Ernest William Newman grave monument in St John the Baptist Church burial ground, Reedham, Norfolk, England

Dear Sir, The great saint Kanakadasa in his master peice Ramadhyanacharite has given the story of Rice and Ragi.Rice was metahpor for the the upper class like Brahmanical class and Ragi was the metahpor for the working class or the lower class.Both the grains goes to Rama for ascertaining who is superior. Rama sends both of them to prison for six months. During this period Rice rots but ragi stillemains the same. Imagine such rare work on class struggle written 400 years ago.A second incident each visitor to Srikrishna Temple at Udipi knows well. The castiests did not allowed him darshana as he was from a lower caste. Kanakadasa started to sing. Such was the effect that the idol turned to west and there was a breach in the wall.Kanakana Kindi is the proof. History does not even remember the people who stopped him from darshana but Kanakadasa became immortal.Truly Kanakadasa was an unique saint. He proved that due to deeds even caste barrier is reduced to footnote in pages of history.Caste system is the biggest blur on Hindu society. Bhakti Movement was the first fight against caste system. Most of the Bhakti saints belonged to the lower castes and they did managed to change the thinking to that extent.Caste system was always about power. It was a tool by priviledged few to keep majority in line. It was always about class. The working class was always the lower caste. The funny thing is the hierarchy in caste system. Each Layer considers themselves superior to the following layer. the worst sufferer is at the bottom of the chain. After independence reformation stopped and patronage started. Just think about the numbers of caste leaders. In Maharshtra there are more than 10 parties representing dalit aptly named republican party of India(a,b,c...x,y,z). All are one man show. But at the end of the day all these leaders have always sold the dalit to the highest bidder. The reformation has to come from within. Kanakadasa is still remembered and revered. No one cares who he was but he did not got that prividedge as alms. He even forced god to change. A big lesson for those who feel that they are underpriviledged.
(requested on 10 06 2012)