Historical Implication of The Cabulliwallah
Uploaded by amad_era on May 11, 2017
India’s caste system was divided into five groups or castes. These castes provided a system of hierarchy, often using repression to keep the lower castes down. The Manusmriti, acted as a justification for India’s caste system saying the caste system was derived from the Hindu god Brahma. It was known as “the most important and authoritative book on Hindu law” (What is India’s caste system?, BBC, 2016). This book bestowed privileges on the upper castes and sanctioned the repression of lower castes. The upper castes, or the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, consisted of priests, teachers, warriors, and rulers. The lower caste, or the Vaishyas and Shudras, was made up of farmers, traders, merchants, and labourers. There were also Dalits, or untouchables; they were a people who were regarded as the lowest of the low. Upper and lower castes were separated by segregated colonies; “the water wells were not shared, Brahmins would not accept food or drink from the Shudras, and one could marry only within one's caste” (What is India’s caste system?, BBC, 2016). It was very difficult for someone of the lower caste to progress to a higher one as most important and high paying jobs were only granted to the upper class.
The caste system affects the relationship between Mini’s father and the Cabuliwallah because they were separated by the beliefs regarding the upper and lower castes. The Cabuliwallah was identified in the Vaishyas caste (lower) as he was a merchant, and Mini’s father belonged to the Brahmins caste (upper) as he was a teacher. Although there was separation between the two, I feel like Mini’s father didn’t want to prejudge the Cabuliwallah and give him the benefit of the doubt. However, the beginning of Mini's friendship with the Cabuliwallah creates conflict between Mini's mother and father. They disagree on how they view the friendship. Mini's mother believes she should not be hanging out with a grown man and imposes fearful questions on Mini's father, "she was full of doubts about the Cabuliwallah, and used to beg me to keep a watchful eye on him...she would turn round on me seriously, and ask me...Were children never kidnapped? Was it, then, not true that there was slavery in Cabul? Was it so very absurd that this big man should be able to carry off a tiny child?" Even though Mini's father likes to see his little girl happy with the...