The priest sat on a wooden low stool, in the outer courtyard of the temple. “Of the 6 million species of living beings on our planet, you were born human. Not a pig. Not a dog. A human being. …”, he said to my parents. I watched on listlessly. I was as interested in the priest’s words as the next kid, which is to say not very much.
This is so fascinating, Malavika. You lay out your messages very clearly and at the same time fill the story with interesting information and historical perspective. Thank you :)
What a wonderful essay Malavika. Like great books and movies, it is so specific that becomes universally relatable.
In Mexico we have an unspoken skin color system, with many unspoken rules (such as talking to people that help around your house in the formal tense, denoting differentiation) that as I grew up I began to find repulsive, but so many people around me don't see, or at least choose not to see.
You capture all this beautifully and tie it perfectly with the simple yet profound This Is Water.
Another powerful, needed article. Thank you for writing this.
Still digesting a very astutely written essay. Beautifully, personally written. And thought provoking. I will be thinking of, and sharing, this essay for a long time, Malavika.
I never thought my Brahminism was something I needed to understand until our conversation & this essay.
I was definitely seeing some parts of it surface as I've only now been living with someone & that someone is not brahmin.
My fundamental understanding of 'clean' is completely wrong. And it's only when someone calls you out on it, purely because of the fact that they're confused why I clean a glass that I never even sipped that me as a 26 year old has started to think about it myself.
This is so fascinating, Malavika. You lay out your messages very clearly and at the same time fill the story with interesting information and historical perspective. Thank you :)
What a wonderful essay Malavika. Like great books and movies, it is so specific that becomes universally relatable.
In Mexico we have an unspoken skin color system, with many unspoken rules (such as talking to people that help around your house in the formal tense, denoting differentiation) that as I grew up I began to find repulsive, but so many people around me don't see, or at least choose not to see.
You capture all this beautifully and tie it perfectly with the simple yet profound This Is Water.
Another powerful, needed article. Thank you for writing this.
Still digesting a very astutely written essay. Beautifully, personally written. And thought provoking. I will be thinking of, and sharing, this essay for a long time, Malavika.
I never thought my Brahminism was something I needed to understand until our conversation & this essay.
I was definitely seeing some parts of it surface as I've only now been living with someone & that someone is not brahmin.
My fundamental understanding of 'clean' is completely wrong. And it's only when someone calls you out on it, purely because of the fact that they're confused why I clean a glass that I never even sipped that me as a 26 year old has started to think about it myself.