Ravikant Kisana: “Caste is never framed as a savarna question”

The author of Meet The Savarnas on the social and cultural dominance of upper caste elites and its impact on Indian society

You write that elite savarnas are unaccustomed to being subjects of critical scrutiny, especially from non-savarnas. Why has there has been so little mainstream cultural commentary on savarna elites in India?

Author Ravikant Kisana (Courtesy the subject)

The reason for the lack of commentary on savarna elites has been down to many factors. First, is the simple reluctance of a privileged group to interrogate itself. In this, caste is not unique. Where it becomes distinctive is in the epistemic erasure of caste as a frame of reference in discursive analysis. In popular discourse and academia, until very recently there was a major dismissal of exploring caste as a sociological variable to explain material reality. Savarnas simply did not ‘see’ caste in anything. Lastly, even when caste is considered — it is always centred upon investigating SC, ST, OBC lives. Caste is never framed as a savarna question, as a system which accrues privilege and access for them. This combination of structural reluctance, erasure and selective framing has rendered savarna elites practically ‘invisible’ in critical sociological commentary on caste. My book tries to address this by centring savarna elites and putting a spotlight on their existential and social cultures, and through it, understand the processes playing out in contemporary India.

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One can still find everything from election analysis to film reviews where caste becomes only ‘visible’ when looking at marginalized castes, even though very often the commentator is from a savarna background. In this, I was consistently finding that the analysis on offer was not adequately explaining the reproduction of mediocrity, stasis of popular culture and the endemic dysfunctionality that is increasingly gripping contemporary India. This made me look for answers elsewhere and at savarnas themselves as a cohort with incredible access and collective networks, as a site for theorizing. Probably the most surprising realization was that savarnas themselves have very little critical feedback upon their own culture. It was not just me as an outsider who did not have such insights. Many among them had never seen themselves as collective actors with distinct patterns and pathologies of social behaviours which shape our material reality, policy and culture.

You argue that dominant narratives celebrate the ‘merit’ and ‘hard work’ of a largely savarna cohort, overlooking their role in perpetuating the mediocrity behind India’s growth story. Please elaborate on the implications for national progress.

Because caste gets framed only as a phenomenon of exclusion, never privilege — it often tends to create perceptual blind spots for even critical-thinking savarnas wherein they overlook the structural advantages they have access to. Thus, the narratives only tend to celebrate success and hard work without tempering or accounting for the caste privileges which ease and accentuate these pathways to success. It also tends to create contempt for the marginalized whose lack of success is seen as result of ‘not working hard or smart enough’. Lastly, it also tends to displace credit of success — from caste networks to institutions, thereby often reproducing and encouraging even mediocre pedagogy and policy, since these and not caste privileges are seen as factors of success. Such systems aggregating collectively and nationally is, in my opinion, one of the overlooked factors in Indian national progress not reaching the heights it was expected to since the early 2000s.

You highlight the proliferation of international-curriculum schools. Over 900 international curriculum schools now operate in India. Why has this trend received limited scrutiny from the savarna-dominated media, and what does it reveal about ongoing educational gate-keeping and exclusion?

I am not sure why the savarna-dominated media has not looked critically at the proliferation of international curriculum schools. The very high fees should be an issue of reflection for even affluent savarna families, especially since there is no clearly demonstrable pedagogical excellence that justifies such a huge spike. In my opinion, the biggest contribution of such schools is caste filtering. As class and caste are very highly correlated in India, the high fees ensure an overwhelmingly savarna cohort. This is further accentuated by the fact that many such elite schools interview parents and prioritize white-collar professionals — jobs where there is an overwhelming savarna presence. Furthermore, many of these schools essentially end up being pipelines for students to study in elite private universities in India or go overseas, creating a new generation of savarna-elite youth. There is no conversation about the long term effects of this on a society like India, not just from the point of view of gatekeeping marginalised castes. What is the long-term impact of such non-diverse, caste-sanitized and class uniform spaces on elite savarna youth? I personally think it deeply stunts their capacity to communicate, analyse and interact with their material reality.

You also write about campus discrimination and student suicides, such as Rohith Vemula’s case. Beyond symbolic gestures, what systematic steps should educational institutions take to address caste-based harm and ensure the well-being of marginalized students?

There are many steps that can immediately be taken that can significantly alter the situation. Firstly, the massive backlog in hiring SC, ST, OBC faculty in public institutions needs to be addressed on priority. There needs to be conversation on reservations with the ever-increasing list of private universities. Secondly, within these institutions, there needs to be proper accountability for abuse and suicides. We have seen many cases where, despite multiple deaths, there is no resignation or even proper investigation.

Thirdly, casteism in academic institutions needs to be seen as a collective culture. Institutions being run like military boot camps, manufacturing stress on students and treating them harshly, segregating student living spaces and food — while justifying all this as some sort of pedagogical excellence which is transformational, is itself a product of caste thinking. Intense competition and fomenting hate towards caste category students and teachers has become second nature in many such spaces. Hardly any institution in India is organising sessions for students as to why caste-based reservation is not just needed for social justice but also vital to national growth as a policy framework. All this needs to be changed.

As a scholar from the OBC category critiquing savarna institutions, how have your personal experiences, both as a student and later as a teacher, informed the arguments and emotional tenor of your book?

All writing is personal. Especially as a scholar coming from a marginalized caste, academia has been very challenging. I still feel I have been very lucky compared to the struggles I have seen of other scholars in similar situations. It is a collective and daily struggle against a system that epistemically does not recognise your marginalization. A lot of that informs my text but the book is also written in an accessible, conversational and relaxed tone which invites reflection from savarnas.

For a young upper-caste reader engaging with your book, what do you hope they will gain beyond just self-awareness? Do you see a path from recognizing privilege to taking real action toward dismantling caste hierarchies?

‘Real action’ is often a complicated and loaded statement, and it implies reflection and self-awareness is not a real enough action. I am not sure of what pathways to dismantling caste privilege emerge for young savarnas from my work. That is a very high order task which is honestly beyond the scope of one book or thinker. But it is my hope that my book aids the savarna reader to dismantle some of their own personal ‘self-made’ hubris and ‘merit’ mythology while simultaneously humanising the struggle of marginalised caste persons trying to build careers around them.

Majid Maqbool is an independent journalist based in Kashmir.