It would be surprising if Samar and Jayojit were the last fictional Brahmins to wrestle with their changing land.

ECONOMIST: Indian fiction: Disconnected | The

They are a "middle caste" in northern India's rigid social hierarchy -- above the lowest untouchables but below the Brahmins and feudal landowners.

CNN: On the Edge Again

There were never doubts for Kentucky, whose path to New Orleans has been clear ever since coach John Calipari inked a freshman class full of pre-fab, plug-and-play basketball Brahmins.

WSJ: NCAA Final Four: Why You Should Feel Sorry For Kentucky Fans

At the top of the heap, it is announced, are to be the self-satisfied priests, the Brahmins, who will be the only ones allowed the privilege of reading, writing, and making laws.

NPR: In The Kitchen With Madhur Jaffrey

Brahmins, at the top, dominate many professions.

ECONOMIST: The perilous arithmetic of positive discrimination

The caste origins of India's billionaires are on predictable lines: 28 of the 46 billionaires come from traditional merchant classes ( Banias, Parsis and Sindhis, for example), and a number of them belong to upper caste communities like Brahmins and Khatris.

BBC: India's billionaires and the wealth of the nation