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fair skin thing is nonsense. I'm a Tamil Brahmin (Brahmin being the highest caste) and I'm one of the darkest skinned people in India. Most of my friends are fa

fair skin thing is nonsense. I'm a Tamil Brahmin (Brahmin being the highest caste) and I'm one of the darkest skinned people in India. Most of my friends are far darker than most Indians from North India. It's much easier to identify through surname (Pichai I'm pretty sure is a brahmin surname), but certain states like Tamil Nadu banned surnames for this reason. If people ask me my surname, it is T. Every government document has T as my surname, I just go with that

thwjerjl23432 4y ago
alex_smart 4y ago
>I'm a Tamil Brahmin (Brahmin being the highest caste) and I'm one of the darkest skinned people in India. Do you have ancestral home in Mylapore? If not you're not real Tam-Brahm. (JK obviously)
foolinaround 4y ago
> fair skin thing is nonsense Well it is a stereotype, and they are often true, but not always. eg, in TN, the average brahmin or upper class individual will be fair-skinned while the lower class one would be dark skinned. I guess up in the North, this does not hold. > but certain states like Tamil Nadu banned surnames for this reason. The govt did not ban it. It was more a social movement where one was looked down upon (and even discriminated against for showing they belonged to the higher castes). That's why there are still folks who continue to keep 'Iyer' in their name.
dataexporter 4y ago
Well if Surnames are banned, why is the name Pichai still used? Genuinely asking. I also see tons of engineers from Tamil Nadu in the US with last names Iyer and Iyengars.
- bgdam 4y ago
  It wasn't banned. It was one of the side effects of the popular Self Respect movement which saw most people switch to patronymical last names from caste-based last names. Ofcourse the Iyers and Iyengars wouldn't switch because they had more to lose than they gained from hiding their caste identity (they are the so called upper castes who have traditionally held a much priviledged position).

thwjerjl23432 4y ago

alex_smart 4y ago

>I'm a Tamil Brahmin (Brahmin being the highest caste) and I'm one of the darkest skinned people in India. Do you have ancestral home in Mylapore? If not you're not real Tam-Brahm. (JK obviously)

foolinaround 4y ago

> fair skin thing is nonsense Well it is a stereotype, and they are often true, but not always. eg, in TN, the average brahmin or upper class individual will be fair-skinned while the lower class one would be dark skinned. I guess up in the North, this does not hold. > but certain states like Tamil Nadu banned surnames for this reason. The govt did not ban it. It was more a social movement where one was looked down upon (and even discriminated against for showing they belonged to the higher castes). That's why there are still folks who continue to keep 'Iyer' in their name.

dataexporter 4y ago

Well if Surnames are banned, why is the name Pichai still used? Genuinely asking. I also see tons of engineers from Tamil Nadu in the US with last names Iyer and Iyengars.

bgdam 4y ago
It wasn't banned. It was one of the side effects of the popular Self Respect movement which saw most people switch to patronymical last names from caste-based last names. Ofcourse the Iyers and Iyengars wouldn't switch because they had more to lose than they gained from hiding their caste identity (they are the so called upper castes who have traditionally held a much priviledged position).