Pride runs deeper than we often admit. It colours the way we see ourselves, shapes the circles we move in, and decides who gets to stand inside those circles with us. Not all pride works the same way. Some forms draw people together, creating communities that welcome difference and grow stronger through it. Other forms build fences, turning identity into a test that only a few can pass. The difference matters profoundly, especially in places where belonging has always been complicated by birth, language, and old hierarchies that refuse to fade.

Caste pride is rooted in something you cannot choose. You inherit it the moment you are born, like a family name or the colour of your eyes. It places you somewhere on a ladder built long before you arrived and expects you to stay there. The pride that comes with caste is often defended as tradition or heritage, but underneath those softer words lies a harder truth: caste pride needs separation to survive. It depends on the idea that some people are naturally above others, or at least fundamentally different in ways that matter. You cannot join a caste by learning its customs or adopting its values. You either belong or you do not, and that line is drawn in blood.

This kind of pride creates distance even when it does not intend to. In August 2024, a Dalit man in Karnataka’s Koppal district was stabbed to death by a barber over a petty dispute, one of many such incidents where caste turns everyday friction deadly. In parts of Uttar Pradesh, entire Dalit families have faced social boycotts from village panchayats for minor infractions like attending funerals across caste lines, cut off from water sources, shops, and temples. Honour killings persist when young people dare pursue intercaste relationships, their lives considered less valuable than community reputation. These are not historical footnotes but present-day realities showing how caste pride influences who marries whom, who eats with whom, and whose grief is taken seriously.

Even when people claim caste no longer matters, it shows up quietly in social gatherings, professional networks, and family expectations. The pride attached to caste often masquerades........

© Eurasia Review