Chaatur varnyam maya shrishtam

guna karma vibhagashah

This probably is the most highly contested shloka in the entire Gita, the holy text of the Hindus. Critics have often blamed the oppressive Indian caste system on just this one pronouncement that the four-tiered varna system is God-made, whereas defenders of the faith haven’t stopped exp­laining its multi-layered metaphysical meanings. The fact remains that caste occupation is a terrible Indian reality that has continued unhindered into the 21st century. Sure, a physician’s son becoming a physician or a president’s son becoming a president is not just an Indian phenomenon. But a manual scavenger’s son becoming another manual scavenger, or expecting a sweeper’s daughter to remain a sweeper, is an unfortunate Indian experience.

It is in this context that we look at caste occupations, particularly two of the worst hereditary livelihoods: garbage removal and disposal of dead animals. The Dalits, as a varna, have been destined to do both...