Caste of thousands

This Brahmin man serves as a village priest. He has spiritual authority over all lower castes.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor? A firefighter? A veterinarian? A teacher?

In America and many other countries, children grow up and choose their own jobs. We have many choices and can work hard to make our dreams come true.

But if you lived in India, your job—and your position in society—would be determined long before you are even born. You would have the same job as your parents...and grandparents...and someday your own children would do the same work.

This is because of something called the caste system. For centuries, Hinduism has divided Indian society into four main varnas, or castes.

• Sudras are the lowest caste, and do hard work and manual labor.
• The Vaisya caste includes merchants, farmers, and artisans.
• Warriors and rulers belong to the Kshatriya caste.
• The highest caste, Brahmin, is the smallest and most powerful group. Hindu priests and religious leaders come from the Brahmin caste.

Each varna is divided into thousands of subcastes, called jatis. There are different subcastes for every kind of job — blacksmiths, lawyers, stoneworkers, etc. Often members of a jati will live and work together, forming communities based on castes. Mothers and fathers chose marriage partners for their sons and daughters from the same caste.

This teenage girl was just 6 years old when her father trained her in the family's carpet weaving business.

India's caste system is similar in some ways to discrimination based on skin color, gender, or ethnicity. But there is one big difference: Hindus believe their gods decide a person's caste as either a punishment or a blessing.

Hindus believe the gods decide what caste people are born into based on their karma, or how they lived in a past life. They believe when a person dies, they are reincarnated, or reborn into a new body.

If you pleased the gods in a past life, then you are reincarnated into a higher caste. But if you anger the gods, they will condemn you to a lower caste in the next life.

That is why in India, you cannot choose to leave the caste you are born into. If you are born into the highest levels, then people think the gods have blessed you. You will always be treated with respect by the lower castes. You will feel more important than others and even have the power to treat lower castes badly.

But if you are born into a low caste family, Hindus believe you must have angered the gods in a previous life and are being punished. You are looked down upon and even shunned by higher castes. An upper caste person can refuse to eat with someone from a lower caste. Sometimes in school, children won't sit near or talk to lower-caste students.

This kind of behavior, called caste discrimination, is against the law in India. Even though caste is illegal, this ancient social practice is still very alive today, especially in rural villages. In India, your caste is your identity.