N
Nara
Guest
Hello SwamiTaBra and Saidevo,
These two comments are quite interesting. First, from the way Saidevo describes the gated agraharam at Double Mal street, I wonder how he knows that "this was not insisted". But, taking his words at face value, we can assume that the NBs willingly humbled themselves in order to show respect. Yet, it seems Egmore mudaliyars were bitter rivals to Mylapore Brahmins.
Perhaps the rivalry was only between upper caste NB and B, but the lower caste NB, like the construction workers Saidevo witnessed, held Brahmins highly respectable. But this does not add up either, how come these upper caste NBs were able to mobilize all NBs against Bs in such a short time, within a matter of 25 to 30 years. DMK dislodged Congress by mid 60s.
I know what the response would be for this, it is hateful propaganda against the Bs by these DMK types that turned everybody against the Bs. This is really lame.
First, why can't a similar argument be made to show that the respect the construction workers voluntarily showed is because of Brahmin propaganda of birth-based inferiority. Second, the ease with which DMK found resonance among the general public shows that the respect Brahmins enjoyed was only on the surface. Dig a little deeper, there was dislike and resentment to be exploited.
Finally, the upper caste NB embraced Tamil culture and tradition, open to all, but the Brahmins in their hubris held on to their exclusivity, in language, culture, tradition, and made it easy for the upper caste mudaliyars to paint them as the "other". The "mudaliyars" with their kottai and all, were able to make this into B vs. NB because the Brahmins gave them all the ammunition they needed. The TBs couldn't make this into a Mudaliyar vs. non-mudaliyar, could they?
At least now, having been completely marginalized in Tamil nadu, at least now, the Brahmins could stop and think, and try to jettison all the things that made it way too easy to be scapegoated. But that feeling of superiority, we are better than the rest, that feeling is hard to give up, so it seems
Cheers!
So, these brahmins wouldn't abandon their brahmnical ways even after embracing Christianity? Perhaps these brahmins converted only to get free education. Whatever the case may be, these instances only bolster the case against brahminism, not mitigate it a bit..... an agraharam for brahmin converts somewhere near the Periya Kadai veedi, set up exclusively for neo-brahmin converts in late 19th century. Except that for a perumal temple they had a chapel. Other restrictions lsuch of barring entry of people from pallar/pariah were observed.
.... I have even seen one or two ordinary construction workers walk through the street carrying their sandals on hand out of respect, though this was not insisted.
It is an irony that mudaliar community from which quite a few leading lights of DMK like Nedunchezhian, Anbazhagan would not speak of exclusivity by their own community.
Some people would dub it as rivalry between two elite groups of Madras -- one with Mylapore (brahmins) as its bastion and other with Egmore (mudaliars).
These two comments are quite interesting. First, from the way Saidevo describes the gated agraharam at Double Mal street, I wonder how he knows that "this was not insisted". But, taking his words at face value, we can assume that the NBs willingly humbled themselves in order to show respect. Yet, it seems Egmore mudaliyars were bitter rivals to Mylapore Brahmins.
Perhaps the rivalry was only between upper caste NB and B, but the lower caste NB, like the construction workers Saidevo witnessed, held Brahmins highly respectable. But this does not add up either, how come these upper caste NBs were able to mobilize all NBs against Bs in such a short time, within a matter of 25 to 30 years. DMK dislodged Congress by mid 60s.
I know what the response would be for this, it is hateful propaganda against the Bs by these DMK types that turned everybody against the Bs. This is really lame.
First, why can't a similar argument be made to show that the respect the construction workers voluntarily showed is because of Brahmin propaganda of birth-based inferiority. Second, the ease with which DMK found resonance among the general public shows that the respect Brahmins enjoyed was only on the surface. Dig a little deeper, there was dislike and resentment to be exploited.
Finally, the upper caste NB embraced Tamil culture and tradition, open to all, but the Brahmins in their hubris held on to their exclusivity, in language, culture, tradition, and made it easy for the upper caste mudaliyars to paint them as the "other". The "mudaliyars" with their kottai and all, were able to make this into B vs. NB because the Brahmins gave them all the ammunition they needed. The TBs couldn't make this into a Mudaliyar vs. non-mudaliyar, could they?
At least now, having been completely marginalized in Tamil nadu, at least now, the Brahmins could stop and think, and try to jettison all the things that made it way too easy to be scapegoated. But that feeling of superiority, we are better than the rest, that feeling is hard to give up, so it seems
Cheers!