Reservation

Reservation has been a highly contentious topic in India. I am surrounded by "woke" friends, most of them belonging to the upper castes telling me reservation should be done away with. They believe India is an egalitarian society, and caste no longer plays a role in the country, especially the urban environs. This pic is mostly for them. This is caste in action. The 8-9 Brahmin priests sitting on the ratha, extorting the believers to pull it as it will help them get God's blessings.
The framers of India's reservation bill knew no one except a Brahmin would be seated next to the God. Ever. They knew caste discrimination would exist for centuries. What they did with reservation was to give the discriminated a chance to get educated, get jobs, open doors that were closed to them for centuries. It's been only a few decades since the discriminated have started seeing benefits, and there have been persistent and vociferous calls to do away with reservation.
Those who oppose reservation do not have equality in their minds, they want a return to the status quo. A place where the discriminated knew their place.
Those with previlege are willfully blind to it and there's no way to make them see. Caste doesn't exist for them because their struggle didn't include "proving" their intelligence in spite of their caste. It doesn't exist for them because they have a support system that has been built for centuries. A support system that would ensure them a place despite their shortcomings.
Looking at the procession, I was happy I wasn't religious. If I were I would've willingly subjected myself to this humiliation.