ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to discuss the caste question in science and how it worked among Indian scientists. It attempts to show that the caste practices of a dominant group (Brahmins) get normalised as cultural practices in Indian science. This chapter discusses how the forms of cultural expressions like music and food habits reproduce Brahminism in the everyday life of Indian science. It discusses the trend among the Indian scientists to see them as liberal and casteless, yet when it comes to their personal life, they followed the traditional life as Brahmins and upper castes. This was evident in their preferences and tastes for certain kinds of music and dietary practices. These preferences and taste received institutional validation and legitimacy. It is this conversion of their caste as culture that normalised many of their practices as cultural in the Institute, and preserved the image of science as Brahmins’ vocation.
