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Khadi
A traditional Hindu system of social stratification that traditionally divides people into separate communities of brahmins (priests and teachers), kshatriyas (governors, administrators, and warriors), vaishyas (merchants, artists, and farmers), and shudras (manual laborers). The different castes traditionally do not mix, which underlies the conflict between Kanthapura’s brahmins and Moorthy’s Gandhism.
Caste Quotes in Kanthapura
The Kanthapura quotes below are all either spoken by Caste or refer to Caste. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Section 1 Quotes
Till now I’ve spoken only of the Brahmin quarter. Our village had a Pariah quarter too, a Potters’ quarter, a Weavers’ quarter, and a Sudra quarter. How many huts had we there? I do not know. There may have been ninety or a hundred—though a hundred may be the right number. Of course you wouldn’t expect me to go into the Pariah quarter, but I have seen from the street-corner Beadle Timmayya’s hut.
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Section 3 Quotes
Every fellow with Matric or Inter asks, “What dowry do you offer? How far will you finance my studies?—I want to have this degree and that degree.” Degrees. Degrees. Nothing but degrees or this Gandhi vagabondage. When there are boys like Moorthy, who should safely get married and settle down, they begin this Gandhi business.
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Section 17 Quotes
He’ll never come again, He’ll never come again,
He’ll never come again, Moorthappa.
The God of death has sent for him,
Buffalo and rope and all,
They stole him from us, they lassoed him at night,
He’s gone, He’s gone, He’s gone, Moorthappa.
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