Dilip D'Souza's latest - on the caste divide:

Immediately after the [Bhuj] quake, I spent some days working in a village called Toraniya. Also based in the village was a team from the Marble Traders' Association of Delhi, which had decided to give the villagers free food for a week. All they had to do was wander over to the Traders' tent, sit down in a line and eat the piping-hot puri-bhaji the Delhi men cooked and served them. You'd think it would be a natural thing to do.

Yet at every mealtime, there were urgent arguments around the village. The various village castes couldn't bring themselves to sit with each other to eat. Not even this free food. They resented being asked to do so.