# Cupertino native cast in world premiere of play about caste system > Source: > Published: 2026-06-28 14:25:00+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...Back in 2020, a landmark case filed by the state of California against Cisco alleged that a San Jose engineer faced discrimination due to his ranking on the Indian varna caste system. The engineer’s caste was Dalit, considered to be on the lower rungs of society, which allegedly made the engineer a target for harassment and discrimination from higher-caste managers. It’s a case that piqued the interest of playwright Geetha Reddy. More attention began to be paid within the Indian community about a case in the United States that centered the Indian caste system, especially noteworthy for those whose careers were firmly planted in the Bay Area. According to United States census data from 2020-2024, 33 percent of software engineers in Silicon Valley are Indian. “I started thinking about how interesting it is that there are these two forms: this one ancient form of exploitation and one kind of a modern form of exploitation which is capitalism,” Reddy said. “The more I started researching, the more I found that this is really ripe to write about.” What resulted from Reddy’s exploration is “The Employee Dharma Handbook,” receiving its world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley after being part of the company’s New Works Festival in 2025. The show runs at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre July 8-Aug. 2. The story follows Val, a human resources executive investigating possible sexism among the company’s lead engineers. As she gets deeper into the investigation, she realizes it’s not about sexism at all, but about the tension among those Indian employees who reside on a lower rung of the caste system. As the situation begins to bubble over, a critical rocket launch for the company is now threatened. Los Angeles-based actor Kapil Talwalkar is making his TheatreWorks debut. A native of Cupertino, Talwalkar recalls one of the first professional productions he ever saw was “Yellowface” at TheatreWorks in 2009, starring Pun Bandhu and Francis Jue. The Peninsula connection goes even further, considering one of Talwalkar’s first performance opportunities was with Palo Alto Children’s Theater,a company that also performs at Lucie Stern Theatre.. Talwalkar is also ecstatic about a rare opportunity in his acting world to work on an authentic South Asian story with both a South Asian playwright and a South Asian director. When Reddy was looking for a director for her play, she reached out to Center Theatre Group artistic director Snehal Desai for guidance. As luck would have it, Desai wanted to direct the piece himself. That authenticity across the board, in addition to what the story is amplifying, excites Talwalkar to no end. “I have not seen an American playwright venture into caste and race, and how racism exists within the Indian culture,” Talwalkar said. “This sort of allows people within a specific immigrant community to look at themselves and say, ‘Hey, we do point out racism for other people toward us, but this allows us to look at caste tensions within our culture as well.’ “I think people will be really excited to see us pushing the barrier and having the courage to tell a story like this.” The play is a comedy built from an honest point of view about how we witness societal status. “I think all systems of hierarchy, where people think they are above others, are naturally absurd,” Reddy said. “The sense of desire for more and more money you see in Silicon Valley has its own sense of absurdity, and then of course, there’s the formal religious rules that impose the kind of oppression on some people and high status on others. It’s illogical and bizarre.” As new generations transition India toward fresh societal pathways, is there any chance the caste system can be revisited? According to Talwalkar, there is no way. “As long as people in power need the caste system, which is probably indefinitely, it will survive,” Talwalkar said. “I see it very much alive, not only in the States but also in India. Everyone’s finding ways to rebrand it to make it go down easier, but it’s still very much there because it inherently creates a sense of importance.” “*The Employee Dharma Handbook,” runs at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre July 8-Aug. 2. Tickets are $54-$104 at theatreworks.org or 877-662-8978.*