I have already introduced the trio of Loxmi, Santi and Pipa in a previous entry. Since writing about our first meeting I have come across the girls a couple more times at the lake. Nepalgunj does not offer many peaceful areas, so anyone in the neighborhood looking for a quiet place to spend the evening will invariably head for the lake. My first conversation with this trio was mostly about their family’s displacement during the conflict years, our second discussion ended up covering an equally significant issue; caste.

Santi initiated this topic almost immediately upon our second meeting. After a brief greeting, she quickly and directly asked me “What is your caste?” I have never been asked this question before so I did not have an immediate answer ready. Taking a moment to think I tried a joke first. I explained that my last name, Koenig, actually means ‘king’ in German. So perhaps I come from the caste of the kings. Loxmi got the joke and offered a sympathy laugh. Santi did not quite grasp the humor. Instead she took my answer quite seriously and was visibly impressed that I was of such a high level caste. Since my joke had missed the mark, I immediately explained that in America and in fact most of the world we do not have castes. Santi did not immediately grasp this idea, so she asked “Even once you are married you do not have a caste?” I replied in the negative and our conversation quickly detoured to a discussion of marriage, how we get married, how we decide who to marry and of course whether or not I was married. Throughout the entire conversation it was very clear that Santi could not fathom the idea of marriage and indeed life without the caste system. Santi is not alone in that regard.

This is one of the biggest challenges to improving the human rights system in Nepal, breaking the traditional cultural barriers that essentially are blocking the social inclusion of many groups of people. For those readers unfamiliar with the caste system, it is essentially a rigid social hierarchy that is based on the idea that there are different levels of purity among different groups of people. The ancestors of the highest castes were formed from Shiva’s head and the lower your caste, the lower your point of origin on Shiva’s body. The most pure classes in Nepal are the Brahmans, Thakuris and the Chetris, they are called the ‘twice-born’ castes. Even among these three pure castes there are strict divisions, and rarely any inter-marriages. The lowest group of castes is the untouchables, now often referred to in Nepal as Dalit people. They are called untouchables because higher caste people consider them impure and avoid any contact with them. “Pure” caste people will not drink from the same source of water as Dalits, they will not eat food cooked in a pot touched by Dalit people, if they touch a Dalit person they will perform ritual ablutions. Traditionally the Dalit people were only allowed to do the most demeaning jobs. The Dalits have been barred from temples and buildings and generally discriminated against in every phase of life.

Formally the equality of all Nepali citizens was recognized in 1950, but in reality discrimination based on caste is still present today. With the caste system restricting the kinds of employment they could receive, people from the lower castes are one average much poorer and less educated. Dalit people are still barred from using community water sources and even prevented from entering temples in many places. Santi offers some insight into as to why this discriminatory system continues, many people just can not imagine society without the caste system. This is why awareness and advocacy programs are so important in Nepal. People need to be shown the effects of this type of discrimination and also that it does not have to be this way. Once more people are exposed to these ideas change might be introduced to allow for a more inclusive and harmonious society.