ABSTRACT
The idea of caste appears to be so obvious and still raises questions that do not have easy and simple answers. Caste is almost universally seen as a traditional institution of the Hindus, structured around the hierarchies of varna and jati. In modern India, with the expansion of democracy and rapidly changing economic orders and educational systems, the idea of caste should have lost its appeal and value. But it has not. On the contrary, the public presence of caste today is, in many ways, far more pronounced than it was five or six decades back when the stranglehold of traditional social order was much stronger.
