Do the high castes practice untouchability?
Yes, they will not sit with the Mushars or eat with them. There is no intermarriage between the two communities. The Mushars work in their fields; sow, cultivate and harvest their crops; and even store their grain in barns and warehouses—but the high-caste people will not allow the Mushars to enter their houses. They believe the Mushars are of lesser value. The Mushars are actually like bond slaves. They work in others’ fields without earning enough for their daily survival. They are given food while they work and a little grain for pay, but if they need clothing they will have to work somewhere else. In this village, most of the men have gone to other states in search of making more money. And almost all the women are working in the fields. Tell us how the Mushars earn their living. The only way they can survive is by laboring in the field. Their husbands and elder sons go for a couple of months to other states and bring home far greater money than they would have earned working in th
