Awakened by a slap: A child's first brush with caste

The two fault lines in Hinduism are caste and gender. Speaking from within the faith—and not at all as an outsider with a hostile agenda—I would like to share a few personal observations on how this widely affects us as a society, of whatever creed.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

The two fault lines in Hinduism are caste and gender. Speaking from within the faith—and not at all as an outsider with a hostile agenda—I would like to share a few personal observations on how this widely affects us as a society, of whatever creed. It is no secret that other faiths also have hierarchies, though that's rarely discussed, unlike those of the majority.

My first memory of life is a tight slap on the face at four. My father's elder sister slapped me. My mother and father said nothing, their faces impassive. The reason for the slap? Without knowing the meaning, I had called our cleaning lady a "shudrachi," a term picked up from our cook. "Never say that again," said my aunt into the silence. Trained already in appropriate responses, it seems I said "sorry" in a small voice and returned to my toys. We lived in Calcutta in those days. The next day, my mother bought a train ticket back to Madras for the cook and fired him as a bad influence on her household.