You can not have any arbitrary surname because each surname belong to a caste. So if you take a higher caste surname then you will have to pretend like you bel

You can not have any arbitrary surname because each surname belong to a caste. So if you take a higher caste surname then you will have to pretend like you belong to higher caste. Also there are other factors which can tell which caste you actually belong to. Your birthplace. Your parent's birthplace. Which part of the city you were born in. The accent you speak your mother tongue in. These are benign questions that your indian colleague might ask or notice. I dont think the current form in which casteism is practiced in India is related to profession. Right now in India, lower caste people are mostly free to pursue any profession (unless you go to rural areas). Discrimination comes from the fact that higer caste people simply despise/hate/consider lower caste people impure or inferior.