The Marginalized Groups in Indian Social Construct: A Critical Study of Mahesh Dattani

While the book “Left to Tell” by Immaculée Ilibagiza and the movie “Hotel Rwanda” by Terry George shows its share of similarities, both portray the Rwandan Massacre of 1994 in diversified ways. First, while both characters share similarities portraying the perspective of the genocide, they also show some major differences in the point of view as the main character in the movie was a hotel manager while the other main character from the book was a young, Tutsi woman. Also, while they face similar conflicts and hardships, both have their own personal field of adversities to face.

Many people believe that in the 1940’s most of India’s problems involving independence was to do with divisions within India rather than British imperialism. In this essay I will be looking at both points of view and finally giving my opinion. I will be using three sources also to help me show both sides of the story. I will also be using my further knowledge to add a wider range of knowledge.

As a society many are not aware that development can be more compelling through knowledge about other society’s life experiences. Even when becoming aware, societies continue with the lack of knowledge. This results in consequences in these societies and with international relations. There are tremendous forms of ethnocentrism that can cause crucial social problems, such as ethnic cleansing, colonialism, and racism. Many of these views are destined by world communities, however many frequently see the cases.

In the story, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak based the theme on the “Power of Words”. The book demonstrates that words and language have immense power in both positive and negative ways, meaning that the words in the book has strong effects to one another in a positive and negative way. The power of words often brought relationships between the characters closer together because it was the use of the words, the words were often used to establish a connection with others and to build a relationship. Not only did the words bring comfort, but it also brought hatred, especially towards Hitler.

India is no different, the Sepoy Rebellion was one of the main stands the Indians took to defend their beliefs. With the British's complete disregard of Hindu and Muslim practices, Indians broke into outrage when asked to bite off the ammunition cartridge greased with pork and beef fat. How could they not? Their entire belief system itself was being threatened. Although out of this gruesome cultural war Gandhi emerged with a new way of thinking, without violence. With Gandhi’s defiance, a salt taxation was released which gave even more control to the British Raj. Although stopping Gandhi’s way of thinking was helpless and the Indians took yet another stand with the 1930’s Salt March. Though there were some laws that Gandhi could not take a stand too. Some of the government released laws were careless and did not seem to have any purpose but to irk the Indian people. Being treated as second class citizens in their own home is what the people came to know, racist attitude also dominated around the country of India.

The nation of India operates on a caste system which is a form of “social class” structure from birth. For example, if you were born “poor” you will always be “poor” and vice versa. “The caste system in India is quite rigorous, boasting 3,000 castes and 25,000 subcastes; memberships range between the hundreds and the millions. India’s caste system originated in Hinduism, but other religious groups in India subscribe to similar systems (Gale 2001). Word Count: 90

            The internal divisions and complexes hierarchy of the Indian society served an important social function.  The system provided each individual with a clear identity and role and offered the benefits of group solidarity and support.  Certain interactions and behaviors were appropriate only between those of equal status. The system assured that the religious, political, and financial powers were all separated into four different social classes (Bulliet, et. 2011).

He also mentioned that for a long time ago, there has been a caste system which organized the social structure in India. There were four major castes: Brahmans, who have spiritual wisdom or act like a priest, Kshatriyas, who are a ruler or an organization, the Vaisya, farmers and traders, and the Sudras, the follower or servants. However, he argued that the stratification is now becoming not so relevant because people can access education and reach a better condition. This information similar to Hodge (2004) explanation about the caste system and the structure now is transformed by the modernization (Fuller, 2009).

The Color Purple by Alice Walker details the struggle of an African-American women, Celie, as she deals with her abusive husband and the absence of her sister. Due to the lack of love from her father, Celie turns to her sister Nettie for support. However, she quickly finds herself abandoned when Nettie heads to Africa as a missionary. The Color Purple is known as an American Classic presenting scenes of violence and sexuality. Bouncing back and forth between the two gives the reader an idea of the hardships faced by African-Americans during the early 20th century.

Indian culture and society experienced drastic changes during the middle of the twentieth century. The country experienced rapid development of its urban centers, agrarian lifestyles were replaced by commercialized industries, and old social norms were replaced by new, British-influenced values. Many of those changes are depicted in Kamala Markandaya’s 1954 novel, Nectar in a Sieve. Written only seven years after India achieved independence, Markandaya’s novel chronicles the life of Rukmani, the book’s narrator. Rukmani recounts the story of her marriage, the lives of her children, and the hardships she endures in life, which include the death of her husband and the deaths of several of her children. This essay will discuss the impacts of modernity on Indian culture and society in the middle of the twentieth century, and it will show how these impacts were depicted in Markandaya’s novel. Ultimately, Markandaya’s novel shows how rapid changes in Indian culture and society caused serious challenges for many Indians and forced many Indians to abandon traditional lifestyles.

Anand, Mulk Raj. “The Indelible Problem: Mulk Raj Anand and the Plight of ...” www.postcolonialweb.org /india/anand/ stracuzzi1.

India’s population includes nearly one hundred million tribal people. These numbers are matched only by the remarkable diversity of India’s tribes. The two main regions of tribal settlement are the country’s northeastern states bordering China and Burma, and the highlands and plains of its central and southern regions. The latter is home to more than 80 per cent of the tribes, which differ from the northeastern tribes in ethnicity and in having experienced greater “intrusion of the Indian mainstream and of the pan- Indian model of the state, society, economy and culture. There are also differences in the extent to which the tribes interact with non-tribal communities. While the northeastern tribes are usually isolated communities, the tribes in peninsular India may at times coexist with non-tribal people. Despite some regional variation, the tribes share many traits, including living in relative geographical isolation, and being relatively more homogeneous and more self-contained than the non-tribal social groups. Consequently, several tensions (both perceptible and obscure) pervade relations between tribals and non-tribals, on the one hand,

The caste is an identity status and a caste identity is one of the most significant social identity in Indian society and it is a fundamental identification character of an individual. In the theory of microaggression, an identity plays a crucial role between a recipient (subordinate) and a perpetrator (dominant). The paper encompasses social identity theory (Harro, 2013; Smith, 2005) to

He makes comparisons between Dalit and Muslim leaders who have in the last six decades acquired substantial roles in the political milieu of India. Why hasn’t there been representation from the Adivasis? Guha believes that Adivasis do not have majority in any single peninsular state of India, therefore during elections, tribal votes do not make an impact as compared to Dalit votes. Guha also observes that the Dalits have had influential leaders (such as B.R Ambedkar) who have streamlined their marginalization, unlike Adivasis, who have never had a leader who could inspire admiration. Another important point highlighted is the role of contemporary media in projecting mainly Dalit and Muslim issues and not those concerning Adivasis. Therefore due to the negligence of the government, Maoists tend to influence the tribals into believing their socio-economic advancement agenda, according to Guha does not exist as the Maoists main agenda is to capture power through armed

This paper is a brief account of the consequences of gender colonization and wretched condition of hijra community in India. This autobiography shows how a hijra is deprived of all the facilities which a normal citizen of a country should have. Through this autobiography the author wanted to prove their existence as human beings, as well as he wanted to prove that they also have their opinions, thoughts, feelings and emotions about each and every aspect of society.