sir, what things have you brought for us?" - an elderly person in the
meeting stood up and asked. It was a slum in Bangalore and the elders were
invited to meet a senior pracharak of RSS. Others in the meeting too lifted
their expectant eyes towards the pracharak. But what he replied left them
speechless:
" I myself am a mendicant. What can I give you? I came here to meet and
speak to you as my own kith and kin. It is this brotherly affection which I
have brought to you."
The elderly questioner slowly remarked, "Sir, please excuse me for my
question. All our life, we have seen elders coming to us with promises of
electricity, drinking water, money and what not. But now for the first time you
have come to us with love, looking upon us as human beings." As he said this
his eyes swelled with tears. Literally, hundreds of such instances were told to
me by the pracharaks of Karnataka - instances which spoke of the magic of
genuine love and brotherhood in exorcising the ghost of untouchability.
Rajeshwar is a hamlet in the Basavkalyan Tehsil of Bidar District. The
initial doubts and shirking among the neglected brothers were slowly dispelled
by the loving and consistent contacts of the Swayamsevaks. Some of their young
men began attending the Shakha. However, the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti activists
thought this to be a challenge to them. They spoke to their caste fellowmen
casting aspersions against the Swayamsevaks that they just pretend equality but
their real intention is to exploit the harijans and so on. And to prove their
point they invited an important Sangh worker of the place - a high school
teacher and a Savarna in their eyes - to the namakarana function in one of
their houses.
When the worker reached the house for the muhurtham and offered
presents to the child and joined the rest for meals, the assembled men and
women were overwhelmed with surprise and joy. The mother of the child placed
the child in the worker's lap for his blessings. Needless to say, since then
the younger men have been coming closer to Sangh.
Time and again experience has shown that silent and persuasive practice
and not ostentatious preaching or propaganda can bring about any real change of
heart. Gangapur in Karnataka, is probably the most celebrated center of faith
for Datta-Upasakas. The writ of orthodoxy alone runs there, with a number of
pandas and priests in the supreme control of the temple. It was after much
silent plodding that a Shakha could be finally started in the Harijan Colony.
The son of the Chief priest of the Temple - himself a swayamsevak - decided to
pull down the barrier of untouchability in the town. But when he first went to
the Harijan Colony, the local people requested him saying "Please go back,
otherwise your people will attack us." However, the swayamsevak reassured them
that nothing of that sort would happen and visited all their house. Gradually,
the contact grew closer.
The real shock of their life awaited when a pracharak meet was held at
that place. They would neither believe nor accept the request that the
pracharaks be fed in their houses. It required quite a lot of persuasion to
convince them it was an act of Dharma to feed their adhitis. However, the
informal and jovial behaviour of the pracharaks soon put them at ease and they
began to sense the spirit of genuine brotherhood and love which had brought the
Sangh persons to their humble abodes. After several such consistent efforts,
now the priestly community and the Harijans have begun to mingle without any
complexes on either side.
In Tumkur, it was the other way about. On Ugadi, the Hindu New Year
day, the local Sangh workers contacted the Harijan localities and invited 15
families for food in their houses. From among the invitees were college
students, bank employees and other educated youngmen. Some of them were Dalit
activists too. They had their own doubts about the nature of hospitality that
awaited in the houses of the so-called 'higher' castes. However, when the
mothers and sisters of the host families welcomed them, applied 'tilak' and
waved 'arati' to them and made them sit along with other family members for
worship and meals, it was something beyond their imagination. All of them,
without exception, exclaimed that it was an unforgettable moment in their
lives. Their expressed their intense desire to come closer to the Sangh and
requested the Sangh workers to come to their houses for food.
The experience of Sangh workers in villages near about Sringeri - the
seat of Sri Sankaracharya and a citadel of orthodoxy - is equally revealing.
The Mukhya Shikshak of Attirodige village first approached the Harijan
locality, and with the help of other Sangh workers arranged a Sri Ramostav and
invited all the villagers for pooja and prasad. Right from the village chairman
and orthodox brahmins to other 'backward' caste people all of them were served
food in a common place. None of them felt any prick of high or low because of
the person sitting by his side. However, the climax came at the end after the
meals. When the Harijans and other 'backward' sections began removing their
leaves, the chief Sangh worker stopped them saying, "You are all our respected
guests and devotees of Sri Rama. It is our duty to treat you as such." This was
something unheard of - the purohit's son volunteering to remove the leaves of
the 'untouchables!' An elderly Harijan who was closely observing all this
remarked, "This is the first time in my life to see such a sight."
And Sringeri itself witnessed a revolutionary scene. The occasion was
the renovation and Kumbhabishekam of the Sri Mallikarjuna Temple on the
hill-top. The Shankaracharya himself took the initiative to see that the
function would go on on a large scale befitting the rare occasion. He called a
senior advocate, a trusted devotee of the Mutt and asked him to shoulder the
responsibilities. The Acharya knew that being a seasoned Sangh worker, he had
great organisational abilities.
The worker replied that he would gratefully accept his command and then
explained how he would go about organising and mobilising the public support
for the function. He also added that all the devotees of the Mutt, irrespective
of their caste, will be treated alike in all the programs of the function
including taking prasad in the Mutt. He planned to involve in the function the
entire Hindu population in the neighbourhood of Sringeri. The tremondous
response from all the sections of people took the Swamiji completely by
surprise and made him intensely happy too. For the town also it was a sight
never witnessed before in its entire living memory. Papers described in glowing
terms the revolutionary change that had taken place in the Mutt program. But
how many in the outside world knew that this has been the result of a silent
social revolution that has been going on in and around Sringeri for over three
decades now?
Years back there was an interesting incident in Trithahalli, a
neighbouring Tehsil of Sringeri. For a number of years past, the tehsil had
been considered a stronghold of Socialists. Prem Bhasin, a Socialist leader,
once the visited the place. During the course of his talk with his workers and
sympathisers, he marked, "The curse of orthodoxy of casteism and untouchability
must first be banished from our own homes. without that, our words will carry
no weight. Now I would like to know in many of your homes Harijans are freely
admitted and are invited to take meals along with you?" Shock awaited Bhasin
when none of the Socialist workers raised their hands. However, a few young men
rose to say, "Well, we do not belong to the socialist group. We just came here
along with our Socialist friends. However, what you have just said is no new
thing at all for us. Already, for over a number of years past, our homes have
been opened to our Harijan brothers. They often come and eat along with our
other family members and from the hands of our mothers." Bhasin, evidently
taken aback, enquired what had brought about such a remarkable change? The
youngmen simply replied, "We have been Swayamsevaks of Sangh since our
childhood!"
Well, that is the difference between the various 'reformist' and
'revolutionary' movements and the Sangh-style of social transformation!
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Written by Shri H. V. Sheshadri, the All India General Secretary of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Courtesy: Suruchi Prakashan, New Delhi.
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