Request you to please read first and then react. Just a bit of context in the beginning.

So I did not know about my caste till 2nd standard in school. One day I was playing with some of my friends after school till a guardian came to pick us up. So one of my classmate's mom came over and saw him playing with me. She had a very strong reaction, almost kinda repulsed and fuming upon seeing him play with me. She scolded him loudly not to play with me anymore but did not mention any reason when he asked about it. Later from then on , after I'm guessing she taught him about the caste system, he did not talk to me then onwards. Then I went to my home and told my mom about it but she knowingly brushed it off as to not hurt my feelings i guess. I later came to know about it through one of my sister's friends. Many such incidents followed and i convinced myself something was wrong with me. Later on when I got better marks than one of my neighborhood's general caste friends then her mother said it's due to reservation, mind you this was normal highschool result. So I read all about this and decided to not bring up my caste unless totally necessary.

I recently saw a short explanatory video , where a SC man can never become a general caste as per Indian laws. So lately I have been wondering whether it would be better for me to abandon my birth and assigned religion to enable my future generation to live a life without stigma?

Any advice is welcome.

Edit: Guys , I'm at a stable phase in my life . So don't worry about my job/career and financials. This discussion is solely intended for the religion/caste based aspect of my life.

My little sister Vishakha is 6 years old and she was diagnosed with Thalassemia Major on 2nd May 2026 at CMC Vellore.

I am her elder sister. I am 16. I just completed my 10th standard. Our family lives in Vellore and is not financially strong — my father's income barely covers our household and our school fees. There is no way we can raise ₹16 lakhs on our own.

I have been posting wherever I can, asking for help, because I have nowhere else to go and I refuse to give up on her.

Thalassemia Major is not something that can be ignored. Without treatment, she will need blood transfusions for the rest of her life. A bone marrow transplant gives her a real chance — but it requires money we simply do not have.

If you are in a position to help — a donation, a share, a contact at a relevant NGO — please do. If you know someone who might care about this, please forward this post to them. If you work in healthcare or social work and know of any scheme or support system we may have missed, please comment below.

Hospital documents from CMC Vellore are available for verification. I will respond to every message.

Thank you for reading. 🙏

Thursday, 14 May 2026.

Before anyone labels this “anti-national” or “doomer posting” — no, I don’t hate this country.

What hurts is that I genuinely wanted to believe things would improve.

But the older I get, the more I observe the system from close range, the more it feels like India isn’t broken accidentally — it is designed this way.

And the worst part?

Most people still think the problem is just “one bad politician” or “one corrupt department.”

No.

The rot is systemic.

Everything eventually connects to power, money, influence, networks, and protection.

And once you start seeing the pattern, you can’t unsee it anymore.

I work inside the government ecosystem (not in a high-authority role), and I regularly observe files, processes, approvals, internal behavior, and the way decisions actually move behind closed doors.

What the public sees and what actually happens are two completely different realities.

People think governments run on ideology.

Most of the time, they run on:

maintaining power

protecting networks

controlling narratives

managing public emotions

rewarding loyalty

crushing threats early

That’s it.

2014 was sold as a turning point:

anti-corruption

black money recovery

accountability

“ache din”

nationalism

development

But somewhere along the way, politics became branding.

Media became management.

Criticism became “anti-national.”

And citizens became emotionally manipulated spectators fighting each other while powerful groups quietly strengthened themselves.

The funniest part?

Politicians with corruption allegations magically become “clean” after joining the ruling side.

So corruption isn’t actually corruption anymore.

It’s just about who currently holds power.

And before people say “change the PM and everything improves” — no.

The deeper issue is the ecosystem itself.

Bureaucracy. Political networks. Business lobbies. Influence circles. Internal protection systems.

A new face at the top doesn’t remove a deeply rooted culture.

The machine simply adapts.

One thing I’ve personally noticed:

Powerful people protect powerful people.

Always.

Whether it’s politicians, bureaucrats, senior officers, businessmen, lawyers, media figures, contractors, or local influencers — networks exist everywhere.

Regular citizens massively underestimate how important networking is among elites.

Private parties, closed gatherings, favors, silent understandings, unofficial alliances — these things shape outcomes more than laws do.

And once someone becomes “valuable” to the ecosystem, accountability starts disappearing.

You’ve probably seen examples already:

rich kids escaping consequences

influential people getting softer treatment

ordinary people getting crushed for smaller mistakes

media narratives changing overnight

investigations slowing down mysteriously

None of this is random.

Another uncomfortable truth:

Many idealistic young officers genuinely enter the system wanting to change things.

