Caste has become relatively 'invisible' for the urban upper castes because they have benefited the most from the developmental policies of the post-colonial era. As their privileged status got consolidated over generations, they began to believe that their advancement had little to do with caste.

For these groups, their economic and educational capital alone is sufficient to ensure they get the best in terms of life chances. Caste appears to play no part in their public lives, being limited to the personal sphere of religious practice or marriage and kinship.

Modern industry created new jobs with no caste rules, and urbanisation made it difficult for caste-segregated patterns of social interaction to survive. Attracted to liberal ideas of individualism and meritocracy, these groups began to abandon extreme caste practices.