Adv. Sanchit Patunkar

In a dilapidated hut in a small village in Bihar, where the walls are made of mud, and the thatched roof is in tatters, lives Rahul Tiwari. “What is your name?” he is asked. “Rahul Tiwari!” Upon hearing the name, the journalist’s brows furrow. At the age of fourteen, his eyes hold a depth that belongs to a seventy-year-old elder. “What about your studies?” the journalist inquires. “None. I work as a labourer for fourteen hours a day. Only then can I manage to provide for my mother’s medicines and our daily bread.” Stepping inside the house, the journalist recoils in shock. Even animals would refuse to live here. Raindrops drip through the thatched roof, from every single corner. His mother lies bedridden, her chest wracked by a violent cough. Rahul and his mother spend the entire night sleeping under a plastic sheet, for there is not a single spot in the hut where the water does not leak through. “Everyone else has received a gas cylinder; why are you still cooking on a traditional stove?” “Yes, everyone else has,” the boy smiles, yet within that smile lies a hint of irony. “It is because the name ‘Tiwari’ is attached to ours, isn't it? That is precisely why the Constitution and the government cast us aside.” The journalist asks, “Why don’t you seek help from a politician?” Rahul’s eyes light up. “First of all, I am a Brahmin. Would any politician ever help *us*? Secondly, my conscience simply will not allow it. I would rather go hungry for a day, endure getting soaked in the rain all night long, or subsist on nothing but salt and bread, but begging from anyone would be tantamount to death for me.” This is not merely Rahul’s story; it is the plight of millions of Brahmin families. In a country where, on one hand, the politics of reservation has reached its zenith, the poor Brahmin receives no quota and no benefits whatsoever. Scholarships? None. Housing? None. Gas cylinders? In name only. Politicians come, quote from the Vedas from their podiums, and invoke the sanctity of Brahmin culture, yet, once the votes are secured, they do not even utter the word "Brahmin."