Journal of my Thoughts

'Pariah'

While surfing random pages, I came across this news:
Continued suspension from the Commonwealth made Harare the pariah of southern Africa.
'Pariah'? I had no idea what that word meant, how to pronounce it (I read that as "paraeeyuh"). I then promptly used the desktop application 'Gurunet' to seek the meaning of the word, it read:

pa·ri·ah (pə-rī'ə)
n.

A social outcast: “Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard” (Mark Twain).
An Untouchable.
[Tamil paṛaiyar, pl. of paṛaiyan, pariah caste, from paṛai, festival drum.]

WORD HISTORY The word pariah, which can be used for anyone who is a social outcast, independent of social position, recalls a much more rigid social system, which made only certain people pariahs. The caste system of India placed pariahs, also known as Untouchables, very low in society. The word pariah, which we have extended in meaning, came into English from Tamil paṛaiyar, the plural of paṛaiyan, the caste name, which literally means “(hereditary) drummer” and comes from the word paṛai, the name of a drum used at certain festivals. The word is first recorded in English in 1613. Its use in English and its extension in meaning probably owe much to the long period of British rule in India.

I had looked up a meaning for a Tamil word :-).
Well, the word's meaning took my mood off, "Untouchables". The Word history in the same page is the only consoling part, it attempts to explain the true meaning of the word, "Traditional drummer".
I just wonder how many in Tamil Nadu could relate the true meaning whenever the utter "Pariah".