India, Aug. 9 -- You write that elite savarnas are unaccustomed to being subjects of critical scrutiny, especially from non-savarnas. Why has there has been so little mainstream cultural commentary on savarna elites in India?

The reason for the lack of commentary on savarna elites has been down to many factors. First, is the simple reluctance of a privileged group to interrogate itself. In this, caste is not unique. Where it becomes distinctive is in the epistemic erasure of caste as a frame of reference in discursive analysis. In popular discourse and academia, until very recently there was a major dismissal of exploring caste as a sociological variable to explain material reality. Savarnas simply did not 'see' caste in anything. Lastly...