I wish the author could explain why he chooses to disclose that he is a _Bramhin_.
The author seems to have emigrated to a different part of the world but still mentions labels used for the longest running discrimination of humans in history.
The first three sentences paints a picture of a man of unusual ethics. The tidbit about his Bramhin background explains why he is that way.
An Indian might be able to infer the Brahmin tidbit from the first part. But as an European reader like myself, it is relevant to know that the ethics is rooted in religious upbringing and not just eccentricity (which would be the typical explanation for why a person would behave like that in Europe).
That sentance adds background about the father's upbringing. It's no different from saying someone grew up in a secular Jewish household or that their parents were born again Christians.
My guess is that it tied to the “don’t harm anything” story? I was curious to see how people with these different extremely rigid belief systems adjust in the military.
I’m also “Brahmin” by birth but a beef eating atheist so don’t give a crap about it. But grew up around enough relatives that cared and never understood how they reconciled trying to be strict in some areas but being lax in others.
That’s why I was curious about how they adjust in the military.
IMHO you’re describing all humans ever. We all live with constant choices between conforming and rebelling - religious, societal, etc. It’s not that surprising?
But yes there is always plenty of inconsistency.
I suspect that was what he meant, but sometimes terms don't age so well. There's a whole bunch of terms that were commonly used throughout our South, that would be considered insults or racist dog-whistles, these days.
This smearing of Hindus and Indians with accusations about caste are ridiculous and par for the course on HN where Indo-phobia is pretty commonplace (see any discussion of US work visas, for example).
By "he" do you mean the author or the author's father?