Hindu Dalits, Caste and Conversion: A Conversation with Prerna Thiruvaipati

Join Mukunda as he speaks to Prerna Thiruvaipati a Dalits and Hindu activist who has been spending the past few years working on addressing the concerns of Dalit communities in India focusing on the Andhra and Telangana region. She has been working on providing economic, emotional, and legal support to these communities in addition to dealing with the issues of Christian and Islamic conversions along with returning to Hinduism. We discuss these and other topics.

00:01:10 Introduction to Prerna Thiruvaipati and her background, we discuss her experiences growing up outside of India and what role caste consciousness played in her life, her move to India and experience of caste in India

00:13:40 Prerna’s learning about her Sri Vaishnava tradition and how she learnt about Hinduism in her life

00:24:10 Origins of Prerna’s activism in the Dalit community and Ghar Wapsi inspired and mentored by Chinna Jeeyar Swami and Sanjeev Newar. We have a deeper discussion on Ghar Wapsi, initiation of upanayanam within Scheduled Castes and Tribe communities and women. The reasons people convert to Christianity in the Dalit community and how Hindu activists are trying to engage with these Dalit communities and their material, emotional and spiritual needs.

00:44:10 Islamic conversion and a deep conservation on Love Jihad, is this just a Hindutva conspiracy theory or is there something real going on? Prerna provides us her experience in helping people deal with it. We discuss marrying for love, marrying for conversion, freedom to marry whomever you choose and fundamental idea of conversion.

01:06:20 Do people who convert to Hinduism convert back to Christianity or Islam? What is done to integrate the people who convert to Hinduism especially people from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes communities? How do you ensure that people are respected, treated well and feel accepted by the larger Hindu community?

01:11:10 What can “upper” caste communities and people do to help Dalits, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other oppressed communities? We also discuss Upanayanam/Janeo investiture in these communities and its impact on the communities.

01:19:00 Sri Vaishnavism, Chinna Jeeyar and Prerna’s journey into the sampradaya. How do we engage with life of Ramanujacharya, the Sri Vaishnava community today and caste?

01:33:30 Hinduism vs. Identity Politics, how to reconcile Hindu spirituality and ethics to the issues we face in politics, religion and society.

01:49:40 Intercaste Marriages and Mathas/Ashramas

01:54:30 Conclusion

You can find Prerna Thiruvaipati at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/NationFirstEnglish

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrernaThiruvaip

To Follow Mukunda:

https://twitter.com/raghman36

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About Author

Mukunda

Mukunda Raghavan: Mukunda is a jack of all trades but master of none. His educational background is a mix of political science, criminology, psychological and philosophy. He received his Juris Doctorate in Law from Boston University and was simultaneously working on his Masters in Philosophy focusing on continental philosophy (not completed). He has practiced as a prosecutor in New York City, General Counsel and Operating Officer of a healthcare company in Southern California, Head of Business and Operations for a legal tech company in India and is now in Strategy and Development. Much like his career, Mukunda’s intellectual interests and knowledge is varied, he is interested in Indian and Western philosophy, world mythology, Quantum Physics, Consciousness Studies, Psychology and variety of other fields.

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