Much against my wishes I am getting involved in this discussion :o)
Suku your question to all the married women in this group sounds
absurd and annoying to me BUT this film which you mentioned ( I don't
know which one though) may be talking about a certain part of India
where it may be happening.
There are all kinds of weird things that used to happen to women in
India and you would be shocked out of your mind to learn that in most
parts of rural India strange things still happen. Sati still happens,
devdasis still exist, purdah system still flourishes, public rapes
and stoning to death of alleged witches happens, female infanticide,
punishing of women by the panchayat by giving a rape sentence........
chunni system.....and the likes.
We are living in urban India and therefore have not seen or turned a
blind eye to the horrors that are happening to our women. ITS TIME TO
OPEN OUR EYES WIDE AND REALISE THE PLIGHT OF INDIAN WOMEN.

--- In Shimlahangout@y..., its_suku <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Did the people who were classified into certain castes as you have
cited knew the word "caste" at that time as you have referred?? My
main question here is the origin of the word "Caste"" not on the
issue of when people started dividing into small groups like based on
their profession or so on. (This also reminds me of one of the recent
incidents of defining his "Jati" based on his profession: In one of
the scientific meetings I was attending, this guy introduced himself
before asking the question "" I belong to an elite class of software
professionals"" ) certainly they were an elite class 2 years back
similar to what Brahmins and Kshtriyas (on the basis of castism
defined in india) claim today . But today they (s/w) are not such an
elite class and tomorrow if software goes further down, they might
even become an extinct class like what we call as SCs' and STs'.
>
> I happened to discuss this issue in details with Rajiv malhotra
President of Infinity Foundation, New Jersy yeasterday
(http://www.sulekha.com/column.asp?cid=280095). I was really
impressed the way he had putforth the various facts. He is actively
involved in the research on Indian culture and a well read on
sulekha.com. He told that there are many words in sanskrit and hindi
which cant be translated into english but still people do try, thus
making the translation and thus the indian culture more and more
confusing. For example "Deva and Ishwara" cant be traslated as GOD.
likewise the word "Gao" which means knowledge and also has got more
more meanings. I also had a serious discussions on this issue of
involving the meaning of various sanskrit words with Prof R L Kashyap
of Perdue univeristy last year. He has worked on the Veda Samhitas
and their english translation.
> This is where we are mistaken currently, thus Brahmins community (
please read it as the elite communists, Bhadralok, the pinkos)is
putting all these facts inappropriately in front of the world and
demeaning the hindus. One more fact I came know which totally
surprised me that one famous movie director ( in art movies and
documentories) had made a movie on hindu culture, which was screened
in Canada few months back. This movie showed that in India, as per
the custom the new bride is selected by the local designated priest
( who is always a brahmin as per under the castism rules)after he
sleeps with the bride for ""one night"". I want to ask all the
married ladies in this group whether they really did experience the
same before their marriage??
> Now tell me that is it practised in india at large which represents
the hindu community?? Why always only the negative things are
projected against India, against Hindus??? Is it the role of english
media??
>
>
> Probably www.indiacause.org can provide some more insight into this
matter of media bias.
>
> btw as caste is a purtugese word. as secularism is an europian word.
> suku