From the painful state of degradation described above the Mahars are
gradually being rescued by the levelling and liberalising tendency
of British rule, which must be to these depressed classes an untold
blessing. With the right of acquiring property they have begun to
assert themselves, and the extension of railways more especially
has a great effect in abolishing caste distinctions. The Brahman who
cannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take the
risk of rubbing shoulders with a Mahar in a third-class carriage,
and if he chooses to consider himself defiled will have to go hungry
and thirsty until he gets the opportunity of bathing at his journey's
end. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksome
that they are gradually falling into abeyance.