Call Centers and the Caste System
Sunday, 20. November 2005 - 12:44 PM
Gaurav Sabnis makes an excellently reasoned post that takes apart the Slam-Call-Centers trend that seems to be on the rise everyday. My support to it is about 90%. The 10% disagreement stems from this assertion, with which I disagree.
In my opinion, this whole call-centre-bashing exercise is an unconscious expression of the deeprooted prejudices in our collective minds put in place due to the caste system. The whole idea of the caste system was, only a few jobs are respectable. All other jobs, be they menial or trade-related, were secondary. So what a brahmin does was admirable, while what the cunning sahukar or the filthy shudra does, was not.
Caste is an integral part of India and continues to remain so. Fundamentally, I think it is one of the best ways to organize society based on my studies in the subject. However, it is not entirely correct to blame everything that’s wrong with India today solely on the caste system.
The whole idea of the caste system was, only a few jobs are respectable. All other jobs, be they menial or trade-related, were secondary. So what a brahmin does was admirable, while what the cunning sahukar or the filthy shudra does, was not.
Which is entirely incorrect. The caste system as practised today especially in most of North India and a few parts in the South is its worst form of degeneration. The idea of the caste system was to provide a means of earning one’s livelihood respectably. Dignity of labour in other words. In its original conception, a person’s caste was decided on his inclination and what can be crudely translated as the “basic nature” of the person. Thus, if a person was a Brahmin by birth not inclined to studies/learning/renunciation and chose instead to master a skill or engage in business, he was free to do so and could move to become a businessman. As for the “cunning sahukar,” there’s only one point I’d like to make. If we go through the bulk of the backward class/dalit revival literature, the common refrain that runs through is woven around the great “Brahmin-bania conspiracy.” The word “Shudra” in Sanskrit can be expanded as shuchaat dravati iti shudrah. The word “shuchaat” is derived from the root, Shuch which means clean. Thus we have, one who brings about cleanliness. For the record, the original ideal of a Brahmin was to live in poverty and always engage himself in contemplation/meditation. This poverty he had to choose voluntarily. That is truly admirable.
These very prejudices led to the Indian middle class placing too much emphasis on medicine, bureaucracy, engineering and charterd accountancy as the A-grade professions.
The few-jobs-are-respectable prejudice is not related to the caste system. History has plenty of examples to show that the jobs Gaurav mentions weren’t the domain of the “upper class” alone. If one were to trace the geneaology of Indian kings, it would probably come as a surprise to most of us that a large percentage weren’t born in the “upper” Kshatriya class. Chandragupta Maurya is the earliest example of this in my limited reading. He was handpicked by his guru, Kautilya the “evil” Brahmin.
The most probable historical reason for Gaurav’s said prejudice can be traced to the turn of the 20th century. The British education system had begun to turn out its “finished products” whose learning was suited to oil the wheels of the Empire: the bureaucrats, the doctors, engineers and the rest. Native systems of knowledge and education were slowly being replaced. Thus the respect one derived from being recognized as a vedic scholar was transferred to that of being called saheb, babu, and the like. It is here, properly, that we can trace the root of calling some professions respectable. As I said, it has nothing to do with the caste system.
The current slamming of call centers as something despicable is the contribution of Leftists starting with the infamous Cyber Coolie article by Praful Bidwai. Everybody in their right minds–that includes people like Gaurav and myself–mostly the urban youth have long since been weaned away from the idea of a “respectable” and “non-respectable” job. However, the prejudice that Gaurav speaks of can also be seen from another perspective: from time immemorial, societies have given a special place to a man who works using his brain over someone who uses his physical abilities. For example: why is a political advisor given so much money and privileges over say a soldier? The same can be said of a corporate VP over say, a clerk. This prejudice exists everywhere.
