Trading Security For Liberty

But the caste discrimination we see in the suburban gated societies of big cities here, is very similar to the original caste discrimination that has been a systemic part of our Indian society for centuries. Only, now this reprehensible practice is justified using security concerns.

It’s easy to scare us into giving up our civil liberties and privacy. Soon after the terror attacks of 26/11, we all consented to be searched at hotel and mall entrances. But the saving grace is, that the indignities of mall, hotel and airport security procedures are applied uniformly to all. One does not get to skip airport or mall security based on one’s perceived social or economic status.

Profession Based Discrimination

However, the same is not true for all gated co-operative housing societies. Some implement bag check procedures for maids and laborers leaving the society, but not for doctors, architects and designers. Such profession based discrimination is the essence of the age old Indian caste system we have been struggling to abolish. Yet, gated housing societies and high rises, home to supposedly educated people, do not seem to have any ethical concerns about drafting and implementing such reprehensible rules.

The discrimination is so blatant, that people discuss with impunity on the society Whatsapp groups. which professionals should be searched and which ones exempted, based on the prestige associated with the profession they practice.

A recent discussion on my own society’s Whatsapp group left me feeling nauseated. Some people were upset about a teacher’s bag being checked by the security personnel. They complained that teaching was a noble profession, and teachers deserved to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a consensus that maids, laborers and some others still needed to have their bags searched, effectively implying that maids, laborers etc somehow do not deserve respect, because their professions are perceived by some to not be noble. Have civil liberties and right to privacy now become contingent on profession?

Sexism

Some gated high-rises are also effectively sexist. All daily workers are usually required to be registered with many societies via an app. Now it so happens that most drivers and several live-in full time house help are male. While most part-time domestic help, excluding drivers are female. Some housing societies permit registered daily workers, except part time house help to use the regular elevators, while the ‘maids’ are restricted to the slow and poorly maintained service elevator installed primarily for the transport of building material and over-sized or overweight items.

If perchance a maid tries to use the regular elevator, because she is in a hurry, she is rudely chastised and threatened that she will not be allowed on the premises again, thus depriving her of her source of livelihood.

The irony is that, this poorly maintained service elevator is the only one capable of accommodating a hospital stretcher. So the joke’s on us if in a dire emergency we are delayed in obtaining medical care, because the house help was using the elevator.

A Mystery Series

The Nisha Ucchil Mystery Series is set in a gated housing society of high-rise buildings. It tackles mysteries centered around the social issues like the ones mentioned in this article.

Housing societies, with multiple high-rise buildings are a microcosm of the city itself, where people of disparate upbringing and outlook co-exist in close proximity, their interactions involving a delicate blend of co-operation and conflict. It is in this rich and complex social environment, that Nisha a science teacher and amateur sleuth, usually tackles mysteries by peeling away layers of social prejudice to uncover startling truths.

• The first book in the series is titled The Only Suspect and it can be found here.

• The second book in the series is titled Free Fall, which is here.

• The third book in the series titled Emerging Identity, is here.