Caste discrimination has no place in a modern India: Books, films can help

Children and teenagers now have access to books that unpack how the caste system dehumanises people on the lower rungs of the hierarchy and how they reclaim their dignity

Conversations about caste are difficult to have as they bring up guilt, shame, anger, and defensiveness in people from communities that have profited from or been complicit in structural violence that has persisted for centuries. These uncomfortable feelings need to have a place to be aired and confronted. The work of unlearning cannot happen if people are left without tools to chip away at their conditioning and resources to sit with their inner debris.

Children and teenagers now have access to books that unpack how the caste system dehumanises people on the lower rungs of the hierarchy