I am an upper caste (meat eating) American Indian.
This stigma attached to caste, eating meat, is real among upper class Indians, especially Brahmins (me), and this needs to be put up as an issue, to hold a mirror to this community.
Many many Indians of these upper castes, especially if they're not meat-eating, tend to be conservative in their cultural and religious values. They disapprove of American culture. They consider meat eating a sin. Some, or many of this upper caste group will support the current Indian government's policy against meat eating. These people live in a bubble.
About caste in India, my upper caste has been discriminating
over the lower castes for more than a thousand years. And growing up we never once had these conversations, either at school or around the dinner table. These traits are ingrained in me, and one way I handle it is by embracing Americanism, and minimizing contact with Indian cultural groups (i'd be an oddball politically anyway). 70% of India is not upper caste. Only now are Dalits (lower castes) waking up in India . And I had to remind my vegetarian wife, 70% of India is meat eating (which she was reluctant to accept) - so you want to judge 70% of Indian people?. She grew up in a Brahmin area of Bangalore where most of her school mates were Brahmins, I grew up in a catholic school where most of my classmates were meat eating Christians. Such factors can dictate cultural attitudes. (I've managed to tutor her well, and bring her around). Many ancient religious texts mention our gods feasting on meat, beef, etc. Yet we act as if we are some holy sacred shit. I've debated disowning my caste (brahmin) but that would offend my SO. Thankfully my 2 kids are a healthy mix of American questioning of such bullshit, and non-religious.
The only defense I can offer is that Indians operate with a mob-mentality - too timid to standup and take a bold stance, and secondly it takes a generation to wear down this kind of ingrained thinking. Critical thinkers we are are not, especially in our personal lives, we tow the line, the existing lines. We're not trailblazers. Our excellence is within the straitjackets of corporate structure, within already established frameworks. The desensitized, one-dimensional corporate American culture is fertile ground for our achievements.
We lead our lives inside the elite tech bubbles, where all that matters is academics, tech elite jobs, and toxic out-dated traditions. We politely smile, but in private within our upper caste living rooms, our families look down on 'other' cultures for their meat consumption, for sexual openness , for the lack of 'spiritual enlightenment' etc.
I welcome this naming and shaming of my community. This flaw in our community should be brought out and talked about. That's healthy.
It feels cathartic to read this. On blind (the anonymous workplace app) the way some Indians speak about the west/women I find super backwards to the point where I’m not sure if it’s real.
I've worked with plenty of Indian engineers who are overjoyed to be in a place where we don't hold systematic power & aren't on the hook to either upholding or fighting these systems of oppression.
But I've also worked with a few dudes who think I'm going to agree with them, and those dudes have said things to me that make my jaw drop. So even here, because I work in tech, I've had to make the choice: do I go along with it? Or do I try to mitigate the power they have to make their beliefs a reality for the people they pre-judge?
If we don't speak up when it happens, it becomes the standard we walk past. But if we do, we're burning the bridges that could help us in the face of racism and bullshit here.
Most Indians (that I have met) - have not grown up in their thinking. The more they mingle with their own, the more the old ways of thinking get re-inforced.
This stigma attached to caste, eating meat, is real among upper class Indians, especially Brahmins (me), and this needs to be put up as an issue, to hold a mirror to this community.
Many many Indians of these upper castes, especially if they're not meat-eating, tend to be conservative in their cultural and religious values. They disapprove of American culture. They consider meat eating a sin. Some, or many of this upper caste group will support the current Indian government's policy against meat eating. These people live in a bubble.
About caste in India, my upper caste has been discriminating over the lower castes for more than a thousand years. And growing up we never once had these conversations, either at school or around the dinner table. These traits are ingrained in me, and one way I handle it is by embracing Americanism, and minimizing contact with Indian cultural groups (i'd be an oddball politically anyway). 70% of India is not upper caste. Only now are Dalits (lower castes) waking up in India . And I had to remind my vegetarian wife, 70% of India is meat eating (which she was reluctant to accept) - so you want to judge 70% of Indian people?. She grew up in a Brahmin area of Bangalore where most of her school mates were Brahmins, I grew up in a catholic school where most of my classmates were meat eating Christians. Such factors can dictate cultural attitudes. (I've managed to tutor her well, and bring her around). Many ancient religious texts mention our gods feasting on meat, beef, etc. Yet we act as if we are some holy sacred shit. I've debated disowning my caste (brahmin) but that would offend my SO. Thankfully my 2 kids are a healthy mix of American questioning of such bullshit, and non-religious.
The only defense I can offer is that Indians operate with a mob-mentality - too timid to standup and take a bold stance, and secondly it takes a generation to wear down this kind of ingrained thinking. Critical thinkers we are are not, especially in our personal lives, we tow the line, the existing lines. We're not trailblazers. Our excellence is within the straitjackets of corporate structure, within already established frameworks. The desensitized, one-dimensional corporate American culture is fertile ground for our achievements.
We lead our lives inside the elite tech bubbles, where all that matters is academics, tech elite jobs, and toxic out-dated traditions. We politely smile, but in private within our upper caste living rooms, our families look down on 'other' cultures for their meat consumption, for sexual openness , for the lack of 'spiritual enlightenment' etc.
I welcome this naming and shaming of my community. This flaw in our community should be brought out and talked about. That's healthy.