Indian culture is multifaceted and diverse. A person with a European mentality will never fully understand India. Songs, dances, ceremonies, customs, castes - much of this remains an unsolved mystery for the common man. And some features of culture, for example, the caste division of society, is generally beyond the understanding of a civilized person.
In India, since ancient times, it has been customary to divide society into separate groups - castes. In fact, there is such a division in any country, but only in India it is too obvious. A person can easily descend from a higher caste to a lower one, but vice versa - almost never. There are four castes in total: brahmanas or priests, kshatriyas or warriors, vaisyas - artisans and merchants, sudras - service personnel, but there is one more last fifth caste that is not part of the four varnas - untouchables.
The brahmana caste is the elite of Indian society, the untouchables are the lowest and most disrespected. People of the lower caste do not have the right to drink water from the same source with people of higher castes. They cannot use public transport services, hospitals and clinics, go to shops, government offices and temples.
It is strictly forbidden to touch people from the lowest caste. it is believed that in this way a person can defile himself. Previously, it was believed that you can go to the untouchable caste with one touch to them. This is where their name comes from.
The untouchables themselves are divided into several distinct groups, mainly by occupation, although there are some exceptions. Chamaras are a group that includes tanners, leather-dressing people, and shoemakers. Another group of untouchables is called dhobi, and they include laundresses - people who do laundry. Mata or barbers (barbers), are engaged in cutting or shaving the beard. There are also garbage cleaners and wipers. All these groups of people are treated with more or less respect, although they are untouchable. Indeed, without these people, the existence of society would be impossible.
The criminal component of the "untouchable" society is sanshi, thieves. They are treated not just without respect, but with contempt and even hatred. The strangest and least studied group of Indian outcasts is the hijra. In fact, these include homosexual men and women and transvestites. True hijra eunuchs. They engage in begging, prostitution, extortion, and sometimes theft.
The last group of untouchables is the Dalits, they are also called pariahs. In general, they do not belong to any of the castes, pariahs are born from "mixed" marriages. Those. these are people whose parents belonged to different castes.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the untouchable caste began a struggle for equality. According to the constitution, caste division is illegal; at present, persecution on the basis of caste is considered a criminal offense. But this is only on paper, but in reality everything is different. Untouchables are not allowed into cafes and restaurants, and if they are allowed, then they are given “separate dishes”. As before, they are not allowed to enter hospitals for ordinary people, they are not given a good job. And although the untouchables are constantly fighting for their rights, it will not be long before Indian society will move away from the "caste" relic of the past.