Barbaric practice

Being a barika(barber) in Orissa means getting trapped in a time warp of traditions. And if the barber happens to be living in Puri district's Brahmagiri block, his status requires him, among other indignities, to wash the feet of the upper-caste groom and guests at weddings and to do the dishes after marriage and religious feasts. Those who fought against this humiliating practice have been thrashed and ostracised. The barbers cannot even take their cattle to the fields for grazing. Worse, they can neither walk down the main road nor bathe in the village pond. Though few would believe, the crappy practice still continues to take their toll on lives of poor in Orissa's interiors.

Read an interesting essay by Prafulla Das in Frontline about the heinous practice.