Beyond Caste, Creed, and Surname: A Call to Remember Our Higher Identity

A Call to Remember Our Higher Identity

Naidu, Babu, Raju, Reddy, Rao, Chettiyar, Mudhaliyar, Nair, Sharma, Patel, Kapoor, Thakur, Goud, Yadhav... These are just names handed to us by our parents. Labels of belonging. Inherited identities.

We accept them without question, as though they define our worth. Yet we forget something deeper: we are human beings first, each of us a fragment of the divine, with the free will to choose goodness.

We forget this because of how society works. Society is not some abstract force—it is parents, teachers, friends, colleagues telling us who we are, who we should be, whom we should hate, whom we should worship. It is them, knowingly or unknowingly, saying: “You are of this caste, this community, this religion—be proud, be separate, be suspicious of the other.”

We are raised to boast:

“Do you know who I am? My father is like this.”

“My uncles are big shots.”

“My caste is powerful.”

“My community is ancient.”

“My mentor knows ministers.”

But what does this really mean? It is inherited property. Not earned. Not created. Not built. Just inherited.

If all this pride in our identities actually turned into innovation, invention, and creation, India would have been a real superpower—not a “superpower” on WhatsApp forwards, social media hashtags, and election slogans.

Look at Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He didn’t win respect by saying “My ancestors were great”. He won it by giving—his mind, his work, his vision. He chose to innovate, to teach, to build.

Our politicians know this truth very well. Yet they deliberately divide us by caste and creed because it is easy. It is cheap. It works. They feed us venom and watch us fight each other. They stay in power while we remain stuck in the same old fights.

They make us forget:

That caste is man-made.

That religion is supposed to teach love, not hatred.

That real respect comes from what you do, not whom you were born to.

That India will rise only if we rise above inherited pride and choose purposeful action.

It is time to reject these poisons. Time to say:

“I am more than my surname.”

“I will not hate because someone told me to.”

“I will not waste my life proving my caste’s greatness.”

“I will use my freedom to do good, to create, to innovate.”

India does not need more people boasting about their family trees. It needs people planting new trees.

The choice is ours. Let us remember who we truly are: humans with free will. Fragments of the divine. Capable of greatness—if we stop letting others define us, divide us, and blind us.