Brahminism

'Brahminism was the term that the anticaste movement preferred over "Hinduism." By Brahminism, they didn't mean Brahmins as a caste or a community. They meant the domino effect, what Ambedkar called the "infection of imitation," that the caste that first "enclosed" itself -- the Brahmins -- set off.The exponential decay of the radioactive atom of caste means that Brahminism is practised not just by the Brahmin against the Kshatriya or the Vaishya against the Shudra, or the Shudra against the Untouchable, but also by the Untouchable against the Unapproachable, the Unapproachable against the Unseeable. It means there is a quotient of Brahminism in everybody, regardless of which caste they belong to. It is the ultimate means of control in which the concept of pollution and purity and the perpetration of social as well as physical violence -- an inevitable part of administering an oppressive hierarchy -- is not just outsourced, but implanted in everybody's imagination, including those at the bottom of the hierarchy. It's like an elaborate enforcement network in which everybody polices everybody else. The Unapproachable polices the Unseeable; the Malas resent the Madigas; the Madigas turn upon the Dakkalis, who sit on the Rellis; the Vanniyars quarrel with the Paraiyars, who in turn could beat up the Arundhatiyars.'

I have read this somewhere but loved it too much that I couldnt help but post it.
So this is what being a brahmin went back in those days.
But what do they mean when they say "I am a brahmin" now???
Does it mean they are far superior? Does it mean they are born intelligent? Does that mean they are god's favourite?Does that mean you have to bow for them?

In Another book that defined the way in which castes were decided (Its a fiction though!!!) it was written:

Castes were based on the traits of a person.
A brahmin was one who had the ability to read and understand and were intelligent .
A kshatriya was the one who had the skill and ability to fight in a battle field .
Similary a shudra was the one who would clean all the dirt,dust and would keep the city clean.
Shudras were left out and werent allowed to join the remaining because since they worked with all the garbage and dirt of the city they had higher chances of being polluted and coming into contact with them might risk the health.
Yet shudras were respected as much as brahmins , kshatriyas.They might have been well divided into subcastes depending on the type of field they speicalized.

That made perfect sense as the traits might have been passed on genetically too.

But the main thing missing now-a-days is "Respect".
Resspect for the other caste,Tolerance towards their habits and behaviour and not letting Casteism dominate the way we view other people.Why cant we follow the footsteps of our ancestors and respect each other rather than being biased towards the Caste System!!!