It helps in breaking down the caste order
Many may not term the story of Dalit entrepreneur Devanand londhe as a success story. But this businessman from Sangli district of Maharashtra has set up a small factory in his village manufacturing cotton gloves. These gloves are exported to Japan. The reasons for setting up the unit in his village were two — cheap labour and giving employment to local women. Glove-making is an all-woman job and londhe employs 150 women.
A few weeks back, I was in his village. I was told that more than half the women in his factory were from the upper caste. I want to inform the esteemed reader that there is a sizeable Jain population in Sangli. I was introduced to some of them. I asked one Jain worker what made her work for a DalitIJ It took some time for her to open up. But she finally told me the reason why she was working for a person from the lower caste. “Paisa jati se bada ho gaya hai,” she said philosophically.
While there is no study done on the number of upper caste people working for lower caste, there is ample proof that there are many people from the upper caste who, for the sake of making more money, have been working for Dalit entrepreneurs. TV anchor Ravish Kumar did a show for a news channel, NDTV — Special Report on Security Guards in Delhi. He interviewed many security guards and asked them their caste as well. Many were from the upper caste. In fact, most of them were Brahmins, Bhumihars, Thakurs and Rajputs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Kumar’s programme appeared a few years back. Wanting to know what the present situation is, I have been trying to track the trend on my own. Whenever I hire a taxi, anywhere in the country, I insist on taking the mobile number of the driver. Not only this, while saving their numbers, I ask them their full name. This helps me identify their caste. For example, if one is in Maharashtra and the driver’s surname is Kulkarni, it will mean that he is a Brahmin. If the driver’s surname is Deshmukh, it means that he belongs to the upper most caste.
After identifying that the driver is indeed a Brahmin my question is always the same — “Brahmin ho kar bhi taxi chalate hain aapIJ The answer now is predictably the same — “Kya karein saheb, paisa to kamana hi hai.”
Many tell you that since they couldn’t study or didn’t do too well in school, they had no option but to become taxi drivers. A few years back, I was traveling from Ranchi to Jamshedpur. The driver’s surname was Sahu. Generally, Sahus belong to the Vaishya community, but in Orissa, it is a caste that equals to Bhumihars.
Surprisingly, the driver knew my caste as well. Not that I told him, but he gathered it from my conversation that I was having with a friend of mine who was travelling with me. I had some work in Jamshedpur even though three days later, the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s (DICCI) Ranchi chapter was to be launched. On our way back, we stopped for tea at a roadside dhaba.
I was curious how the driver felt, driving two Dalits from Ranchi to Jamshedpur and back. “Aap ke passenger Dalit aur aap Sahu — kaisa lagta hai,” I had asked the driver. “Saheb, aap mujhe Dilli le chalo aur apna driver rakh lo,” he had replied. At that time, I didn’t think much of what he had said. But the conversation came back to me in this present context.
While, once again, there is no study that shows that people from the upper caste are going for jobs that are considered to be lowly just so that they can earn more money, my observations suggest that money is gaining prominence over caste. If money is becoming bigger than caste, what should the anti-caste crusaders be telling the Dalit youthIJ The Dalit youth should take to business in a big way. Moreso, by those people who swear by Dr BR Ambedkar’s name and follow his teachings.
Most Dalits will want to know from where they will get the capital to start a businessIJ Getting a loan from a bank even for people from the upper caste is difficult, how will the Dalits get itIJ Well, the answer is very simple — from where did DICCI members get money to start their businesses. I have seen many Dalits succeeding in business without taking a bank loan. Since I know hundreds of DICCI members, I am aware of how most of them started their business — with small savings or borrowings from parents, relatives and friends.
The amount of money and effort that many Dalits spent in fighting the caste order, without any success, can be used to start their own venture. Not only will it improve their lot, it will help the community to fight the caste system more effectively.