OK, cool. I have time. I’ll wait.

The other point is that if we apply today’s standards, yesterday will almost always come up short, when it comes to the issues of rights and equality.

I have a feeling most Hindus who get charged about Manu Smriti one way or the other, simply react to, or use certain excerpts and have neither read the entire manuscript, nor understood its place in history, and are more interested in knee-jerk reactions based on ideology. Deepa Mehta is a good example of those kind of people.

As to Sikhs and caste – this is a huge disgrace. Along with female foeticide, it is our greatest shame as a community. I have ranted and raved about both to little avail. No whitewashing by me! I just don’t know what to do about it. But that’s a subject for another post, I think.

I really hope some sweet Hindus will answer my queries about Manu Smriti.

Kaffir, this kind of response is a typical one . Instead of asking me, you could have simply shared your thoughts on whether this is feasible or not. When we share our thoughts it encourages debate. Fine, may be 99% ideas suck, but the remaining 1% can sometimes make a big difference.

Amrit, sorry I don’t understand your point/response at all. You mentioned an idea, and it’s fair to ask whether you’ve implemented that idea or not – apologies if my words were rather direct. Good for you that you share your meals, and I’m sure many others do so too and maybe even more, and many others do much less or nothing. Or maybe others help poor people in ways that do not involve sharing of meals, about which you may be unaware of.

As to whether something is feasible or not, it’s only by doing it that one discovers – as you did.

Not just in India, either. The same goes on in “the richest country in the world,” the United States of America, where I currently reside. The argument here is different, though. “If you don’t work, you don’t deserve to eat.” This includes those who cannot find work and those who are physically or mentally unable to work, including children and the elderly. Social Darwinism at its most naked. (OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but not much. There are many in this country with that attitude exactly.)

And, Amrit, is not caste an integral part of the Hindu religion? Can Hinduism be Hinduism if you throw out Smriti Manu? Will not the demise of caste also be the demise of the whole religion? Of course, I am not a Hindu, so maybe my understanding is incorrect or incomplete. I am willing to be corrected.