The Hindu religion in India has various castes and sub-castes. There is social stratification and the communities are divided into higher castes and lower castes. To a person from another country, especially from the Europe or American continent, this demarcation will be a very strange one. The entire concept of high and low creates a superiority complex in certain communities. The Brahmin matrimony occupies the highest position in the social ladder. This is what I learnt being a non-Indian.
There are also low castes communities in India belonging to the Shudras. This community is further divided in various sub-groups and one such group commonly found in India is the Chamar caste. The Chamar caste is engaged in the profession of leather manufacturing and exports. When I attended the Jatav Matrimonial function to document the different forms of marriage taking place in India, I came to know some more of the Chamar community and the Jatav population in particular.
The Jatav people are one of the largest tribal populations in India. They are known by various names like Jatia or Jatba in the state of Jammu. The community members are settled in various parts of India, and have large concentration of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Eastern Rajasthan and North-West Madhya Pradesh. The community members also reside in the neighboring country of Nepal. Since they belong to the lowest strata in the Hindu social order, they are part of the Scheduled Castes in India. They are also known as Dalits.
Jatav Matrimonial functions and rituals vary from state to state. They mostly follow the Hindu matrimonial customs. The members of this community speak mostly Hindi and the dialect of the place. The wedding alliances earlier were within the community as there was social stigmatization and restriction. This trend is slowly changing as I found after attending this wedding. The groom is from the Jatav community whereas the bride belongs to higher caste Hindu. This is a heartening trend, which I hope catches with other Indians as well
Author: Shipra Sinha
The Jatav community is among the largest communities in North India.
ReplyDeleteIt is a positive trend to see that Jatav's are accepting spouses from different castes.