Female mechanics beating caste system

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The Washington Post has an encouraging story (Thanks, Deepa) about female mechanics in India that are successfully overcoming caste and gender restrictions:

In taking on such an important role, the female mechanics have challenged feudal notions of gender roles in village society, after centuries of prejudice and discrimination by members of upper castes.

“For a long time people taunted us when we arrived with our tools,” Kabirdas said. “They shooed us away. The upper castes would say, ‘You untouchable women, stay away from our hand pump. What do you know other than making bread and collecting cow dung?’”

But when the women began repairing the broken pumps promptly, they carved themselves an important niche in the hierarchy of the water-scarce village.

The Washington Post: Low-caste Indians carve a niche (free registration required)

One thought on “Female mechanics beating caste system”

  1. My favorite parts of the article:

    This is hard work:

    They pushed back stacks of colorful glass bangles on their wrists and began to dismantle the 450-foot-deep pump and well assembly by removing the handle and water tank. A total of 10 long metal pipes were lifted one by one. After two hours of grueling work, the pump’s cylinder was finally extracted. “The ceiling ring of the cylinder is broken. We will replace it,” Kabirdas explained to the men. Three hours later, as the water gushed out, beaming village women began to line up with their pots and buckets.

    It wasn’t easy to learn how to do this:

    The 40-day training that the women received from the male government mechanics in 1994 was not easy. “All the names of hand pump parts were in English,” said Sundhi Kolin, 45, as she followed Kabirdas toward the repair site. “So we learned them by naming a fat woman ‘cylinder,’ calling a slender woman a ‘pipe wrench.’ Another was called ‘lifter.’ ”

    They play an important role in monitoring violence against women:

    The mechanics also report cases of domestic violence they hear of during their visits to the villages.

    The social implications are profound for caste:

    The Brahmins have also grudgingly accepted the lower-caste mechanics. “Today the untouchables not only touch our water, they are also touching our water source,” said Balmukund Mishra, 42, a shopkeeper. “It would be unwise to resist change. We cannot do without water.”