Blog 21: More Quotes!

It is easy to see that Ardana is not living in peace. They are divided between two worlds that are not willing to compromise and live together. The people of Stratos want to maintain the world they have created, while the Troglytes want to live off the tumultuous surface and live alongside the Stratos city dwellers. India can be looked at in a similar way. We see that there are different sides forming, none of which can come to a uniform agreement of the best course of action. However, unlike Stratos, where the world is divided into two distinct classes, India is divided into a handful of castes, all wanting different things from the others. David Gilmartin is a professor of history at the University of California at Berkely who specializes in modern South Asian history. In April 2010, Gilmartin said that for India “to achieve complete...unity, it is necessary that...caste...should be killed and effaced”(Gilmartin 409). When Indians identify themselves by what caste they are from, they are creating lines that are impossible to cross. In order to achieve any sort of social mobility, it is necessary to stop putting these lines up. Instead of Indians labeling themselves as Dalits or Brahmin, they should simply identify themselves as people trying to reach an agreement. Without the incorporation of caste into debate, a case for universal equal rights is much more viable. Just as on Ardana, the people need to stop identifying themselves as “city dweller” or “Troglyte”, they need to identify themselves as people of the planet Ardana.

Matthew