English,birth and economic status.

An ageing respected intellectual in a discussion on reservations reiterated that he speaks English because his mother did and there fore he belongs to creamy layer. My mother doesn't speak English but i do.I belong neither to creamy layer or to the down under.

If speaking English dis entitles one to the benefits of reservations then that MBC boy who speaks excellent English even better than my son's college mates , though his mother is a illiterate servant maid and father an illiterate farmer and hails from one of the dirtiest and congested slum in Chennai ,ought not to receive the benefits of reservations,.Well, he has and is now a govt teacher drawing a handsome salary of 20,000 rs ,at age of 28.

The intellectual seemed to imply that since he was an Aiyar [Brahmin] he was born with a silver spoon.
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A poor man, blind as a bat wept when his seniority [he was 45 years old] was overlooked and many younger men of lower castes were appointed to the teaching posts.He cursed his skin ,only a shade lighter and his birth that kept him away from securing a permanent job and pay off debts incurred on getting his sisters married off,and at the thought of taking more loans for his day to day living in some sordid quarters.He is a Brahmin and cannot speak English.

A hush of embarrassed silence fell on all those poor blind people of all castes and religion crowding in that small room of the association .Many came forward to comfort him and pleaded with him to not take the extreme step.An unbelievable scene! The much reviled and despised Brahmin being consoled by lower castes over whom they have said to have lorded !A petition was dispatched to the concerned authorities immediately, seeking his appointment to the post.

I come across Brahmin priests who can chant complicated Sanskrit slokas with ease but can't converse in English or even understand it.They and their sons live in pokey houses and are forced to eye the dakshina's on the arti plate wistfully and longingly.

In middle class just like it is in lower classes the scramble for those limited free seats of 30 % in which all castes apart from FC's can also compete, is so intense that for FC's getting one is like securing the Olympic gold medal!In middle class households all mothers of my age group are graduates and can speak good English irrespective of the caste or religious denominations they belong to.The so called BC's, MBC's and minorities are much more forward in intelligence, scholarship and in prosperity than most of the so called FC's.

The FC's students having spent all their energy in these scrambles for free seats[i.e seats available without having to pay the exorbitant capitation fees or donations running in lakhs] in colleges have little left of it to do justice to the jobs they land up in ,mostly the pvt sector, jobs in pub sector being an unattainable dream.

In present times the sharp lines delineating birth and ability to speak English from economic status has blurred .In here at TN,definitely.

And what happened to that poor blind Brahmin.?His face lit with joy and heaved a huge sigh of relief when he heard that his name was on a list released two days later.There had been a mix up in the dates and it was sorted out ,landing him the job.

Photo:Poor Brahmin boys training as priests.This photo was taken at Thirupillani at one of its temple festivals.