As a Dalit, the lowest level in India's complex caste system, she was a so-called scavenger, a person who collects the garbage, feces and urine of other higher caste people. In the eyes of many, that would make her too disgusting to touch.
These are the "untouchables".
"While I was a child at 13 years old, I touched an untouchable. For that my grandmother forced me to swallow cow dung, cow urine and Ganges water to purify myself," (Dr.) Pathak said.
I guess, though, that all cultures are equally valuable. Except American culture, of course.
1 comment:
Darren: This war we are having in Iraq is as much about new against old and tradition against innovation as anything else. The Taliban and their equals in other nations, seek to maintain the status quo-even when it's violent, divisive and cruel. They fear freedom because it would mean that they could no longer use the heavy hand of status to enforce their antiquated laws. I think this is what maddens me when I see folks claiming the war is just for oil without seeing the other levels of entrenched tyranny that is being overthrown. Just the fact that nine and ten year old girls have to go to a court to prevent being raped in a sham marriage which is excused by some religious fanatics shows that they do not want to change voluntarily and are embracing a dying culture to maintain their own power-not the empowerment of all the fellow citizens
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