Sharma : Had it turned into an anti-brahmin movement?
Chavan : Yes, it had, It was called non Brahmin movement.
Sharma : That is all right, non-Brahminism in that sense, but don't you think that it is quite another thing to be anti-brahmin?
Chavan : There was an element of anti-Brahminis there. People saw that in the villages they (Brahmins) were the landlords, in the towns they had lots of money, acquired through right or wrong ways, and they exploited in the name of being Brahmins. They were better-living people, with better opportunities in life. Opportunities of education were refused to the non-brahmins because the Brahmins monopolised everything.
Sharma : Did you ever come across a phenomenon in which, for example, a Brahmin doctor discriminated agains a non-Brahmin patient, charged hom more, or was neglectful?
Chavan : I cannot say that, at least I do not know of any such instance. This was a general feeling. It is very difficult to prove all these things.
Sharma : Anyhow, that feeling was there at that time.
Chavan : Yes. Positions and privileges were given to them in politics, in social life, in religious life and in cultural life. Even in the village a Brahmin occupied a very important place. He was a landlord. He was what we used to call Kulkarni in Maharshtra villages, recordkeeper. They were quite expert record-keepers. He was a hated person in the village.