I personally think that the call center phenomenon has been in the recent times, the greatest economic levelling force. It has made luxury affordable to a hundreds of thousands of people as Gaurav says:
A plush restaurant, an expensive discotheque on a weekend, mobile showrooms, car showrooms, apparel showrooms….. all these domains which were earlier restricted only to the engineer-doctor-types or the rich-kids were now invaded by hordes of call centre employees.
The “caste system” was breaking down.
Caste system was prevalent in India for as long as one can remember, but casteism was unheard of. The former enables social integration by respecting difference but the latter seeks to splinter society into a million islands of separate identities. We earlier could recognize the four predominant castes but today we have a few hundred sub-castes within each caste. Those below the Shudras are called Panchamas, and among the Panchamas, we have a right-left division, and then as if “Dalit” was not large enough, we have Dalit Christians, and a gargantuan “Other Backward Castes” which gives scope for further splintering. Where will it all end?
21. November 2005 - 4:22 PM
Very well said.
21. November 2005 - 11:08 PM
Well put. I did not read Gaurav’s article but i can figure out atleast part of it from this one.
What i feel is this. The call-centre in India may have in a way “broken down” the “caste system”. But from what i generally know of them and can percieve of them sitting outside the country is a different picture. As much as it is important as an economic levelling force, it is also giving a false confidence- even arrogance- to the scores of college dropouts or young ones who have sadly started believing that they have conquered the world. Their body language has changed and they have aquired the false “feel-dude” factor if you will. Its being “cool” is what counts.
I think in the long run this generation that acquired wealth 10 times faster then their fathers would come out as shallow individuals who will feel lost once this BPO golden period dies down. Even for that matter software engineers. Once the industry matures, lets say in 5 years from now, it will be difficult to cope up with stabalised salaries and even lay offs.
I think this generation of Indians should keep their feet firmly planted on the ground, which i don’t think is happening. Its as if everyone is eternally intoxicated in the gold rush of BPO/Call Centres.
I hope the much promised KPO thing works well for India, where only qualified individuals can take up the job. Should be interesting to watch.
22. November 2005 - 10:05 PM
DIGNITY! Thats the word.
People must learn to respect and fairly compensate, the “hardwork, diligence and sincerity” that goes into a work, irrespective of the intellect of the person.
If you are sweeper of railway platforms, then your motivation should be to keep the platforms clean like no other in the world.
Alas, humans are not created equal (primarily in intellect) and we have to live with it.
7. February 2006 - 5:26 AM
Please remember that we should be humble in what we do. We should not create a certain pride when it is not due. We should be able to predict if BPOs will be gone. We should always remember that RESPECT is still one good thing.
20. March 2010 - 6:58 AM
As the human beings evolved, they segregated into the four castes as was advised by the highly evolved sages. All the castes are equal and necessary part of one body. Just as the legs are as important to the functioning of a body as the head, the caste system segregates people by employment:
1) The head represent the Brahmins, the spiritual educators or seekers.
2) The shoulders represent the Kshatriya, needed for protection of the community.
3) The stomach represent the Vaisya, the entrepreneurs and business executives.
4) The legs represent the Sudras, the instruction followers who go through life obeying
instructions.
Thus the four castes are the limbs of one body of society. The justification for the caste system is similar to the justification for democracy, in that, it has problems but it is better than the alternative. In a democracy, certain segments of populations go to poverty and others become filthy rich, and there is associated corruption. The right to fail and face the consequences, so as to learn, is its greatest advantage, making it much better than the alternative. Similarly, the power abuse of one caste over the others will happen from time to time. Sometimes it may even get bad enough for God himself to correct it, but the caste system is the best way to ensure excellence is maintained in the various professions. It is just like Darwin’s theory of evolution, where animals get specialized in acquiring a certain set of food. In this case, humans get specialized in their job functions so that they excel in it over time, therefore increasing their spiritual level. God had to incarnate as Parashurama to solve one of these cases of imbalance of power among the castes. The Kshatriyas had become too powerful and were abusing the other castes. The logic behind the caste system can be visualized in the present scenario of any country. Every country, whatever the stages of progress, must have three requisites:
1) Material resources – provided for by:
i) The workforce who follow instruction
ii) The entrepreneurs who give the instructions
2) Protective power – provided for by the Security personnel
3) A proper education system – provided for by the spiritually inclined people.
