[ajju]

What the hell is "african features"? You say the caste system is racist and then yourself say the most intelligent people are from higher castes. Don't you think that is a racist claim?

By the way I know several people from lower castes who are super intelligent. And forced hereditary occupations are a thing of the past EVERYWHERE. Even in Bihar, our most backward state, you can't FORCE someone from the lower cast to stick to a profession (which is why Lalu Prasad Yadav, our railway minister and his party came to power, by fighting for Dalits, or at least claiming to).

Make no mistake, the caste system is very prevalent but you don't need to exaggerate to make your point.

[juwo]

It is my observation - I too studied in India. It is common knowledge that brahmins (caste) as a group are more intelligent than the average population. For example, They have made up the bulk of Nobel laureates from India.

My room mate was from the untouchable caste (translation for Americans). He was super intelligent too - managed to leave the country and got 2 post graduate degrees in the USA, trained himself to run marathons.

regarding your comment on hereditary occupations, please read this article

And no, I am not a brahmin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2231011.stm

"In the dead of the night, when the city of six million goes to sleep, groups of jobless low-caste Hindus, known as Dalits, eke out a living by removing human excrement from pits in the poorer neighbourhoods of the city."

[cant_login_juwo]

Ajju,

the word 'caste' comes from the Sanskrit 'Varna' which means 'skin color'.

see http://www.raceandhistory.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl...