First Lessons in Caste:
All of you must have heard of Dr. BR Ambedkar (1891-1956), a very important national leader and architect of the Indian constitution. He was also the primary spokesperson for the dalits (former untouchables) in our country. Ambedkar's family was from Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. His father had left their hereditary occupation as a Mahar to work in the British Army. After retirement he worked as a cashier in Goregaon. This is an account written by Ambedkar himself which tells us about a journey from Dapoli to Goregaon. He was nine years old at that time and was going, with other children in the family, to spend the summer vacation with his father. At the end of this excerpt Ambedkar discusses how he learnt that for society he was an untouchable !
" I WAS A BOY OF NINE WHEN IT HAPPENED"
.....Great preparations were made. New shirts of English make, bright, bejewelled caps, new shoes, new silk-bordered dhotis were ordered for the journey. My father had given us all the particulars regarding our journey and has told us to inform him on which day we were starting so that he would send his peon to the railway station to meet us and to take us to Goregaon.
The railway station was 10 miles from our place and a tonga was engaged to take us to the station. We were dresses in the new clothing specially made for the occassion and we left our home full of joy...
When we reached the station my brother bought the tickets and gave me and my sisiter's son two annas each as pocket money to be spent at our pleasure, We at once began our career of riotous living and each ordered a bottle of lemonade. After a short while, the train whistled in and we boarded it as quickly as we could for fear of being left behind. We were told to detrain at Masur, the nearest railway station to Goregaon.
The train arrived at Masur at about 5 in the evening and we got down with our luggage. In a few minutes all the passengers who had got down from the train had gone away to their destination. We four children remained on the platform looking out for my father or his servant whom he had promised to send. Long did we wait, but no one turned up. An hour elapsed and the station-master came to enquire. He asked us for our tickets. We showed them to him. He asked us why we tarried. We told him we were bound for Goregaon and that we were waiting for father or his servant to come, but that neither had turned up and that we did not know how to reach Goregaon. We were well-dressed children. From our dress or talk no one could make out that we were children of untouchables. Indeed the station-master was quite sure we were Brahmin children and was extremely touched at the plight in which he found us. As is usual among the Hindus, the station-master asked us who we were. Without a moment's thought I blurted out that we were Mahars. He was stunned. His face underwent a sudden change. We could see that he was overpowered by a strange feeling of repulsion. As soon as he heard my reply, he went away to his room and and we stood where we were, Fifteen minutes elapsed; the sun was almost setting. Father has not turned up nor had he sent his servant, and now the station-master had also left us. We were quite bewildered, and the joy and happiness which we felt at the beginning of the journey gave way to a feeling of extreme sadness.
After half an hour the station-master returned and asked us what we proposed to do. We said that if we could get a bullock-cart on hire we would go to Goregaon, and if it was not very far we would like to start straightway. There were many bullock-carts plying for hire. But my reply to the station-master that we were Mahars has gone round among the cartmen and not one of them was prepared to suffer being polluted an to demean himself carrying passenger of untouchable classes. We were prepared to pay double the fare but we found money did not work.
The station-master, who was negotiating on our behalf, stood silent not knowing what to do. Suddenly a thought seemed to have entered his head and he asked us, "Can you drive the cart?" Feeling that he was finding a solution for our difficulty, we shouted, "Yes, we can." With that answer he went and proposed on our behalf that we were to pay the cartman double the fare and drive the cart, and that he should walk on foot along with cart for the rest of our journey. One cartman agreed as it gave him an opportunity to earn his fare and also saved him from being polluted.
It was about 6.30 pm when we were ready to start.. we put our luggage in the cart, thanked the station-master, and got into the cart.. Not very far from the station there flowed a river. It was quite dry except at places where there were small pools of water. The owner of the cart proposed that we should halt there and have our meal as we might not get water on our way. We agreed. He asked us to give a part of his fare to enable him to go to the village and have his meal. My brother gave him some money and he left promising to return soon.
We were very hungry and glad of the opportunity to have a bite.. We opened the tiffin basket and started eating. We needed water to wash things down. One of us went to the pool of water in the river basin nearby. But the water really was no water. It was thick with mud and urine and excreta of the cows and buffaloes and other cattle who went to the pool for drinking. In fact, that water was not intended for human use. At any rate, the stink of the water was so strong that we could not drink it. We had therefore to close our meal before we were satisfied and wait for the arrival of the cartman. He did not come for a long time all that we could do was to look for him in all directions. Ultimately he came and we started on our journey.
... By midnight, we reached toll-collecter's hut. It was situated on the foor of a hill. WHen we arrived, we saw a large number of bullock-carts there. all resting for the night. We were extremely and wanted vey much to eat. But again there was the question of water. So we asked our driver whether it was possible to get water. He warned us that the toll collector was Hindu and that there was no possibility of our getting water if we spoke the truth and said that we were Mahars. He said, "Say you are Mohammedans and try your luck." On his advice I went to the toll-collecotr's hut and asked him if he would give us some water. "Who are you?" he inquired. I replied that were Musalmans. I conversed with him in Urdu, which I knew very well, so as to leave no doubt that I was a real Musalman. But the trick did not work and his reply was very curt. "Who has kept water for you? There is water on the hill if you want to go and get it. I have none".
This incident has a very important place in my life. I was a boy of nine when it happened. But it had left an indelible impression on my mind. Before this incident occurred, I knew that I was an untouchable and that untouchables were subjected to certain indignities and discrimination. For instance, I knew that in the school I could not sit in the midst of my class students according to my rank but that I was to sit in the corner by myself. I knew that children of the touchable classes, when they felt thirsty, could go out to the water tap, open ot and quench their thirst. All that was necessary permission of the teacher. But my position was seperate. I could not touch the tap, and unless it was opened by a touchable person, it was not possible for me to quench my thirst... All this I knew. But this incident gave me a shock such as I never received before, and it made me think about untouchability which, before this incident happened, was with me a matter of course as it is with many touchables as well as untouchables.
