Save me from this world!

Hundreds of movies. Thousands of slogans. Millions of reasons. But its very disheartening to see that caste system still prevails. There are still people who are stubborn to the caste systems. There are still organisations based on caste. And there are still political parties winning elections by using the caste system to their advantage. Pathetic I would say. Why is this age old system still torturing us in this boundary less connected internet world? Why does people still stick to these shameful caste systems and act biased? So many questions popup in my mind that I am afraid would take me very long time to find answers for them.

I agree that the importance given to caste system has been reduced in all these years. But it is still acting as a barrier for improvement and a basis for corruption and chaotic life. I have seen and am seeing lot of situations that proves this. Whats more disheartening is that some of the situations I have seen are more closer to me that I didnt expect. I was really disappointed when I found a major school in our hometown still has caste as a factor for recruiting the staff and even the Principal. How can you expect a school which recruits staff based on caste to provide quality and unbiased education. All the slogans like "Ondrae kulam. Oruvanae Dhevan" will stop in the boards itself. It cannot reach the students for it may not be in the teachers' mind. In my 18 years of schooling, caste had been the least topic that I had ever discussed with my class mates and friends. I was very proud of it. But when I realised that the same school that taught equality is biased to caste made me feel bad and makes me angry that I am not able to do anything for that.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know why it is so. But to analyse that I need to understand what is this caste system and was it necessary any time in the past.
Recalling the lessons I had learnt in History subject, I know that people were divided into four classes according tot he job they did in the olden days. the Brahmins , the priestly and learned people, the Kshatriyas , the warriors and the rulers, the Vyabaris , the mercantile classes and the Shudras , landless laborers. Though I found the paritality given based upon caste systems a wrong one to follow, I understand that the division is based only upon the jobs that the people took. Then the caste system slowly changed and it grew more divisions and more importance was given to it. After many changes, it went on to multiply to more than 20 castes with more subcastes within them. Now there are hundreds of castes in south India alone. What I dont understand is the origin of these castes which I dont find it to be based upon the type of work. I have heard lots of stories about the battles that have happened between castes.
One such fight is between the nadar and thevar communities in virudhunagar. One have to go through the streets in Virudhunagar, a town in Madurai district. You will be fascinated by the puzzle like roads that connect the streets. The houses will be closed packed though without common walls. There will be very narrow gaps which we can neither classify as roads nor as ditches. Also the doors of the houses will be made of strong wood. The most craziest thing is that there will be log oven in the top of the houses. It would be funny to think of cooking food at the top of house and take it inside to eat it. If you think "These people are crazy", you are wrong. They houses were constructed with great plans. In the older days, virudhunagar was occupied mainly by two castes, nadar and thevar community and riots between them would happen very frequently and people would be running with sickles in their hand sacking each other. And here is the crazy fact. The reason for having the narrow roads between houses is to confuse the other community be running within the narrow roads which is like a maze. If you start from a side you would mostly end back at the same position after getting confused in the path. The need for strong door is to prevent unwanted persons from breaking the house. And guess whats the use of the stove on the house tops. It was used to heat oil and pour it over the persons when they passes through the narrow roads. And there is no valid reason for these riots. I can talk on forever about the caste disputes that happened like these in the recent past. There are so much examples that will make one wonder if we are still barbarians in nature.
Another area where I have seen caste system taking its toll is love. The cine world has used this as the greatest tool for making block buster love stories. So many movies are made both with happy and tragic endings that seems that they are made for money rather than changing the society. And everyone can see the effect in real life too. After all, one out of ten persons you know would tell how caste ruined their love life. The world has grown to a level to accept different caste people living together but not love each other yet. We are still a way behind in demolishing the evil caste system. I am sad to say that if I tell my parents that I am in love with some girl, the first thought will not be how much caring or beautiful she would be but what would be her caste. Its a shameful truth. Their life has grown in that way. They are living in a world interlinked with caste in every turn they make.
It was our parents who taught us to make friends based on character and not on caste. It was our parents who taught us to treat everyone equally. It was our parents who taught us to live together with the world making us forget what caste means. But now it is the same persons who wants us to choose our partner based on caste. All our life we were told not to believe in caste, but in the later stage, caste becomes the main factor in deciding our partner. I have a hard time accepting that.
But things are not the same everywhere. People are going forward without the caste system and I believe in one or two generations we can make the caste system seen only in history books. But what I am worried is, why cant I be part of that world right now. And how much I can do in changing the world is something I am not able to answer. I feel caught behind bars in this caste centric world. Some one save me.