Caste, Quotas, and Equality: Time to Rethink Reservation?
A 60-minute session on reservation as people actually live it: surnames, college seats, marks, office jokes, marriages, rented flats and who should get help. Who feels helped, who feels shut out, and who is caught in between? Twelve independent cards; open three or four.
The opening question
When you hear the word “reservation”, what's the first picture that pops into your head?
Everyone in the room answers this in one line before any card is opened. Write the answers down; you will come back to them.
The cards
12 ways into the topic
Each card is independent. Your group votes on which to open, and four or five is plenty for an hour. Behind every card sit three prompts, one at a time, that only appear once it is opened on the board. Unopened cards keep for next time.
- 1
Asking Someone's Surname
You meet someone new and tell them your first name. They smile and ask, “And your full name?” You know they're not really asking about your name.
- 2
Losing Out On A Seat
Your cousin scored higher than a classmate. The classmate got the college seat. Your cousin didn't. At dinner, everyone has an opinion.
- 3
What Counts As Merit
Two students get the same marks. One had a tutor, a study table and parents who went to college.
- 4
Well-Off Families Using Quotas
Two children apply for the same reserved seat. One's parents are senior officers with a big house. The other's father works on someone else's farm.
- 5
Income Or Caste For Quotas
One boy's family is poor, but nobody ever stopped them entering a temple.
- 6
Jokes About Quotas
Someone in class makes a silly mistake. A friend laughs and says, “Must be from the quota.” Everyone laughs. One person doesn't.
- 7
How Your Doctor Got In
You're waiting in a clinic. Someone in the queue whispers that this doctor got in through a quota. Suddenly you're watching her hands more closely.
- 8
Marrying Outside Your Caste
You fall in love. You tell your parents. Before they ask what the person is like, they ask what their family name is.
- 9
Hiding Your Family Background
You smooth out your accent at a new office. You leave the food from home out of your lunchbox.
- 10
Caste In City Life
In your city office, nobody talks about caste. Everyone eats together, works together, goes out together.
- 11
Quotas In Private Companies
Government jobs have reserved seats. Private companies don't.
- 12
An End Date For Quotas
Reserved seats were meant to help people catch up. Decades later, they're still here. Some say the job is done. Others say it has barely started.
The line to leave with
Which advantage in your own life have you never once thought of as a reservation?
More boards,more ways in.
Every discussion we have run has a board behind it. Browse them by topic.