Living Memories of Caste: The Thoti’s Stick

Abstract

The hegemonisation of the self is reflected through multiple processes and the focus of this chapter is on caste hegemony which contains an entire universe, imposing ‘otherness’ through the mechanisms of space, symbols, language, institutions, identities, socio-economic, political and cultural practices. For those inhabiting the lower-caste habitus, the subjective embodiment of marginality is reflected in their everyday affective and expressive life experiences. The hierarchic social order is reproduced within the sites of everyday association. When the process of subversion occurs and the attempt is made towards self-actualisation, simultaneously there will be a continuous pressure of counter-hegemonisation to disrupt the burgeoning self-actualisation process. The notion of a narrative of personal experience implies that a person has his or her own experiences, that selves are ultimately discrete entities. Simultaneously, the narrative description defines selves in terms of others in present, past and imagined universes. Developing a sense of one’s self as separated from others is considered a cornerstone of human cognition and well-being. The development of self-awareness in all human beings is inextricably tied to an awareness of other people and things. From this perspective, we define ourselves through our past, present, future and imagined involvements with people and things; ourselves extended into these worlds, and they into us. One of the most important functions of a narrative is to situate particular events against a larger horizon of what we consider to be human passions, virtues, philosophies, actions and relationships.