i have been many times posed with the question of which cast i belonged to ..i always said i didnt know and didnt care that much.. and I in turn asked them “does it matter so much?” but ofcourse, curiosity killed the cat and inspite of myself i did wonder which cast i belonged to.. i was afraid to ask my parents that question for fear of reprimand.. but my oppurtunity opened when somebody else asked my father on a train journey and we were all there… “we’re maliks” my father said.. and i heard! i dont know what rushed through me.. confusion i suppose.. i wondered what position maliks occupied in the social strata.. i didnt know that much about maliks anyway.. just chaudries who have been very popularised by the media :P …and the only thing i knew abt them were that they were rich, property owning people in the punjab.. - im a laywoman to the cast subject! and so i came here to find out more..

i sooo agree with two statements in this article, it was as if the author took the wrods right out of my mouth –

“After all, one of the things that sets the Pakistanis (read Muslims) from the Indians (read Hindus) is that the former do NOT have a caste system. So, while the exultation of one’s blood lineage is good, one does not want appear as if our society is stratified and calcified by birth stations.”

AND:

“Oh, he is a Malik” is enough to introduce a thumbnail sketch of a person’s character, likely occupation.”

–to just generalize everybody in a single body limits your possibilities soo much, and i hated that idea.

Ofcourse, i still hold by my belief of not believing in casts…my family is definetly very flexible and proud of they are.. :) ..maliks, chaudries who cares? :) if you can make a place in society for yourslef, you’re just as good as anybody!