The author, Sujatha Gidla, was born into a lower-middle-class family in south india. In her small town she quickly learned about the caste system which in India portrays an oppressive social hierarchy that pervades every aspect of life. Gidla is a so-called "untouchable" and a Christian which makes her a part of the most marginalized group within the system. She and her peers are excluded from public spaces, and sometimes even beaten up or driven to suicide. The caste system is such a big part of ones identity in India, everyone will want to find out your cast and as soon as it is revealed you will always be stuck with it. When the author went to university, she realizes that cast prejudices persists even among Christians. She has to face that at home she is an outcast, because she is not Hindu and at University she is not Christian/Western enough.
I was shocked when reading about this system, but looking at Western countries, racism, religious prejudices, gender norms and beauty standards are just as much an aspect of everyones life, even if it exists more silently.