The caste system in India has a long history. It was initially perceived to classify people based on their profession. Over the years, it became a framework to discriminate against people who were classified in the lower layer of the caste pyramid, who were called as shudras. By denying access to education, they were kept in a downtrodden environment for generations together. Post independence, the Indian constitution made serious attempts to correct this issue by introducing caste based reservation system in educational institutions and government jobs. The topic of the reservation system is very vast and debatable even today.
The book ‘My Father Baliah’ talks about three generations of people from a repressed family. It details how education and accessibility transformed their lives, breaking the shackles of caste. The author Mr.Satyanarayana traverses through his family history to portray their growth. His father Sri. Baliah who has faced the real brunt of discrimination, is the protagonist of this family narrative. At a very young age, he gets a clear idea that only education can help his future generations to come out of this misery. The turning point in his life comes with him getting a job with the Indian Railways. When the British introduced railways across the country, it opened up a lot of jobs like boxmen.The job entailed carrying the box (with the personal belongings) of the guard, from one train to another or from train to home and vice versa.
For Baliah’s family, his job in railways gave two major benefits. The first one being staying in railway employees quarters, where the caste based discrimination was not as bad as in his village. Second,his, which includes the author, got access to education. As years passed by, education opened up so many possibilities for the future. Mr Satyanarayana who is the third son of Sri. Balaiah obtained a degree in Science and eventually went on to get a PhD as well. His other brothers also obtained good education and got good positions in various government jobs. Mr Satyanarayana was able to to give much more exposure to his children and also ensure that they could afford better education, making the caste based system redundant. In fact, his children and grandchildren have migrated to the US and are living there.
The book takes us through various small incidents that happened in Sri. Baliah and Mr.Satyanarayana’s life and how his family overcame all the challenges, eventually emerging as successful individuals,usingeducation as the only weapon. The author also takes us through the positive emotional aspects of living in a joint family, where despite the limited resources, the contentment of the whole family living under one roof had. That, of course, changed over time as the siblings got educated and got good jobs, enabling better living conditions. The birth of a nuclear family. This also opens up an interesting debate and a volley of opinions on whether having a resource less living is better than the current ‘abundance’ scenario. My view is that I will always choose growth, while not forgetting our roots. Whatever we may choose to name that system is my answer.
In summary, a very gripping read with lots of interesting anecdotes about facing challenges and emerging successfully by an entire generation, all thanks to the passion of one individual Sri.Baliah. Very inspiring and highly recommended.
