Caste isn’t easy to understand if you haven’t experienced it–although apparently if you’re upper caste, experience goes right over your head & you actually believe you’re superior. What’s most difficult to understand is not the superior/inferior rubbish but the interactions between caste & class. Class subordination is oppressive enough without the added complexities & subordination of caste.

This is an interview with Sujatha Gidla, a Dalit woman who grew up in Andhra Pradesh but now works in NYC as a subway conductor–a person who probably understands both caste & class. She authored a book on caste titled “Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family & The Making Of Modern Indi.” It’s quite an interesting interview so the book may be a good place to learn about caste. According to her interview, many anti-caste Indians have found the book valuable.

http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/aaIAEmHZFUZO3Det7Um9BP/How-to-tell-the-Dalit-story.html?