Caste in India This 1947 photograph from Life magazine illustrates the “purity and pollution” thinking that has long been central to the ideology of caste. It shows a high-caste landowner carefully dropping wages wrapped in a leaf into the outstretched hands of his low-caste workers. By avoiding direct physical contact with them, he escapes the ritual pollution that would otherwise ensue. (Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)