Proverbs, Caste and Gender : Studying the Interface between Proverbs and Human Relations

Proverb, the shortest form of cultural expression and wisdom tradition, plays a significant role in most of the traditional societies. Exploring proverbs in a particular socio- cultural context is the gateway to understand the perceptions of people in a given society. This paper in an attempt to analyze certain proverbs that are collected through fieldwork in Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu and tries to find out how proverbs reflects the human relationship: between castes, and between men and women in a given society.