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.
Very interesting. Thanks.