Week 6 Storytelling: The Four Friends

The Four Friends

It was a warm autumn afternoon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bhakti, Kapil, Vidya, and Suraj were walking back from school. The seventh grade had just started two weeks ago and the four friends still couldn't believe summer was over. On their walk home, the kids talked about what they missed most about summer. Kapil and Suraj's families went on a cruise together and all the boys could talk about was their time on the ship. Vidya went on and on about the youth camp she was at for one month. Bhakti just listened to her friends talk about their fun adventures because she stayed in Tulsa all summer. 

When they arrived at their neighborhood, Kapil invited everyone to come over to his house. This was their tradition everyday after school. One of the four friends would invite everyone to their respective house and the kids would hang out and do homework until they went home for dinner. Kapil informed his friends that his grandparents were visiting from India and they always had a lot to talk about. Kapil's grandparents taught him a lot about the Hindu religion and he was excited for his friends to listen. 

When the kids walked into Kapil's house, his grandpa was the first to see them. He advised them to take off their shoes before entering any further into the house. This is a respectful gesture that many Indian families do. Bhakti, Vidya, and Suraj realized that their parents did take their shoes off before entering the house, but they never forced the kids to do it. They liked that Kapil's grandpa told them to do this. The kids could tell that they were going to enjoy talking to him. 

Bhakti, Kapil, Vidya, and Suraj went to the dining room where Kapil's grandma left some snacks and juice. The kids sat at the table and waited for Kapil's grandpa to start telling them something cool about Hinduism. His grandpa came and started by asking them if they know anything about the old Indian caste system. All of the kids had puzzled looks on their faces. Kapil's grandpa was a little surprised, but he went on to explain to them how the caste system worked. He told them that the caste system basically put each individual into one of four different groups, based on their birth. A person's last name signified which group they were in. 

Kapil's grandpa explained that the Brahmins were known to be religious, studious people and the Kshatriyas were rulers and warriors. He told them that the Vaishyas were merchants and farmers and the Shudras were the laborers and service providers. He also told them that this system was under a lot of scrutiny because it made some people look better than others. Kapil's grandpa even told them about the untouchable group and how they were the lowest of all. 

The four friends were really intrigued by the concept of the caste system. They were talking about it all evening. Bhakti had this crazy thought that each of them could fit under one of the four groups. Bhakti pointed out that Kapil was the tough one of their group and he always protected his friends. Kapil would have been the perfect Kshatriya. Bhakti also noted that Suraj always did all the work during group projects, almost like a Shudra would do. Vidya was the perfect Vaishya because she was always trading things and doing business with people at school. Kapil let everyone know that Bhakti was the epitome of a Brahmin in that she loved school and always taught her friends concepts that only she understood.  

(Brahmin man. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

At school that day, Bhakti noticed there was one boy in their class that no one ever talked to. She automatically thought about the caste system and how that boy would be looked at as an untouchable. She was unhappy with this thought and decided to go and talk to the boy. At lunch, she told her three friends about the boy. They all decided that the caste system was a good idea, but it shouldn't exclude people. After school, the kids decided to go back to Kapil's house and talk to his grandpa about what they discovered. Bhakti explained how each of the four of them had their perfect role in their clique, but how some people might feel left out, like an untouchable. The kids told Kapil's grandpa about how they wished the untouchable group didn't exist. 

This is when Kapil's grandpa told them that the ideas of the caste system are not really in place anymore today. He told them that he was proud of them for deeply thinking about what he told them. Bhakti, Kapil, Vidya, and Suraj thanked him for introducing them to something they had never heard of before. The kids told Kapil that they would definitely be back at his house again to learn more from his grandpa. 

Author's Note. I very loosely based this story off of the section in the Mahabharata when Hanuman and his half-brother Bhima met up. In this section, Hanuman give his half-brother a brief overview of what he has done in regards to his adventures with Rama. Hanuman ends up telling Bhima about the different ages of humanity and how the idea of the caste system came about in the third age, called the Dwapara Yuga. In this age, all actions were based upon the caste system and each individual's specific role in society. I got inspiration from my story from the idea of the caste system. I wanted to explain the system a little. I also wanted to touch on why it isn't in use anymore. 

Bibliography. PDE Mahabharata. Part C. Section 46. Various authors.