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Tuesday, August 21, 2007 ( 7:40 PM ) shut up christine hi b! there was a question regarding the meaning of the word "untouchable" this is taken from wikipedia: Untouchability refers to the social practice of ostracizing a (usually) minority endogamous group by regarding them as "ritually polluted" and segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. Prominent examples of this practice include the ostracization of the Dalits and "Arzal" castes in India and Bangladesh, the practice of Apartheid in South Africa , the segregation and discrimination of the al-Akdham in Yemen, and the Japanese Burakumin undercastes. You can read more about the Indian caste system here points from the article: - "untouchables" worked in what were seen as unhealthy, disgusting or polluting jobs - in the past, untouchables suffered from social segregation and restrictions in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. - If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled, and had to bathe thoroughly to purge herself of the impurity. you can tell caste by the person's last name. in case you were wondering, his caste is gutter cleaner. a lot has changed since then and the situation in modern india isn't as severe, but social stigmas still persist. apparently it's a big deal in marriage speaking of marriage, crazy story. my roomie Anchal (24 yrs old) has an arranged marriage, the wedding date is set for December. before his parents agreed to let them meet, they asked for her birth date so they could make sure that her and his birthdays were compatible. they are. the thing is Anchal isn't sure what her exact birthdate is she doesn't have a birth certificate but she does have one document that says her birthdate is August 24. for some reason she believes the date on this certificate was a mistake, so she has always celebrated her birthday on August 28. anyhow, Anchal's fiance's mother found out about this and flipped out because their birthdays might not be compatible after all, and if they aren't, the wedding is cancelled. CANCELLED!! Anchal is freaking out because she's fallen in love with this boy. last night we stayed up late crying together i know so many other stories like this. i'm leaving on friday, i booked my flight to Calcutta then learned the family left Calcutta to return to their village! gah so now i may be on a wild goose chase through rural india to deliver this package. cross your fingers #
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