Evening star., 1900-06-28
CURIOUS Castles AND CUSTOMS.
Cannot BE Reformed, Although They
Prejudice Indfa's Progress.

Cannot he Reformed, Although They
Prejudice India's Progress.
From tho London Express
Forty-three years ago. upon the loth OF
the present month, the graf Indian military
center OF Meerut saw the kindling OF that
terrible blaze which was destined to raVage
the whole of British Hindustan.
Nowadays every schoolboy KNOWS thae
the Indian mutiny was directly the outcome
OF a religious misunderstanding. In 1891
the British soldier could not understand
why the smearing Of little grease upon
his cartridges should offend the sepoS bu.
the grease used was that or animals WHICH
wera unclean alike to Hindus and Moham-
,neGans Thus it came to pass that tnis
eama misunderstanding resulted In the
staddire of oceans of innocent blood and
the near loss of an empire Oh 2'o'Vo"'oo'
souls a.u. ,o,, hot
ter than to offend native susceptloiil'ies.
Nevertheless there is much IN hiiiuustaii IL
that the average European mas IL haro "
understand. ,,,,, ,,,,ol,s "a
One of the greatest Stumolihs plJsns ,3, -
thai of caste. There are now four pfinciPai
Hindu castes: Brahmin, or priest hshd
trivia. or soldier; Vaisyi:, or Industrial anu
tho much despised Sudra. scrvlie cast.
These four divisions are supdlNloeu asaiii
and again into many others FOR instance.
every village has its Inooi. OF vrncar:
Kumbar. or potter; Mali or green grocer. !.
s,lrri, or publican; Chamas, or coppier !:
Kahar. or palkie bearer ana a dozeh oti'el
vigorously exclusive sects. me poao,eu ~,
blue blood of our European nopii'.y pa'Ss -;
;nto jnsienificance by comparison. here IN
EnpIand for instance. every ampltlouo poy
boW.eyer h,Imbly born, may aspire 10 Jus.
such a position as his talents may ~ nm mn.
for. In India it is different. ~. o,i,s NY
does the son never aspire to rise apove ehe ne
.sL.,s station in life. but In addltlOl, Ile
could not If he chose <.Lo .r
Consequently the brassworklns Ia'he. "
a dozen sons will bring them up as orass,
workers: the potter father. as potters, anu
90 On ad infinitum. Nor must the lower
casta man in any way violate the sanctlty
of his higher-class brother, lot the pehai.
ties as to the publication OF ths ias.e, as. az.
,.nv and inconvenient. Similarly, ne must
marry within his own caste, ne may olily
eat with his own caste. and. II SudTa, ne
iii, esteem 1t an honor IL he Is allowed
to imbibe the water IN "nich LIS supeAo'
Rrahmin has laved his 1eet: ,.,
p,t uhat undoubtedly strikes the BRUSH
~ with greatest force Is the fatahst1c way
in which the lower class man resigns nih-
self without " wore M,,ratsd Oh sdu WITH caste. He
ts oyerwhelmed with distorted sense OF
IT'S magnitude. And before its imposing
Juggernaut he Is mercy All aoJeee Peee VI
limp kickless humanity.
Another curious custom Is that OF Ruk-
sut hai'' (You may go) In England II IS
etiquette for an afternoon caller 10 MN
self take the initiative in the matter OF MS
departure. Indeed. it would be considered
the height of ill-breeding II the hostess
gave the slightest indication OF any desire
to be relieved of her callers presence. In
India the custom Is reversed, and tie ma
five will never leave the white mans pres
ence until told he may go. The shoe and
turban question is constant source OF dis
cord. AS any schoolboy knows; the Hindu
keeps ON his turban and discards his shoes
on entering house. Not to do so Is the
height OF disrespect. When Lord Lawrence
occupied the viceregal chair he was com
pelled to issue an official mandate uphold
ing the custom. Similarly, your native
servant would as soon think Of appearing
before you minus his cummerbund as your
English footman would wait at table In his
shirt sleeves.
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 plow, which Is utterly
unfit for its work by reason of its 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 his work.