Choosing a caste for your South Asian character in the diaspora
Re: your naming south Asian characters post, specifically the Hindu caste system- Most of what I’ve read about the caste system suggests it’s a very complicated and fraught issue in modern india/hindu communities. I know it would be inappropriate to try and comment on it as someone not from that culture, but when it comes to naming characters accurately how should one approach choosing a caste for their characters family? Particularly for a character living in a diaspora?
Better do it right than do it wrong
While Dalit and scheduled caste representation is desperately needed, it would not be inappropriate to choose a privileged caste.
If your characters are Hindu, it will be almost impossible to choose a surname that doesn’t indicate, or at least hint towards a caste.
I think poor, inaccurate representation is always worse than under-representation. In Western countries today, non-scheduled caste Hindus tend to have more visibility because of things like wealth and social influence. Thus, their perspectives are more accessible. Nevertheless, in the part of the US where I live, and I suspect in other parts of the world with large, diverse Hindu diaspora communities, SC (Scheduled caste) and OBC (Other Backward Caste) visibility is something that exists, particularly among diaspora activists working to support anti-caste movements.
Research, research, research !
I would suggest diving in and figuring out what your research tells you. South Asian diaspora have had many waves, from antiquity (Romani) to Britannia (Guyana, Nigeria, S. Africa, SE Asia, etc.) to more current waves (Middle East, Australia, N. America, Europe). The Wikipedia articles on the topic are quite extensive.
I prefer to choose characters by first choosing a region and then seeing what I can find in the research. If the research is sufficient, I consider whether the characteristics I’m looking to express make sense in the context of the character’s cultural background. If not, I repeat the process again with a different region. It helps to not be attached during this process, and allow the research to guide the writing.
