Suraj Yengde

#BookReview

Caste Matters by Dr. Suraj Yengde

If you try searching for the genre of this book on Google or Goodreads, the answer that is thrown up is "Autobiography". But when I picked up this book, I found that it isn't as much of an autobiography as it is a call for action, a manifesto if you will.

I had seen an interview of Dr. Yengde where he says, "I challenge every Indian to take their own shit in their hands and hold it for a few seconds. You won't be able to do it. And you expect show more others to get into your shit and clean it for you." That was one heck of a statement and he blew me away with his candour. This book came on my radar soon after.

Dr. Yengde knows his content well, no doubt about that at all. Caste Matters gives a great deal of information into the historical caste system, and how it is practised even today. This book is a treasure trove of insights: known, forgotten and suppressed. The passion towards the cause is evident. His tidbits about Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule, Shridhar Pant Tilak, Jhalkaribai and many such others are a revelation. Dr. Yengde doesn't mince words when he slams traditional Brahmin supremacists for their baseless superiority complex.

There are so many instances in this book that will shock you out of your comfort level. For someone like me, an urban citizen from a non-Hindu background who doesn't even understand the various Hindu castes, this book was an eye-opener into how deeply rooted the caste issue actually is and how people allow it to dominate their behaviour even in the 21st century. I now understand what "privilege" truly means.

But...

What I was expecting from this book was another Isabel Wilkerson. What I got was a Yuval Noah Harari. Now before you jump up in excitement and rush to order the book, let me admit that I'm not a Yuval Noah Harari fan. Just like Harari, Yengde sees facts from a one-sided perspective and indulges in too much generalisation. The author takes only those facts that support his hypothesis and ignores all others. I wouldn't exactly blame him for doing so, but to take a few instances of injustice and extrapolating it as being representative of the entire "upper caste" community is not right. (Or am I being too idealistic here? show less

This is an important book, and I hope it is widely read in India. Yengde dissects the state of the Dalits, better known to US readers as Untouchables, and of the Indian caste system, discussing how it functions today to keep a majority of Indians from taking advantage of social and economic opportunities guaranteed in the country's constitution and laws. Yengde bases some of his discussion and arguments on the work of WEB Dubois and other African-American writers and leaders, which show more illuminates some of his points for American readers. The chief reason I only gave is book three stars is in fact that Yengde assumes quite a bit of familiarity with India's recent history as well as contemporary events that made the news in India but not necessarily here. show less