A Radical Transformation

Today Namisha depends on her family in Christ, and she finds love and support from them.

Aryan invaders are credited with creating the caste system as a way to exert power over the original, darker-skinned inhabitants of the Indian Subcontinent. As a deeply religious myth developed that explained the system's origin, the power held by those in the highest caste became secure.

This social structure, put in place 3,000 years ago, has remained alive through the centuries, affecting the daily lives of everyone from the conquerors themselves to Namisha Chettri in the year 2007.

Today, Namisha knows there is no caste in the kingdom of God. In fact, the members of her church who are now her "family" are from castes that Namisha formerly thought she must avoid. But as a part of India's highest caste, the Brahmins, this was a radical change from the mindset of traditions and prejudice Namisha knew as a young girl.

The pride of Namisha's caste was instilled in her during her first 10 years, while her parents were still alive. Namisha constantly heard why her family was so important and how she must never allow someone of a lower caste to defile their home by entering it.

To uphold the dignity of their status, members of the Brahmin caste live by lists of rigid guidelines that they believe will keep them ritually pure and protect their dignity. Nothing is allowed to stand in the way of these rules.

"We are high-caste people," her parents would tell her. "We have rules and regulations to follow for our religion."

"A Brahmin won't eat meat," Namisha explains. "They are not permitted by their religion to take alcohol, tobacco, things like that. Before they eat food, they will bathe. They won't eat stale food, but only fresh food; and when they eat, someone of another caste can't come near."

Brahmins often display a smear of white ash on their forehead. Men wear a sacred cord called a janai, which they only remove for events such as funerals, because the janai must be kept in a holy place at all times.

"We have to preserve our reputation as Brahmins," her father would remind her almost daily. Although Namisha would often mingle with her lower-caste classmates, she still abided by the rules not to accept food or water touched by a low-caste person. And she did not allow any of them to come to her home, for she knew what would happen.

"Even if by accident a low-caste person entered our house, they would be beaten. They could be beaten and humiliated because a Brahmin had every right to do that to them," she remembers.

It wasn't only their actions toward others that made them ritually pure. As a Brahmin family, they had strict religious ceremonies to perform, including daily rituals of offering milk and fruit to their chosen household god.

"There is one big puja [devotional] festival we performed every year," Namisha recalls. "We would slaughter more than 100 goats and offer their heads to our goddess. We also fasted four times a month and offered money to poor people once a year.

"From all these things we did, we wanted to achieve salvation. That's why we did it all." Since she has come to know the Lord, the change in Namisha's thinking has been drastic. Today she loves and serves people of all castes.

"God has created many people, and there is no caste," Namisha shared. "Now I visit all people and share my testimony, share about Jesus, because I want them to come to the Lord."

Namisha's first introduction to Christ came through reading tracts and literature.

Namisha lives in West Bengal, India.

Like the people in this story, almost everyone in Namisha's village labors in tea gardens.