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| Sunday, 12 March 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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In Sri Lanka, caste system, prejudices, fading slowly But 'irrational' system still rules for many singles seeking spouses By Mark Magnier Los Angeles Times COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - Every Sunday, newspapers here are filled with classified ads for marriage partners. But for Americans accustomed to the personals staples "SWF" and "must love cats," the descriptions can be mystifying.
But several chisels are chipping away at its power, including better education, increasing wealth, fewer arranged marriages, a stronger civil service and the shift to urban from agrarian life. As young Sri Lankans gravitate to big cities, they mix in wider circles, helping shed the stiffness of village life, parents' wishes. Vasuki Somarathnam, 19, is a bank clerk from the Nadar caste, relatively low in the hierarchy. She says that when it comes to friends, business relations and voting, caste plays little part in her daily life. Her views on marriage are far more progressive than those of her parents' generation, with character at least as important as caste in choosing a husband. Still, as a good daughter, she said, she would never defy her parents' wishes that she marry within the caste. If it came to it, she would work hard to convince them that she was capable of making this decision, but would leave the final say to them. "God gave them to me. I must respect that," said Somarathnam, who works at a bank that is "caste blind," as are most businesses, at least officially, in Colombo these days. Ultimately, she acknowledged, it would be easier if she found someone from the same group. This is part of the dilemma for many people. "Educated Sri Lankans know the caste system is irrational and shouldn't exist," said Kalinga Tudor Silva, a sociologist at the University of Peradeniya. "But when it comes to marriage, it remains very important, the head versus the heart." Respite from tsunami each passing year sees the caste system weaken a little more. But some have taken an activist approach. A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of nonprofit Sarvodaya, which focuses on community development, microcredit and charity work, has made caste elimination a cornerstone of its mission. The group brings so-called high-caste children to lower-caste villagers, and vice versa, encouraging them to eat and play together. The devastating tsunami in December 2004 underscored the caste system's resilience. In the immediate aftermath, caste and other divisions melted away as people rushed to bury the dead and care for the survivors. Over time, however, prejudices crept back. Aid workers say some refugees from the Govi Gama caste refused to help in the rebuilding, viewing manual labour, especially cleaning toilets, as beneath them. Now, with the relief effort shifting to permanent housing, members of different castes are balking at living together. Sri Lanka actually has two broad caste systems reflecting the minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese cultures. Various regional differences add another layer of complexity. Still, there are common elements. All consider Sri Lankans with land-owner or tenant farmer ancestors near the top of the hierarchy. Those whose relatives once worked in trade groupings - alcohol brewers, jewellery makers, laundry men and fishermen- make up the middle. Descendants of such groups as beggars, mat weavers and funeral drummers are near the bottom. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
"Sinhala Buddhist Govi mother seeks professionally qualified partner for
youngest daughter," read a recent ad in the Sri Lankan Sunday Observer.
"Reply with caste and religion material, horoscope." The ad, referring to
the elite land-tilling Govi Gama caste, spotlights a system that has for
centuries locked islanders into a rigid social hierarchy. 