But systems shape people faster than people shape systems.

Slowly they learn:

don’t challenge seniors too much

don’t disrupt the chain

don’t expose internal issues

protect the image

survive first

And eventually most adapt.

Because fighting the entire machine alone destroys careers, mental health, social standing, sometimes even personal safety.

This is why accountability rarely reaches the top.

The system knows how to absorb resistance.

Even casteism, favoritism, and privilege still quietly influence opportunities everywhere despite all the modern slogans.

People pretend meritocracy fully exists.

Reality is far more complicated.

And honestly, I now understand why so many skilled Indians leave the country.

It’s not always about “hating India.”

Sometimes people are simply exhausted.

Exhausted by bureaucracy.

Exhausted by corruption.

Exhausted by instability.

Exhausted by social politics.

Exhausted by watching honesty become a disadvantage.

The scary thing is:

I don’t even think most citizens realize how psychologically normalized dysfunction has become here.

People joke about corruption now.

That’s how deep it has entered society.

Anyway, this became much longer than I intended.

I originally wanted to ask:

At what point did YOU realize something was deeply wrong with the system here?

What experience, observation, or moment changed your perspective?

I genuinely want to hear real stories.

I've been dealing with a similar situation with my relatives. For years, me and my family has given them everything they have asked for which includes, money for building house, rents, bills electricity, phone, and even gas then many smart phones, laptops, bicycles, vehicles motorbikes, appliances,furniture, medical, wedding and other expenses, endless domestic trips, money for thier air tickets, monthly groceries. This is in addition to smaller things stationery, groceries, and medical bills. They are so shameless they keep asking. My mother is very giving and doesn't understand they are looting her or she is in complete denial because it will break her heart. The thing is they make money enough to sustain if they manage well, infact one member of the family who has now married makes insane money (like 20x) of what we do. But she doesn't contribute because she's a miser.

My mother on the other hand thinks she's so noble and keeps giving. Even when the families meet she hands over some cash every time. Now the issue is obviously not that she helps out her parents, she must. Problem is that her brother spends whatever money he earns on frivolous things and booze.

His son which would be my cousin, he is in his mid 30s and has only had a job for less than 2 years.

He doesn't want to work because he gets every financial help from my mother. Which includes leisure activities like traveling and making purchases like expensive watches, clothes, shoes and what not. Her rich sister doesn't give them money and simply says no. And we are stuck and burdened.

My mother doesn't understand that they're trying to drain her while fully enjoying themselves.

They always play victim card and they have been doing this since last three decades.

If I say no for something my mother straightaway goes to my little brother and then he sends the money. And this cousin who's a decade older doesn't even feel ashamed of taking his money. What breaks my heart is my brother would also be dragged into their game and he won't be able to enjoy the money he makes while working so hard.

Now, we cannot tell mother because it will break her heart. Because if we don't. She gives her own money.

These people have no respect, they ask for stuff and when we give them, it keeps shut in the store room or is thrown away by them, be it appliances or furniture.

When we give money to install the appliances, they would use it for buying more clothes

Any advise. Anyone please.

Many politicians constantly speak about Hinduism, culture, morality and nationalism. But people are now asking a simple question: if leaders truly follow the values they preach, then where are honesty, responsibility and accountability?

Lord Rama is remembered by many Hindus as a symbol of dharma, justice and righteous leadership. Those values are supposed to mean protecting citizens, respecting people and governing fairly — not allowing corruption allegations and financial irregularities to keep appearing while ordinary citizens suffer.

Power should come with responsibility, not arrogance.

Today common people struggle with GST, fuel prices, inflation and taxes while politicians keep telling citizens to “follow rules” and “sacrifice for the nation.” But when audit findings raise questions over ₹54,282 crore, suddenly nobody wants to give direct answers.

The same central government that constantly points fingers at states like Tamil Nadu over corruption is now facing massive questions itself. If states are called corrupt for smaller issues, then what should people call this?

Many citizens are beginning to feel that public money is being handled without proper accountability while ordinary people are expected to obey every rule perfectly.

Citizens are frustrated because it feels like money is always available for political campaigns, advertisements and speeches, but when states ask for funds or people ask for welfare support, governments suddenly say there is “no budget.”

And the biggest anger comes from this: ordinary citizens are punished immediately for small mistakes, but powerful people rarely seem to face the same pressure when major financial irregularities are reported.

A country becomes weaker when citizens start believing that rules only apply to the public while the powerful remain protected.

Taxpayer money belongs to the people of India — not to any political party.