So you think it’s possible that I really was experiencing this guy’s hangups about caste? I’ll tell you something - it definitely bugged me. It must be awful when the whole society looks down on you like that. I can see why the Indian “untouchables” might be motivated to convert.
BTW, you mention that you had a south Indian professor. Why do you make that regional distinction? Is the caste system more a feature of the south than the north?
If you are ever interested in learning more about India, I recommend the book “In Spite of the Gods”. It discusses the history of India, current politics, and the future.
There is an abyss between the N. and S. of India, a cultural chasm. In the south, people are much better educated and much more humble. So, if an Australian missionary gets killed in India, an Indian reading the headline in the newspaper knows instantaneously that it happened in N. India. If there’s a headline about a woman and her son who abduct and kill a child to cure the mother of nightmares, the Indian knows right away that in happened in the North. All the 7-11 owners are from the North. College professors, doctors, engineers, etc. are (typically) from the south. Bankers are (almost always) from the north. They’re tradespeople and business people (7-11s, restaurants, little shops, gas stations, .....)
It’s telling. Indian people make the regional distinction all the time. N. Indians, because they’re generally less educated than S. Indians, refer to all south Indians as being Madrasi, Madras being a city in a Southern state called Tamil Nadu. It would be the equivalent of an American from the North refering to all Southerners as Fayettevillers or Hopians or Billoxites. Most N. Indians don’t even know how many states there are in India. Heck if they can name them.
But in answer to your question, the caste system is not anymore a feature of the south than the north.
It may not be due to caste. That guy was probably just being rude to you. I dont think anyone applies the caste system to foreigners because its just too absurd.