tl;dr: caste meh. and don’t listen to politicians.

i don’t like labels.
i don’t like being labeled.

i recently went to a park.
i made the mistake of smiling at this guy.
suddenly, he wants to know everything about me.
he wants to know my name, where i work.
tf?

then he asked for my caste.
and i kid you not, i don’t even know if i have a caste?
because at least in the community i lived,
caste wasn’t important at all.
i have a lot of friends, but i don’t know their caste.
it never mattered.

so i tell him what i know: i don’t know.
and he’s asking me: “caste ke bina kaisa chalega?”
i turned into the shrug emoji.

now he wanted to know my religion.
am i hindu or muslim?
i replied, i do not believe in a religion.

so, am i an atheist then?
no, i believe in a loving God?

so, bro had to go for the next: my surname.
he would now get to know where am i in the social strata.
or so he thought.
i replied “fernandez”.
bro was starting to give up.

then he told me he watched kerala story,
and how love jihad is very rampant,
and hindus are marginalized in kerala.
i was like, what?
almost every person i know in kerala is a hindu!
and idk about love jihad, bro.
i don’t think it’s as rampant
as the media makes it out to be.
or maybe i’m wrong.

but to have my place be known
solely for “love jihad” doesn’t sound good, bro.
like, we have sabarimala, guruvayoor, arthunkal, all these temples, churches, mosques, cool spots and everything, but we’re known for love jihad.
nah bro.

at last, he had to ask whether his state or kerala is more developed.
bro sounded desperate, so, i agreed.
yeah, your state is more developed.
anything to preserve his echo chamber.

i mean, i don’t blame him.
it’s the fucking politicians that spread lies and divide us.
more on this later. (i hope)