‘Parochialism offers an easy resistance to change’
The abhorable Tebbit’s Test conducted on Amitabh Bachchan by Raj Thackeray is proof, if proof were ever needed, that parochialism is the first refuge of the pathetic.
In asking why Big B didn’t stand for elections from Bombay, in asking why he opened a school in Uttar Pradesh, the poor man’s Bal Thackeray has shown that he is a chip of the old block. The old man targetted South Indians; the young man looks North for inspiration. The irony is that Jaya Bachchan now seeks solace in the senior to blunt the junior.
Amrita Shah writes in the Indian Express:
“A traditional competitiveness with the North may underlie this resentment but studies by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the International Institute of Population Studies find that there may be a statistical basis for the perceived threat from the North. According to data analysed, inter-State migration from Uttar Pradesh has sharply increased, while a declining trend in migration has been evident from other parts of Maharashtra and neighbouring states like Gujarat and Goa. The studies also found that more migrants were arriving from rural rather than urban centres in the north, suggesting the possibility of a different stratum of migrant….
“It is absurd to expect single rather than multiple loyalties to be the norm. And it is against the law of the land and the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution to demand such tests of loyalty. At the same time, greater competitiveness and mobility brought on in a world of shrinking borders will make citizens more vulnerable to jingoistic demands of this nature. This issue may or may not blow over but in some form or the other the outsider issue will surface… Parochialism offers an easy resistance to change.”
Read the full article: Mumbaikar vs Mumbai
Tags: Amitabh Bachchan, Bal Thackeray, Churumuri, Norman Tebbit, Parochialism, Raj Thackeray
5 February 2008 at 6:09 pm
In the 2004 loksabha elections,Sunil Dutt,Sanjay Nirupam,Govinda,Murli Deora and Gurudas Kamat were returned from Bombay.Not one was a maharashtrian.Kamat is a Konkani.
The Congress was seen as a national organisation while the BJP-Sena was seen as parochial.During the local elections,NCP turned its back on congress enabling the sena to win.All over the world,it is the poor who face the brunt of chauvinism.The elite saw to it that the sena was defeated in loksabha elections but they dont grudge haftas to local netas,police and revenue officials.This is protection money for using someone’s land.
The fracas in bombay is minor.Of course,it hurts its victims.But Maharashtra like Karnataka is far more liberal.It has accepted others with open arms to preserve their culture and flourish.There is a huge non-local middle class(bigger than the non-native population)which flourishes in Bombay and Bangalore.They are soft-hindutva states south of the vindhya.Both these states have dominant peasant hindu dravidian castes(marathas,vokkaligas and lingayats who form one of the bedrocks of hinduism).Bengal is bereft of such castes and this explains a lot of f**t emanating from the bhadralok commies.
Compare the situation with khalistanis in punjab who will not share water with their fellow jats.The Sutlej-Yamuna canal has been stalled for 10 years even after the Supreme Court judgements.These are Himalayan rivers originating in HP.or the attitude of chandrababu naidu in blackmailing the centre or the role of NTR in forging the anti National Front.The less said about the tamils,the better.The mallus are only slightly better.
But our dork media has no historical sense or perspective.Karnataka and Maharashtra firmly believe in the indian ideal of plurality.Can this be said of tamils,turbanators,mallu christians and chandrababus,veerasami naidus(of DMK).Ultimately the Congress-BJP wallahs are interested only in lining their pockets.
5 February 2008 at 6:14 pm
this incident was only a reaction to the provocative actions of north indians in mumbai. what was the need to celebrate U P FORMATION DAY IN MAHARASHTRA. AMITABH SHOULD STOP HIS ASSOCIATION WITH SAMAJWADI GOONDA PARTY.
i fully endorse BE A ROMAN IN ROME stance of raj, but not the method used.
5 February 2008 at 6:56 pm
@dr ramesh
Whats the need to celebrate Independence / Republic day in the US. Whats worse even the darned Indian Ambassador to the US seems to do that. All Indians abroad should be condemned for that.
