creamy layer: thinly veiled prejudice

what feelings, knowledge could have fuelled the idea that a large, powerful, prosperous creamy layer exists among obcs and other underprivileged classes? a line from a dipankar gupta article i'd quoted a couple of days ago, in this post, provides a clue:

It is ‘demonstrably perverse’ to consider members of certain castes incapable of doing well and getting ahead even if they have the means and the powers to do so.

it isn't 'demonstrably perverse' to assume that 'members of certain castes' do have access to 'the means and powers to do so so' when commissions such as the one headed by mandal clearly pointed out that a large majority of them do not have such access? and again, reading carefully, you notice he mentions only 'members of certain castes'. okay, he's not talking about all the members of the obc castes. he's only talking of members of certain castes. not about random individuals, from any caste, among the broad objectivised category called backward classes. like i said in this post, whatever his protestations, dipankar gupta has always demonstrated an acute consciousness of caste. if he wants to push ahead a pro-economic-and-other-objective-criteria-based alternative policy, why does he have to build it on the foundation of caste?

members of certain castes have the means and the powers to get ahead but they still want reservations because members of those castes are...lazy? greedy? devious? shifty? cunning? stupid dickheads?

as you go on searching for what's implied in that line, progressively less pleasant thoughts strike your mind. words that increasingly slur.

yes, that line could also be interpreted as:

policymakers wish to offer reservations to even members of certain castes who have the means and the powers to get ahead on their own, because they believe such a policy would translate into votes.

now look at what's being implied:

members of certain castes who have the means and the powers to get ahead on their own are so dumb that they'll all stop trying harder if offered reservations, because they will all believe they'll all get seats anyway.

members of certain castes who have the means and the powers to get ahead on their own are so f$@^ing devious that they'll all scheme together and try just hard enough to score just enough marks below the cutoff mark (yes, they'll also be aware of just what the cutoff is going to be, in advance) to grab all the seats, if offered reservations.

members of certain castes who have the means and the powers to get ahead on their own have such a weak grasp of responsible citizenship, of ethics, that they sell their votes.

members of certain castes who have the means and the powers to get ahead on their own are so stupid that they will believe that they'll all get seats because members of other castes who have also been offered reservations will never be able to score better than them.

one could go on because this concept of creamy layer is so stimulating- it offers such varied, and interesting insights into the ..brahminized imagination. no, that's not a slur.