Skippy 3 wrote:
Poacher turned gamekeeper wrote:
Skippy 3 wrote:
Most diaspora Hindus are of the Brahmin caste.
Like Brahmins back in India, they tend to occupy elite positions in society.
Not strictly true.
But assuming it was the case, the same argument could be made with regard to Sikhs in the UK or elsewhere vis a vis Muslims, Sikhism being a religion that rejects the caste system entirely (at least in theory).
Muslims and Sikhs may 'reject' the caste system, but that doesn't mean they can opt out of it.
Your religion and/or caste status follows you round like a bad smell in India. It impacts on what you can work at, who you can socialise with, where you can live, and who you can marry. Indians know the caste status of literally every other Indian they know.
Outsiders don't really understand this.
Brahmins have been the most high-status class in India for a millenium, and practice marital endogamy. It is no surprise that their descendants tend to do well professionally outside India too.
While caste remains highly relevant in India (especially outside the urban 'metros'), its importance has diminished to a degree during recent times.
By way of example, this lady, Devyani Khobragade, was at the centre of a large diplomatic spat between the Indians and the US in 2013 due to her importation of a nanny from India on a diplomatic visa, whom she subseuqently paid at well less than what comstitutes the minimum wage in the US.
Khobragade, a diplomat, is of dalit caste ie the 'untouchables' who traditionally cleaned toilets etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devyani_K ... e_incidentWhile Brahmins do generally remain better off the Dalits (or others), education and wealth attainment by many, especially young people who have moved into the large cities away rom extended family networks, has lessened some of the old demarcations.