Sharma lays down the two prevailing theories about the the dichotomy between purity and pollution. The first is that caste is a deciding factor at the inception, and the second interrogates caste within those relationships. She brings in Mary Douglas' argument that ideas of dirt and pure are relative and the positionally is dependent on the relationships caste, class and gender have with each other. The creation of a social space that is exclusive to the employer and his/her family in the name of cleanliness/safety eventually manifests itself into a larger problem of division, one that is coloured by caste and class. This rhetoric of intimacy just feeds into the divide of space.This monopolisation of space by the upper castes has led to the creation of many of these spheres, with this arbitrary delegation of certain tasks as menial and filthy, which is then pushed onto those at the lower end of the spectrum, perpetuating the caste hierarchy.
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