Jatre Session on Bihar by Sangita started with a song and dance. It was about Bihar and her experience of caste. In Bihar most people do farming, they grow wheat, pulses, rice and oil seeds. They are grown in large quantities. She shared about Musahar tribe, their lives. Their life is slow and sustainable naturally. Musahar caste is known for catching rats from the grain fields and then eating in them. We explored our views on Mushari based on hearing about their occupation of catching and eating rats. Expressions included Unhygienic, Disgusting, Different, Interesting, Unimaginable, tasty, Absurd, how stomach feels, not nice.
The question raised was “Does caste or food defines right for sexual abuse?” Every caste, food, culture is different, but why no equality for Musahar? Musahar eat rats, as that’s the only food avail able to them and due to poverty. Musahar are seen with low respect, yucky as eating rats people
So the next logical question was “What is caste?” – some shared based on their experience from life as they defined caste a division of people, same culture, food, living and occupation. Humans are divided into different divisions based on their work. As they defined – Hairs with pony are Brahmins, Task done using shoulders power kshatriya, Business groups as Vaishyas, Task done with legs are Sudras.
Sangita also shared few famous things in Bihar: Nalanda University world famous University an historic place, Budh gaya, Archeology museum, and Chath puja.
We ended with a thought – How you feel about your own caste? If someone does not give human rights to your caste, talk low about your caste then what?*
Each person at the campus is a treasure. They bring their own experiences and add value to our lives. We are blessed with their presence. Thank you, Sangita for sharing your experience and your life with us.