, I remembered past travels that I took to Bolivia as a teenager. The younger I was the more I hated going back to Bolivia every summer. I hated the smell of the dirty streets riddled with beggar's and the fact that I had to brush my teeth with bottled water and I especially hated the nonexistence of American food. It was not until my later teen years that I began to appreciate the culture and sympathizes with the poverty. Similar to Patel's experience, I saw the unjust treatment of people and the acceptance of that treatment and I saw the importance of a class system and wealth. Patel realizes his early resistance to his Indian culture was due to what he was subjected to in America. He pinpoints America as a nation that, "seduced me [him] into adopting its styles and its scorn, forced me [him] to sacrifice my [his] true heritage in a devil's bargain for acceptance, and then laughed viciously when it slowly dawned on me that I would never be anything but a second-class citizen there".Patel's later visits to India opened his eyes to the inequality people suffered and the different values of his American culture to those of Indian culture. The different identities people had in Indian seemed unchangeable. His grandmothers servants had been in the family for over fifty years and were considered part of the family by Patel's grandmother but they would still be nothing more than servants. India has an easily distinguishable class system while Americans class system is much more fluid because of most of the population can be classified as middle class. The different values placed in America oppose those of many different cultures. Patel classifies those values as, "the dignity of labor, the fundamental equality of human beings, mobility based on drive and talent, the opportunity to create and contribute". The fundamental value of humans being equal is not one accepted by all in America let alone other countries that place high value on a class system.
The Harijans (better known as the "untouchables") are an example of how the Hindu caste system oppressed people based on their occupation. Before 1949, Harijans were subjected to discrimination and had social restrictions because they were viewed as the absolute bottom of the Hindu caste. They were seen as pollution to others. This type of discrimination has been seen in most parts of the world and is reminiscent of the different types of discrimination in America. In past years, Harijans have been given more rights. They have been granted the right to an education and to vocational opportunities but are still discriminated against. Although the government in India has given them more rights many people still view them as the bottom of the Hindu caste. Similar to figures that Patel draws insight and inspiration from (Douglass, Malcolm X, Gandhi) he sees the injustice in the creation of a caste system.
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition; 10/1/2009, p1-1, 1p
Khare, R.S. The Untouchable as Himself. New York, NY. Cambridge University Press 1984.
I agree with you that the Indian and American class systems are very different. But I think a big difference between Indians and Americans is that while Indians tend to judge on class, Americans tend to focus their judgment on not on a person's economic status, but rather their religion and political affiliations. That isn't to say that Americans don't look down on those they deem "low class," but I think that for the majority of Americans (who are, as you said, middle class) character is more important.
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