"Em Pilla, meeru evaru??" ("Hello girl..., who are you?", here 'who are you' signifies 'what caste you belong to'); this was among the first few questions asked when I entered my hostel, some 4 years back. I was not used to this type of questions. I'm brought up in a locality where almost people from most of the religions and most of the states live together. This question sounded odd to me... Nevertheless, I answered "Hmm.. Brahmin... why?" She was startled.. That's what I understood from her reaction. She asked "enti? Brahmin aa?" (What!, Brahmin?) giving some extra stress to the word "Brahmin". "Why? What happenned?", I asked again. "Ah.. Nothing re... You don't look like a Brahmin, so...", she said. "Oh, is it??, By the way, I don't know how Brahmins look like... Please explain", I asked. She smiled this time and said, "Don't mind, but brahmins are generall...
In the Circle of Life, It's the wheel of fortune, It's the leap of faith, It's the band of hope, Till we find our place On the path unwinding in the Circle, the Circle of Life