Pune's Quiet Undercurrent of Casteism – My Experience Growing Up
I grew up in Pune. My grandfather was a milkman and we had buffaloes and cows. My father studied incredibly hard, got into Fergusson College, and eventually built a career in the corporate world. Watching his journey, I worked hard too, earned a degree in computer science engineering, moved abroad, and now I'm doing STEM research.
People often describe Pune as India's "Oxford of the East", a city of education, progressive thinking, and merit. That has certainly been true for many people. But growing up, I also experienced what I can only describe as a quiet undercurrent of casteism that rarely gets talked about.
I went to a school in Erandwane (I'd rather not name it). At a very young age, I experienced discrimination from teachers because of my caste. I'm a Kshatriya, and I was made to feel that I didn't belong among the "intelligent" students because I wasn't from one of the so-called upper castes. I still remember being told, directly or indirectly, that only people from certain castes could attain the highest levels of knowledge.
When you're a child, you don't know enough to question authority. If a teacher says something like that, you don't argue, you believe it. It took me years to realise how damaging those messages were.
As an adult, I understand that favouritism exists everywhere. But I still believe a classroom should be one place where a child's potential isn't judged by the family they were born into. No child chooses their caste.
What has always puzzled me is how people take pride in something they had no role in earning. Your caste isn't an achievement. It's an accident of birth. Even more ironic is how many people ignore the traditional rules associated with their own caste whenever it's convenient, but when it's time to establish social superiority, caste suddenly becomes very important again.
Living abroad has made me realise how much lighter life can feel when people judge you by your work instead of your surname. Here, I'm simply an Indian researcher. My colleagues care about my ideas, my work, and what I contribute not the caste I was born into.
Sometimes I wonder: if I eventually earn a PhD, would there still be people back home who'd see my caste before they see my work?
I'm not claiming this is everyone's experience in Pune, nor am I trying to start a caste war or blame an entire community. This is simply my experience growing up in a city that prides itself on education and rational thinking. For me, there was always a quiet undercurrent of casteism beneath that image.
I'm curious whether others from Pune have experienced something similar, or whether my experience was an exception.