India, Aug. 9 -- 1You write that elite savarnas are unaccustomed to being subjects of critical scrutiny, especially from non-savarnas. Why has there has been so little cultural commentary on savarna elites in India? The reason for the lack of commentary is due to many factors. First, there 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 the need to explore caste as a sociological variable to explain material reality. Savarnas simply did not "see" caste in anything. Even when caste is considered, it is always as an investigation of SC, ST and OBC lives. Caste is never framed as a savarna question, as a system that accrues privilege and access for them. This combination of structural reluctance, erasure and selective framing has rendered savarna elites practically "invisible" in critical sociological commentary on caste. My book tries to address this by centring savarna elites and putting a spotlight on their existential and social cultures, and through it, understand the processes playing out in contemporary India. 2You argue that dominant narratives celebrate the "merit" of a largely savarna cohort, overlooking their role in perpetuating mediocrity. What are the implications of this for the country? Because caste gets framed only as a phenomenon of exclusion, never privilege, it often tends to create perceptual blind spots for even critical-thinking savarnas wherein they overlook the structural advantages they have access to. Thus, the narratives tend to celebrate success and hard work, for instance, without accounting for the caste privileges that ease the pathways to this success. This also tends to create contempt for the marginalised, whose lack of success is seen as result of "not working hard or smart enough". Lastly, this view tends to displace the credit for success, from caste networks to institutions, thereby often reproducing and encouraging even mediocre pedagogy and policy, since these and not caste privileges are seen as factors of success. Such systems aggregating nationally are, in my opinion, one of the overlooked reasons why Indian national progress has not reached the heights it was expected to in recent decades. 3As a scholar from the OBC category critiquing savarna institutions, how have your personal experiences informed your book? All writing is personal. As a scholar from a marginalised caste, academia has been very challenging. I still feel I have been very lucky, when I compare my struggles with those I have seen other scholars face in similar situations. It is a collective and daily struggle against a system that epistemically does not recognise your marginalisation. A lot of this informs my text, but the book is also written in an accessible, conversational and relaxed tone that invites reflection from savarnas....