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The primary organizing force in India is the Caste System. In the Caste System, the masses are divided up into five separate groups or classes. Firstly, there are the Brahmins, who are considered to be at the top of the pyramid. The Brahmins are intellectuals, the educated, and the religious, or at least they are supposedly all these things. A caste is a role you are born into, it is not possible to move up a caste or down a caste, and often the undeserving remain in a higher caste than more deserving people. A step down from the Brahmins are the Kshatriyas. These are the warriors and soldiers. Next there are theVaisyas. The Vaisyas are the commoners, the merchants and traders. The fourth class are the Sudras. They're peasants, farmers, artisans, and manual laborers. The lowest level of society are the Untouchables. The Untouchables are the worst off in society. They are given demeaning and disgusting jobs like handling dead bodies and trash. They live in separate ghettos from the other classes and are viewed as disgusting animals, so much that they are required to hit two sticks together to warn the better-off away when in another classes' part of town. (3)
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