Caste (jati) is a reality in India. People in India for at least 1500 years could not change vocation or marry outside caste. This led to social stagnation. Unspoken was the concept of “touchability”. Some castes were seen too low to even touch. Reservation policies of modern governments can bring social mobility, break caste barriers, but they cannot remove hierarchy of purity, a mental construct. The following story questions the idea of genes and merit. 

Once upon a time, there was a basket weaver who would craft four baskets every day. One was for his household expenses, another for his parents as repayment for all they had done in raising him, the third for his children, an investment in their lives and his future, and the fourth for charity. This story of the weaver originates from Kerala.