It started, as such things must, with the political leadership. Virtually all the regional political parties are now led by members of castes which a century ago were excluded from power. Soon it will be the turn of Central government leadership on a sustained and not just an episodic basis. Over time, this pattern has moved from the world of politics into the more rarefied realms of the bureaucracy and the judiciary. The demographics were always in favour of the lower castes who constituted the majority of the country. In the last century, these demographics have moved even more emphatically and decisively to strengthen the position of the lower castes. And given the context of universal adult franchise this is by no means a trivial matter.

Today we have accepted the reality of the assertion of caste identity. We have even accepted that this identity can be gainfully leveraged by individuals. We are sensitive to the fact that the Scheduled Castes (a brilliant bureaucratic use of the much-maligned English language; they are “scheduled” because their list appears in a “schedule” of the Constitution) prefer to be called “Dalits” rather then the patronising “Harijans”. We have widely expanded quotas and reservations to cover OBCs. (Another brilliant bureaucratic term. “Other” than whom? “Backward” as compared to whom?) And our judiciary has created a new sub-caste known as the “creamy layer”. In future, it is entirely possible that on government forms that we hapless Indian citizens tend to fill out in quadruplicate some of us may have to describe ourselves as “CL” or “NCL”.

... contd.