The tea master has questioned the people who drink tea in his shop outside Sonampatti which is near Vazhapadi and he asks whether the people need to drink tea in a plastic cup or a usual glass. In this kongu heartland of Western Tamilnadu, where Vellala Gounders and Vanniyars constitute the main part of OBC voters, the plastic tea cup is replaced with steel tumblers in the social enforcement of two tumbler system.
Murugesan has said the upper caste people prefer to drink tea in plastic cups and he claims that he have gone to jail protesting against the Emergency during 1970’s. The Dalits have alleged that still they are pulled up when they wear slippers and enter the OBC area, which was an issue and the Untouchability Eradication Front of the CPI (M) has tried to evolve.
Across Salem and Namakkal districts, the issue of honor and the inter caste marriages dominates discussions in social gatherings. The idea is that Dalit men wantonly and carefully woo the OBC girls and later leave them at lurch has presently percolated to every level and forcing parents to have a keen watch about their children .
Even many plots have put up on the main area as Gounder Colony where the caste name is announced publicly and more as an exclusion tactic and the locals have said this is the way to make a declaration that the plot is made available to members of one community. The Dalits want a special law to safeguard inter caste couples and many OBC men want to put an end to such weddings.
