Without any doubt or contest, Periyar was a great social reformer and an original thinker. But, it might as well turn out that the solutions that he thougt out for the maladies in the society were not good enough. That is why we have a greater problem on hand, today.
It is good statistics that Brahmins consisted of hardly 3% of the population and were holding almost all the government posts. Look at this data, in a slightly different perspective.
Brahmins are basically people whose profession is "Teaching". It might be a wrong correlation that has made us think of Brahmins as the custodians of the sastras, sacred texts etc or as priests. Functionally, this happened to be so. But, in principle, they were to be the teachers of the society.
By the nature of their profession, it was inevitable that they had an inclination to reading and writing skills.
The British were basically looking for people who would be able to acquire reading and writing skills in English, so that they may be used as clerks of the Majesty's governmnet. This is something like what is being done today in the name of 'Outsourcing' or the role of the BPO industry in modern times. The weaker segments of the Brahmin community, who might have faced difficulties in eeking out a reasonable living through their profession, might have volunteered to learn English.
I suppose there would be no contest to the fact that the government officers, Doctors and Engineers were people with writing and reading skills in English, so that they could communicate with the British rulers ( or the government of the day).
The idea of Brahminism or Brahmins being the root cause of the maladies in our society might be grossly misplaced. That is why we are tending to have a greater problem on hand, with an ever increasing demand for reservations and divisions of the society whereas the original objective of the reformist Periyar was to establish "Social Equality".
Readers and the film maker can draw their own conclusion on the success of the reformist movement. It is a dream of every Indian that everyone of us should have the means for a decent livelihood. Can poverty be banished with a magic wand?
RE:How did the Brahmins get to become the ruling class?
by Crazy Human on Apr 30, 2007 11:22 AM Permalink
for that we need good statesmen like politicians and also we need to take tackle the great population surge. That is not going to happen anytime soon in India. India will always be under-developed and politicians will think of more frivolous issues to get the populace worked up upon. The problem is immense, it is almost unachievable.
RE:How did the Brahmins get to become the ruling class?
by biz Narayan on Apr 30, 2007 11:23 AM Permalink
Periyar copied the racial analysis as it was in europe at that time. It was to throw mud to gain power. This oppurtinist was not an 'original thinker' of racial theories. His originality is in finding ruthless political oppurtinities.
