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To me one of the more troubling aspects of this is that in 2013 and after 12 years, the specialists we have fighting this "war" still have trouble distinguishin

by htsh 13y ago

To me one of the more troubling aspects of this is that in 2013 and after 12 years, the specialists we have fighting this "war" still have trouble distinguishing between Hindu & Muslim (though obviously Muslims should not be treated like this either). It might be easier for me b/c I'm Hindu but just looking at a name is usually enough to at least get past that part.

chimeracoder 13y ago
I know, my surname is incredibly distinctive. To anybody who's vaguely knowledgeable about these things, it not only points out my nationality, but also which region of India I belong to, my religion, and also my caste[0]. [0] Not that I pay attention to caste, but as you can see, Indian surnames contain a lot if information, to anybody even remotely trained in reading them.
- blhack 13y ago
  You don't have to say your name, for obvious reasons, but would you mind giving an example of an Indian name, and how all of that information is encoded in it? That's REALLY fascinating to me.
  - chimeracoder 13y ago
    Any name that ends in "-jee" or "-ji" is a British variant on an Indian Bengali name[0]. Almost anybody who has it (Mukerjee, Banerjee, Chatterjee) is originally from West Bengal, a state in India that borders Bangladesh. Beyond that's, it's a Hindu name. Almost all Hindu names are specific to a particular caste (the origins of the caste system are simply a precise codification of socioeconomic status, so it's similar to someone being called "a Trump" or "a Kennedy"). Priests can also tell further information from the name, such as the gotra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra . In layman's terms, this is a way of identifying one of your earliest known ancestors. The name even has a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukherjee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukherjee [0] The British changed a lot of names of both people and places when they were in power - ex., they changed "Mumbai" to "Bombay", although people are now starting to use the original name again.
    - blhack 13y ago
      That's really interesting, thank you!
    - anuraj 13y ago
      Only that caste names not just socioeconomic markers, but plain racial bigotry as well!! Regret what happened to you, but please don't defend caste which is almost mean the same racism in India.

by htsh 13y ago

chimeracoder 13y ago

I know, my surname is incredibly distinctive. To anybody who's vaguely knowledgeable about these things, it not only points out my nationality, but also which region of India I belong to, my religion, and also my caste[0]. [0] Not that I pay attention to caste, but as you can see, Indian surnames contain a lot if information, to anybody even remotely trained in reading them.

blhack 13y ago
You don't have to say your name, for obvious reasons, but would you mind giving an example of an Indian name, and how all of that information is encoded in it? That's REALLY fascinating to me.
- chimeracoder 13y ago
  Any name that ends in "-jee" or "-ji" is a British variant on an Indian Bengali name[0]. Almost anybody who has it (Mukerjee, Banerjee, Chatterjee) is originally from West Bengal, a state in India that borders Bangladesh. Beyond that's, it's a Hindu name. Almost all Hindu names are specific to a particular caste (the origins of the caste system are simply a precise codification of socioeconomic status, so it's similar to someone being called "a Trump" or "a Kennedy"). Priests can also tell further information from the name, such as the gotra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra . In layman's terms, this is a way of identifying one of your earliest known ancestors. The name even has a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukherjee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukherjee [0] The British changed a lot of names of both people and places when they were in power - ex., they changed "Mumbai" to "Bombay", although people are now starting to use the original name again.
  - blhack 13y ago
    That's really interesting, thank you!
  - anuraj 13y ago
    Only that caste names not just socioeconomic markers, but plain racial bigotry as well!! Regret what happened to you, but please don't defend caste which is almost mean the same racism in India.