boddhisatva wrote:

>How can
> anybody tell what caste you belong to if you don't tell him yourself? 

You can guess someone's caste from his name, i.e. the last name gives a rough indication of a person's caste. But you have to ask, if you want to be certain. 

> Upon
> meeting one another in a restaurant or club or something, do cosmopolitan
> Indians actually ask one another what caste they belong to?

No, that doesn't happen frequently.

>  Don't people
> object to this?  What if you say "I don't discuss caste." or something?
> What happens?

Nothing happens. Caste awareness is not _that_ important in urban areas. But it's important in areas like marriage, rituals and jobs.

Ulhas

>    peace,
> 
>      boddi