When did you learn about the caste system?

[Redoptics]

Just was wondering, I was totally oblivious to any caste system until i was 16 and went to college, it was not brought up in my house.

 

[MisterrSingh]

Same here. It was only something I realised was still in operation after the age of 16. Clearly I knew it existed before then, but it was never a factor in my own life.

[jkvlondon]

never a factor in our home either only noticed my folks knew somebodies background from their surnames somehow. It became a stark reality on visit to India , there was a bibi who would come and help with housework in pind  called Prakash Kaur I could see she was poor from her well worn cotton suit but she was clean and tidy so originally thought maybe she's just poor but when she seperated out a plate and glass for her own use then insisted on sitting on the ground when there was space to sit on the manjian I had to ask why is she doing that?

then my Mum told me she was from chamar household and that is how they were brought up . We both found it odd and unsettling and tried during our time there to treat her the same as the rest of us but it was an upward struggle  to get her to let go of that seperateness .

We only had one gurdwara and the older dharam shala in the same road as my sard nana ji's  in  my nanakey  but I do not know if there is now a seperate one by the people who are considered 'low caste'.
When I stayed in my teens it was during kardku times  and as far as I could see the pind punished jat and chamar equally for apardh . There was a kidnapping from the pind bus stand  and rapes of three girls by two guys one jat one chamar . Khardku's sent message to stay indoors and the two guys were punished equally during the night; no more rapists . The girls marriages were arranged in good households . doubt that would happen these days the jat would probably plead out for his life  and survive.

 

[Redoptics]

For me it was college kids asking "what are you then", I was like well im "Sikh" they would be like "no what caste are you" and I'm like "what do you mean?"

Then they would ask "what is your surname" and promptly find out lol

I went to CofE schools so these type of questions never were brought up, until college.

[KhoonKaBadlaKhoon]

46 minutes ago, jkvlondon said:

When I stayed in my teens it was during kardku times  and as far as I could see the pind punished jat and chamar equally for apardh . There was a kidnapping from the pind bus stand  and rapes of three girls by two guys one jat one chamar . Khardku's sent message to stay indoors and the two guys were punished equally during the night; no more rapists . The girls marriages were arranged in good households . doubt that would happen these days the jat would probably plead out for his life  and survive.

 

That's a good story to hear of. We need more of these examples. Especially since Hindutva is stepping up their propaganda exponentially now. We need to do like wise! And I don't mean the exaggerated stories of 500 Indian forces dying against 2 kharkus in an encounter. 

[Big_Tera]

15 hours ago, Redoptics said:

Just was wondering, I was totally oblivious to any caste system until i was 16 and went to college, it was not brought up in my house.

 

Me to untill I came online and saw images like this. A media propaganda campagin by some big nosed people to make themslves fee superior over others. 

 

[Redoptics]

2 minutes ago, Big_Tera said:

Me to untill I came online and saw images like this. A media propaganda campagin by some big nosed people to make themslves fee superior over others. 

 

Wow is a flying jaat a comic or movie ? Lol

[Big_Tera]

But on a sidenote

I only realized about caste when I came across other Sikhs and their family names. . Up untill then I thought all Sikhs used Singh and Kaur. as their surname. Then one day I came across some Sikhs who actually had family names instead. until then I thought only Hindus had family names such as patel, gupta ect. 

It was a complete shock and amazement for me as all the people I know only use singh and kaur. I wondered where these surnames came from and why are they using family names. I then was slightly envious that I never had a family name of my own. While all these other sikhs had individual family names. 

Anyway that was only in the beginning I am proud to only have singh in my name and love being addressed by Mr singh where ever I go. It is also a way of showing what our faith is and promoting it. When people see my surname they know immediately im of the Sikh faith. They respect the fact that I have shunned any type of castist name and only go by the Guru given name. 

I would feel odd and completely wrong for someone to call me by my family name instead of Singh. Singh means more to me then any family name as its the name given to us by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. and I am proud to be a Singh and not some silly family  name that evokes false pride in people. 

[Redoptics]

30 minutes ago, Big_Tera said:

But on a sidenote

I only realized about caste when I came across other Sikhs and their family names. . Up untill then I thought all Sikhs used Singh and Kaur. as their surname. Then one day I came across some Sikhs who actually had family names instead. until then I thought only Hindus had family names such as patel, gupta ect. 

It was a complete shock and amazement for me as all the people I know only use singh and kaur. I wondered where these surnames came from and why are they using family names. I then was slightly envious that I never had a family name of my own. While all these other sikhs had individual family names. 

Anyway that was only in the beginning I am proud to only have singh in my name and love being addressed by Mr singh where ever I go. It is also a way of showing what our faith is and promoting it. When people see my surname they know immediately im of the Sikh faith. They respect the fact that I have shunned any type of castist name and only go by the Guru given name. 

I would feel odd and completely wrong for someone to call me by my family name instead of Singh. Singh means more to me then any family name as its the name given to us by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. and I am proud to be a Singh and not some silly family  name that evokes false pride in people. 

I still use my surname, if you had a daughter would she use 'Singh' as her surname, as I have seen women using 'Singh' as a surname now, like 'Lilly Singh' or is it 'Lilly Kaur Singh' not too sure.

[dallysingh101]

I wasn't told about caste growing up. I only realised it was an issue aged about 15 when I started knocking about with another apna (there weren't that many apnay where I grew up). Anyway he was the one that asked me what caste I was. I didn't know. I had to go home and ask my moms. That guy was a jut from Uganda whose family got thrown out, and boy was he crooked. By the time he was 17, he'd been arrested like 15 times already for stealing, and his family weren't exactly poor like mine was at that time (single parent). He was really obsessed with caste, as was his father and one of his brothers and cousins.