The age-herald., 1900-07-22
INDIA'S CASTES
 AND CUSTOMS

Forty-three years ago, upon the 10th of June, the great Indian military center of Meerut saw the 1Sindling of that terrible blaze which destined to ravage the whole of British Hndustan
 Nowadays every school boy knows that the Indian mutiny was directly the out come of a religious misunderstanding. In 1857 the British soldier could not under stand why the smearing of a little grease upon his carriages should offend the Se- poy. But the grease used was that of ani- mals which were unclean alike to Hindus and Mohammedans. Thus it came to pass that this same misunderstanding resulted In the shedding of oceans of innocent blood and the near loss of an empire of 25O, O,OoO,- GOO souls
 Today Tommy and his officers know bet ter than to offend native susceptibilities Nevertheless, there is much in Hindustan that the average European finds it hard to understand
 One of the greatest stumbling blocks is that of caste There are now four principal Hindu castes: Brahmin, or priests; Ksha- triya, or soldier; Vaisya, or industrial and the much despised Sudra, servile caste Ihese four divisions are sub-divided again ana aSain into many others. For instance, every village has it's Dhobi or washerman; kumbar, or potter; Mali, or green grocer Sunri, or publican; Chamas, or cobber hahar or pall<ie bearer, and a dozen other vigorously exclusive sects The boasted plue blood Of our European nobility pales into lnsfgnfcance by comparison. Here in England, for instance, every ambitious boy however humbly born may aspire to just such poistion as his talents may fit him for In India 1t is different. Not only does the son never aspire to rise above his fathers station in life, but, in addition, he could not if he chose
 Consequently the brassworking father of dozen sons will bring them up as brass workers; the potter father, as potters and so on, ad nfinitum. Nor must the lower caste man in any way violate the eanctity or ms hlSher class brother, for the penalties as to the puriication of the latter are many and inconvenient Similarly, he must marry within his own caste, he may only eat With his own caste, and, if a Sudra, he Will esteem it an honor if he is allowed to l1nblbe the water in which his superior Brahmin has laved his feet
 But what undoubtedly strikes the Brit lsher With greatest force is the fatalistic way in which the lower class man resigns himself without a word of grumbling to this treatment. He is saturated with caste lie IS overwhelmed with a distorted sense of It's magnitude And before it's imposing Juggernaut he is merely an abject piece of limp, kickless humanity.
 Another curious custom is that of "Rul1- sut haf' CYou may go) In England it is etiquette for an afternoon caller to himself take the initiative in the matter of his de- parture. Indeed, it would be considered the height of ill-breedng If the hostess gave the slightest indication of any desire to be relieved of her callers presence. In India the custom is reversed, and the na- tive will never leave the white mans pres ence until told that he may go.
 The shoe and turban question is a con- stant source of discord. As any schoolboy knows. the Hindu keeps his turban and discards his shoes on entering house Not to do so is the height of disrespect. When Lord Lawrence occupied the vice-regal chair he was compelled to issue an official mandate upholding the custom. Similarly, your native servant would soon think of appearing before you minus his cum merbund as your English footman would wait at table in his shirtsleeves.
 The vice versa customs of the man in the street are legion. The native clerk sits upon the floor to write, and his characters run from right to left The plowman uses a miserable little blow, which is utterly unfit for its work by reason of it's short ness-said shortness being due to the fact that the plowman will only drive his team by twisting their tails, and cannot there- fore be far behind them. The tailor, like his English brother, squats to do his work, but with the important distinction that he uses his toes to hold the work, while his fingers are busted with the sewing.
 The interiors of native houses are equal ly opposed to European notions of comfort They are devoid of all furniture, unless one can .dignify a few rugs, cushions and cur tains by such name Even the wealthest bankers and merchants do without crock cry, glass; tables and even plates, knives and folks, while you might search the tire wardrobe of their large corps of re- tainers without coming across a single hook, eye or button.
 Native relaXations are not particular eie vating. The gambling element is provided for by the showers which occasionally visit even this parched land. The usual practice is to bet upon the probability of some par ticular rain tank overfowing by a certain