" 
 :::  I came here for an unrelated reason - Sitush, we discussed health the other day and I'm so sorry you are feeling so poorly right now - but I am going to note that really, the scholarly consensus on this is really there. There are Indian authors and Western authors and they are plentiful and easy to find. Edward Said even reviewed Dirks' 2001 work and wrote, ""Massively documented and brilliantly argued, Castes of Mind is a study in true contrapuntal interpretation. Nicholas Dirks is a subtle unraveler of the dense, many-layered fabric of India's colonial and modern history as they converge in the idea and practice of caste. Even for the nonspecialist, the results of this gripping book are remarkable to behold."" So I think you're not going to be able to remove that statement, no matter how much it chaps your britches, if you know what I mean.   "