Caste at Play

My most direct observation of the caste system has been watching Dr. Rao, the head of the center, interact with Soma, one of the guys who works here. Soma is my age which always shocks me because, to speak frankly, he’s way more mature than me. I have a hard time defining what Soma does here because I view him more as Dr. Rao’s servant. I have literally watched Dr. Rao drop a piece of paper and wait for Soma to show up to pick up the piece of paper. Soma carries Dr. Rao’s briefcase when he arrives. He brings Dr. Rao his tea. When Dr. Rao calls him, he comes running (literally). And while a lifetime of doing this would suck to me….Soma does it and doesn’t complain (at least not out loud).

I have seen other instances of the caste system throughout our various excursions. Waiters tremble as Dr. Rao talks to them. When something isn’t going the way he wants it, Dr. Rao says something and it’s magically changed. I wish I knew Kannada so I could know what he says to make people do as he wishes. Has he ever heard the word no? He is a sweet man to us but how sweet is he to everyone else? Not knowing the language is hard because seeing understanding caste at play has a lot to do with understanding the language, both linguistic and body language, I think.