It is a far reach to think that we will live out our lives without being segregated into groups –– groups that are essentially different circles of identities. These could be based on gender, sexuality, belief or even things as trivial as whether you like pineapple on your pizza.
In India, however, there exists a basis of classification (hierarchy, rather) that was bitter to begin with –— caste.
23-year-old Kirti questioned the very system, and from it gave life to ‘Name: A Casteless’ — a piece of art that clarifies the lack of a last name. For years, it caused complications, and continues to do so. Her father did not share his last name with his wife, and the couple did not pass it down to their children, either — a way of owning one’s individuality.
The artwork is a collection of Kirti’s legal documents that solidify her identity, at least in legal matters. While some are marked ‘First Name Unknown’, she wonders what a last name even proves.
Kirti questions, “Do I want to have a last name to prove I have a history? This way, I attach laurels and achievements to my own name.”
It is true that your last name would categorise you into a caste and that this segregation is far from a criteria to prove one’s worth. People will always have a way of putting others into boxes, and this is one of them — one that Kirti rather intricately lives free of.
“I do not want them to have a bias related to my last name. Their question is ‘Where do you belong?’ but mine is, ‘Why do you care?’,” she says.
Being casteless comes with challenges of its own — for how preposterous it is to live outside of societal norms and long-standing structures of hierarchy, and how dare a woman stand her own ground and say, “I am my own person”.
Find Kirti here.
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