50 ABJECT CONDITION OF PARIAHS
However , notwithstanding the miserable condition of these wretched Pariahs , they are never heard to murmur , or to complain of their low estate . Still less do they ever dream of trying to improve their lot , by combining together , and forcing the other classes to treat them with that common respect which one man owes to another . The idea that he was born to be in subjection to the other
castes is so ingrained in his mind that it never occurs to the Pariah to think that his fate is anything but irrevocable .
Nothing will ever persuade him that men are all made of the same clay , or that he has the right to insist on better treatment than that which is meted out to him 1 .
They live in hopeless poverty , and the greater number lack sufficient means to procure even the coarsest clothing .
They go about almost naked , or at best clothed in the most hideous rags .
They live from hand to mouth the whole year round , and rarely know one day how they will procure food for the next . When they happen to have any money , they invariably spend it at once , and make a point of doing no work as long as they have anything left to live on .
In a few districts they are allowed to cultivate the soil on their own account , but in such cases they are almost always the poorest of their class . Pariahs who hire themselves out as labourers earn , at any rate , enough to live
on ; and their food , though often of the coarsest description ,
is sufficient to satisfy the cravings of hunger . But those who are their own masters , and cultivate land for themselves , are so indolent and careless that their harvests ,
even in the most favourable seasons , are only sufficient to feed them for half the year .
The contempt and aversion with which the other castes
— and particularly the Brahmins — regard these unfortunate
people are carried to such an excess that in many places their presence , or even their footprints , are considered sufficient to defile the whole neighbourhood . They are forbidden to cross a street in which Brahmins are living .
1
The Christian missionaries in India have done and are doing much to elevate the condition and character of this class . In Madras city there are now Pariah associations , and also a journal specially representing ; Pariah interests . Ed .