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Comment by FabHK | Hacker News Reader

It's been a while that I've been to India (last millennium...). Back then, the Times of India had pages and pages of lonely hearts ads in the back, or rather, matrimonial ads. They were sorted by caste, though there were two special categories for NRI (Non resident Indians, i.e. expats) and MBA (yes, Master of Business Administration graduates) - they seem to transcend caste. The ads typically specified the industry and income of the candidate (or their family) in LPA (lakh per annum); some would specify that "caste no bar", and a few allowed that the "bride may apply herself" (rather than the family).

Quite eye-opening. I wonder how things are today.

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I am more optimistic that the caste system will die out within our lifetime. Almost all the younger people I know in India are on dating apps and they are dating people who they would not have met otherwise. I do not know how it is in villages of India , which are stuck in medieval times, but kids in small towns and cities have found sexual liberation in dating apps. If the economy of India improves such that kids are less dependent on parental money , you will see the caste system die out soon.

Try Tindering in any big Indian city:)

Demands are rather specific:

- ICS grade 3, seeking ICS, or a practicing lawyer

- MBA Columbia blah blah blah, glads outside top 100 need not apply

- Or even simpler: "seeking computer engineer, programmer, Java consultant for marriage"

The last almost fell me out of the chair.

Yes, I also find it infuriating that Indians are using Tinder to seek out conscientious partners.

This is definitely worse than the American use-case of Tinder, which focuses on factors of critical importance, such as a great ass and kinky proclivities.

The rough analog to caste in America is race, and you'd better believe that it influences Tinder matches. So, yeah, it's pretty bad here too.

> The last almost fell me out of the chair.

Do you fit the requirements?

I think that the garbage collector in Java is quiet famous.

That's not true in all cities. I'm from Tamil Nadu and even in Chennai which is the most liberal city in Tamil Nadu don't have the dating app culture like you mentioned. I heard Bangalore is ahead on this dating culture.

I most certainly know that cast system will not die out within our lifetime since I have friends who still cling on to caste and they are not from villages or small towns. It will take more than one generation to see any meaningful progress sadly.

I look at western society with a fairly rigid class system (wealthy, middle and poor classes) that doesn’t get talked about but it’s very real.

Huh? I think you've just missed out the last 120 years of western history. I could agree if you've said: It doesn'T get talked about enough.

See the newest class-y development: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-...

I wrote that it doesn’t get talked about which isn’t precise.

It’s largely ignored by most, dismissed or downvoted, and our society tends to pretend it’s not a problem.

I agree that the class issues are given disproportionately little attention compared to other issues like race, despite the fact that a poor white guy with no connections has it way harder than a rich black woman from a family like Thomas Sowell. However I don't know enough about India to say that it's comparable to the US in that regard. At least we can say that they seem to be much more overt in India (based on this discussion). In the US people may have the same requirements of XYZ education and income, but aren't as explicit about it. For example, I would prefer being with someone of similar education and income, but I can imagine exceptions and on top of that, education and income are only parts of what determine class. Again, I don't know enough about India to say how this compares to caste.

I wasn’t making a comparison.

I’m just pointing out that in the west, class is almost a verboten discussion.

In France it isn't.

We have a strong class system, based on location and studies that is being eroded by the tech industry.

Talking about it, making fun of it, or openly acknowledging it is the norm.

>despite the fact that a poor white guy with no connections has it way harder than a rich black woman from a family like Thomas Sowell.

I think it's interesting that this comparison is the metric on which you come to the conclusion that class is more of a determinant to outcome than race. I dare to say that it's a sort of "Obama Fallacy" in action.

I saw an Indian newspaper in UAE (back in 2009 I believe) with a matrimonial section where people were described as having a "wheatish complexion".

To your last question, yes, those ads haven't changed one bit.

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