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Brahmins are cream of Indian society: survey By Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Despite being a microscopic minority, Brahmins are still perceived to be dominating many aspects of Indian society. Surprisingly, most other groups among caste-ridden Hindu society think that Brahmins - who occupy the dominant position in the social hierarchy -- are more intelligent, more educated and better looking. This is one of the findings of a survey conducted across the country by Week-TN Sofres Mode and published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. Heading the list of the country's most admired Brahmins is Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Few other Brahmins come anywhere close to him in national popularity, but many clearly enjoy a wide following. These include Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalitha, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, singer Lata Mangeshkar, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, actor Kamal Haasan and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. And the future of the Brahmins is very bright, according to at least a third of the respondents polled by the survey. The survey indicates that despite the political resurgence of the backward castes among Hindus in recent decades, Brahmins continue to dominate the socio-political spectrum in India. It however does not give the number of respondents polled by the survey. "Be it in national or north Indian politics, the bureaucracy or elsewhere, Brahmins are far from marginalized," said The Week magazine. "The Brahmin roll call among top civil servants is even more impressive." According to the 1931 census, the last time that enumerators took caste into account, Brahmins numbered 15 million - or just 4.32 percent of the population of the country. Brahmins still remain a small minority but one to reckon with. Seventy-one percent non-Brahmins perceive Brahmins as more intelligent than the rest. Seventy percent feel they are more educated, 48 percent think they are more confident, but only a minority of 28 percent feel they are honest. In physical appearance too, Brahmins get the nod of 46 percent respondents. But only 19 percent think they are hardworking and 26 percent think they can be better in entrepreneurship. Brahmins are also perceived to be best in traditional arts. Among the so-called forward castes, 54 percent feel Brahmins are the best performers in traditional music and dance and 52 percent of the backward castes and 60 percent of the scheduled castes and tribes share the view. In southern India, all castes feel Brahmins to be the best performers. In the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, Brahmins dominate bureaucracy and boast of sizeable land and economic resources despite the rapid gains by political groups known to have no special love for the community. According to the magazine, the Brahmins' main survival weapon has been their legacy of education. "As second generation and third generation economic reforms follow, as more and more areas are privatised and more and more (public sector companies) disinvested, Brahmin hegemony is likely to get a fresh lease of life," it said. --Indo-Asian News Service ---------------------------------------------------------- What's On In Goa (WOIG): Nov 06 Children's book exhibn opens, Walkabout, Anjuna... (all weekdays) Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11 Nov 07 Revision of electoral rolls (till Nov 30) See schedule. Nov 07 Creative science, for children, Goa Sc Centre (till 16.11) Nov 10 Corporate summit on IT and biotechnology, Intl Centre (till 11.11) Nov 17 Goan Engineers and Assoc meet, at Pickering, Canada. Nov 20 Fr Agnelo's 75th death anniversary, Pilar Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal ----------------------------------------------------------
