11-07-2006, 12:45 AM
Vishwas- I am conservative and am completely opposed to the decay of hindu ritual traditions. However, the hindu shAstra-s do provide scope for adaptation and I believe that we should be adapting within tradition rather than discarding it. The social categorization of India indeed had its benefits. One politically incorect point it the following: The "service jAtis" of which there are about 12 in many parts of India had their distinct role which maintained national productivity. Because for the service and production jAtis their trade was their only means of survival they carried it out to their maximum efficiency. Sady when these group were displaced to urban settings to work in factories their efficiency completely declined because they no longer felt that direction connection to their livelihood. As result India's productivity has lagged way behind the west or even recent Eastern upstarts like Korea and Japan. So the industrialization and industrial urbanization of India would have been a greater success if it had happened within the jAti structure and preseerved it.