When I read reports on Dalits being humiliated when they enter temples, I think of my village. Dalitwada has its own temples. Five temples for a village of thirty families. They also go to the temple in the Reddy hamlet, and there due to a historical fact, Anandanna of Dalitwada is the honoured priest. In the Bharatam celebrations all castes shoulder to shoulder participate in the rituals. There is a temple in Vallivedu which the Reddy's do not permit the Dalits in, not have the Dalits shown any interest in that temple, and it has not been an issue.
When I read of virulent khap panchayats, I think of the madhyasthams in my village where the whole community and the village enders sit together and address community transgressions. Usually justics is served, and the limitations on each family in terms of fine ability are known and understood.
When I head of severe patriarchial oppression, I think of my village where men and women both carry water, where in most houses men also cook somedays. There are gender differances in work, but I cannot see gender inequality.
Mine is an ordinary off-the-road village and is neither remote nor tribal And I wonder if the media catches one rare perversion and makes that sound the norm, to reinforce an image that villages are backward and illiterate and mired in superstitions. I really dont know.
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