One person I know rejected the caste for his child

One person I know rejected the caste for his child.... I don't want to mention his name here because he is a little shy... but honestly, this deserves to be said out loud. When he told me that he registered his child without mentioning any caste, something inside me paused.

I casually shared this with a few people in my circle. And the first reaction I heard was...

"What's great in that?"

Well, nothing. Ideally it should not be great. It should be normal. I agree... But let me ask you this...

Will you do the same for your child?

Suddenly the tone changed.

"I wish I could... but my parents are still very native; they won't allow."

Exactly. His parents might also be the same... if not, maybe his relatives... If not, some random tom, dick or harry pokes their nose in. But he still did it. That is the point.

But instead of respecting that courage, people rush to say, "What's great in it?"
Brother, when you can't do something and someone else does it, at least acknowledge it. Don't pretend it's easy just because you are scared to do it.

Then someone asked me, "Is he an upper caste? If yes, then it's easy... nothing to lose."

I asked him back, "You are upper caste too. Did you do it?"

He laughed.
I told him, "Please don't laugh and escape."

The guy who told me about his child is from a so-called lower caste.
He still removed the caste for his child.
Which means no reservation, nothing if we need to consider the upliftment side... and a lot of judgement from people around him. Still he said, "No. I don't want my child to live under a label. In fact, I never thought it was a great thing, and neither did my wife..." 

That hit me differently.

People who love saying "upper caste people only do this" or "lower caste people only do this" or "ABC religion only do this" should think twice... Because this man broke that, and some from the so-called upper caste also did that, I know them very personally... Stop generalizing... Stop pretending courage is easy when someone else shows it.

We keep saying we want society to change. But when someone actually takes the first step, we are the first ones to downgrade it. Why? Because accepting someone else's courage exposes our own fear.

This is not some inspirational story...
This is a simple truth: Change starts when one normal person finally says 'enough.'

Not a celebrity, not a reformer, not a big name... just a normal human who decided his child should not be in a label... I am very much aware of the consequences in the future for his child... but people like me are the ones who fight till the last drop of blood for such people. 

I just felt like sharing it.
Because if he can take that step... maybe, slowly, others will too... There are a number of debatable points here.. I do agree, but nothing should stop clapping for this hero or such heroes...