Someone dies in eastern Bangalore and happens to be Hindu, invariably Sowri Raja gets a call. Sowri Raja is the seventh-generation grave digger working and “living” in the Kalpalli Hindu burial ground. There has been an upgrade in the graveyard two decades ago. The city municipality has developed a high-tech crematorium which is managed by Sowri Raja’s brother Kutti. The front office of the cemetery is handled by Sathya, Sowri Raja’s daughter. Does it sound like a case of nepotism? In India we call it caste occupation. The concept of caste has been prevalent in India for more than 2500 years. Dr B.R.Ambedkar, examines the concept of endogamy and mechanism in the Indian caste system in his seminal work, The Annihilation of Caste. Ambedkar argues that endogamy is one of the most significant practices of the caste system in India. (Ambedkar, 2014). The paper elaborates from my doctoral thesis on Hindu Burial ground of Bangalore, looking at the intersection of caste, labour and society. The objective of the research:

• To trace the life trajectories of the gravediggers in the Hindu crematoriums and burial grounds of Bangalore;
• To understand the role of social institutions of caste, class, gender and religion in the Hindu Crematoriums and burial grounds of Bangalore; and
• To explain the historically inherited socio-economic conditions and issues of the workforce engaged in the burial sites of Bangalore.

Ambedkar, B. R. and Anand, S. (eds) (2014) The Annihilation of Caste: Annotated Critical Edition, Verso.