एकं सत्! Ekam sat!

A recent staging of plays on "caste" was deeply hurtful as it just proved that the "gift" of "caste" that the colonialists imposed on us, still keeps on giving, continuing to trap and enslave us to this day. What's worse is that an entire community and the faith it holds dear gets beaten and blamed for this when nothing could be farther from the truth. Here are some questions and data points to illustrate this along with links to resources. Have tried to select short videos and small articles, as far as possible, respecting the reader's time. How did we get here? The "caste" narrative beats the colonial drum. But what is the  history of "Caste" ? How did  we get here ? Do last names indicate "caste"  or is it simply indicative of ancestral profession or the name of a place?  Most importantly, is this  sanctioned in the Vedas , the foundational text of Hindu Dharma? Or any Hindu scripture for that matter? No, it is not!

श्रावणमासः, कृष्णपक्षः, अष्टमीतिथिः, गोपालकाला, १९४५ शकसंवत्सरः Yesterday was Shri Krishna Janmaashtami, the day Lord Vishnu was born on this earth as Krishna, the dark one. Happened to hear a beautiful talk on the metaphorical meaning behind Krishna's childhood antics fondly known as Krishna leela and thinking on it, my imagination added some more interpretations on Gopaalakaalaa (गोपालकाला ) and Dahihandi (दहीहंडी) what with today being the day these events are remembered and celebrated! But first a little about what are Gopaalakaalaa and Dahihandi.  Gopaalakaalaa: The recipe for Diversity, Equity, Equality and Inclusion Gopaalakaalaa is what Krishna and his cowherd friends ate mixing all their individual lunch box contents together. The cowherds set out early in the morning with their cows to take them to graze in the fields. They each had some packed lunch but not everyone was from a well to do household so some had simpler, smaller lunches than others. Krishna was the son of t