In the film entitled "Children of the World" about children from various countries, one of the youngsters named Sandeep Shahani is from India. He is only about twelve years old, and he grows up in difficult circumstances. In the Indian language, his family name literally means "boatman." When asked about his future, Sandeep says that the only thing he intends to do is to follow in his father's footsteps and become a boatman. Sandeep works around the clock, rowing passengers across the river for a trifling sum—perhaps NT$2 or NT$3 per trip. It seems that he leads a miserable life. Since he makes such little money, he is likely to stay in his hometown all his life, and he will probably never get the chance to see the world.
However, the caste system may be the main reason why Sandeep doesn't hold out much hope of working in a different occupation. The caste system is a system in India that classifies people into groups depending on which family they are born into, and it has existed for centuries. Sandeep may find some consolation in the fact that he is not a member of the lowest class, in which people are destined for an even harsher life full of inequality and mistreatment. Life is so despicable for them that they cannot imagine ever being treated fairly, let alone in a respectable way.