The peace and prosperity of the world depends on the work of these four classes of people. They form the legs of a table. Even if one leg is weak, the other three cannot support the table. When production is plentiful, it has to be guarded against loot and plunder. When soldiers and security men become powerful, they turn into a menace to the country, while production declines. When production and protection are adequate, if the educational system takes a wrong track, the country is weakened. The development of material resources and the defense of the country ultimately depend on the education that is imparted. The table is not only “four legs”! How can one use a table of four legs? There should be a plank of love that is to say, love for the country. A country does not mean a specified area on the map, the soil. It means the human community inhabiting the territory. And ‘love’ means the sense of inter-relationships and involvement of the individuals within that community. Without all the five aspects, there will be a breakdown in society. For example, today the degree of love is absent in many highly educated and highly placed persons. As a result, the process of education too is suffering from misuse and the billions of dollars set aside for education goes to waste. Since education affects the other three sections, even the money spent on instruction-followers, entrepreneurs, and protectors does not yield the full fruit. Each caste is not supposed to be inferior to another. The superiority and inferiority of castes developed in the current day India is due to the weakened plank of love. There are various ages when different castes seem prominent or prosperous on earth. Humans who were teachers or spiritual seekers (Brahmins) since ancient times will have some mental and physical characteristics, which can be inherited by their children. This inheritance could be biological or via education passed from parents to children. In the very ancient times, Brahmins with their mantras seemed to have most of the power. They commanded the most respect because they could get anything people wanted through their mantras; rain, good crop yields, and weapons. Even the movements of materials for the construction of buildings depended upon their mantras. Great sages like sage Satyavarta, sage Durvasa and sage Agastya and others were like the leaders of civilizations the world over. Humans, who were fighting (Kshatriyas) since millions of years ago will have developed strengths in certain areas of their bodies and have mental skills to dodge enemy attacks and to kill when necessary. These abilities can be passed down biologically or through education within families over the ages. The Kshatriyas became the most powerful leaders of society during the next age, with their fighting skills and weapons. During these times, kings like Alexander, King Arthur, Ashoka, Ghengis Khan and numerous others became respected and powerful leaders of society. If entrepreneurial producers (Vaisas), which include most professions of today (engineer, doctors, artisans, businessmen and farmers) descended from ancestors who were entrepreneurs since millions of years ago, they will have the correct skills as negotiators, who constantly weigh the profit potential. In recent times, success in business made people and countries great. Vaisyas have become the most prominent people today. People today respect business leaders like Thomas Edison, Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Micheal Dell and Jack Welch, for what they have accomplished. The instruction-following producers (Sudras – current day factory operators and clerks are in this category) whose ancestors were following instructions will be able to handle the orders given by others. When computers take over most jobs, it will be the Sudras, who willingly follow instructions of computers the best, who will have the most power. They will be the ones, who can get things done for the rest of the human population. Using their instruction-following skills, they will be the most respected people because they will get people things from computer controlled farms, factories and even construction (food, clothing and shelter). Other people will have to wait on these instruction-followers for their livelihood. In the opinion of this author, India was conquered for a thousand years by foreigners (firstly by the Muslims and then the Christians), so that she can finally overcome this fault of the different castes disrespecting each other. The different castes were supposed to be equal parts of one body but with different jobs. Would a person not allow his head (Brahmin) to touch his feet (Sudra or instruction follower)? Would a person not allow his feet (Sudra) to touch his shoulders/hands (Kshatriya or warrior group)? Or would a person not allow his hands to touch his stomach (Viasya or producer group)?
Karunakaran, Prashobh. The History of Earth The Indian Version. Bloomington: Authorhouse, 2010.