There is no justification whatsoever for the stance Raj has taken. Constitution afforded us the freedom of movement and speech within India, everyone must respect that.
5 February 2008 at 7:15 pm
Dr Ramesh, in case you had to stay in Mumbai for few years:
1. Will you celebrate May 1 (Maharashtra day) or Nov 1 (Kannada Rajyostava)?
2. Even Yugadi or just Ganesha Chathurthi?
What if somebody objects you celebrating Yugadi? Rajyostava?
5 February 2008 at 7:49 pm
@ Dr Ramesh: At least the party you call “Samajwadi Goonda Party” is a recognised elected party. People have cast their vote for it. What is the electoral status of the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena of Raj Thackeray or the other goons this side of the border who are on the same track?
If all manner of literati can associate with a goonda organisation in Karnataka, who are you or who is anybody to prevent Amitabh Bachchan, who was born in Uttar Pradesh and whose father hailed from there, from being associated with a party recognised by the election commission?
This is a free country last time I checked.
If Kannadigas can celebrate Rajyotsava in every part of America, is there any law that bars UPites in Maharashtra or anywhere from doing so? Once you go down this depressing road, it becomes so very clear that all you are seeking to do is arouse the base instincts of the unemployable.
Targetting religious, regional or linguistic minorities is easy, but remember a majority somewhere is a minority somewhere else. So, sheer civility demands that we approach this and other issues so passionate to your heart as human beings, not by using the figleaf of religion, region or language.
5 February 2008 at 7:57 pm
KL,
Sir, nice to read your comment. It is so true.
5 February 2008 at 8:21 pm
we kannadigas can understand the feelings of marathis, even we are going thru the same phase. the very fact that states were formed on linguistic basis shows the importance given to regional language , diverse cultures by our leaders who framed the constitution.
so called nationalists,please see whats appening in france, what sarkozy told to mittal,give jobs to locals.
look at kannadigas settled in mumbai, they have totally imbibed marathi culture. that is the way to live.
ANNA KOTTA NAADU ,PARISARA DEVARIGE SAMAANA.
5 February 2008 at 8:29 pm
Assamese are wary of Bengalis taking their jobs. Bengalis are wary of Biharis. Mumbaikars are wary of Biharis and UPites. Kannadigas are wary of Biharis. Tamils are against everybody.
Clearly this is a national “problem”. I put that in quotes because it may not be a problem but a reflection of a global trend, where immigrants are seen by locals as being enterprising, more adventurous, thus earning more, consuming more and buying more than them.
Everybody in New York is a migrant, like many in Dubai and Hong Kong. But the difference in India is more acute because what we are seeing is a reflection of the lopsided development of the states in the Union. UPites and Biharis would be staying in their states if they weren’t what they are.
At the same time, what we are also seeing a lopsided development within our states. Bangalore is equated with Karnataka, Mumbai with Maharashtra, etc. In a throwback to the Greek era, we are in a manner of speaking in city-states. If other parts of the states were as well developed, the anxiety of most young people would be answered.
5 February 2008 at 8:34 pm
@dr ramesh
No one is denying the local language / culture is important, it obviously is, and everyone, irrespective of whether this person is local or not, must respect it.
Funny you talk of Sarkozy and nationalism in the same sentence and project them to be contradictory in spirit. They’re not, Sarkozy isn’t demanding jobs for people from a particular region, he is demanding it for French, i.e. locals. No harm in doing that, whether thats in France or India.
Some Kannadigas settled in Mumbai have indeed imbibed the marathi culture well, good deed. Doesn’t mean they have forgotten their Kannada rootes and don’t celebrate Rajyotsava. Nobody should prevent them from doing so if they want to. In fact its the duty of the establishment to guarantee them this freedom.
5 February 2008 at 8:38 pm
@ Dr Ramesh: If your copy of Gray’s Anatomy doesn’t have a definition of “nationalists”, you must pick up a dictionary. The words are alphabetically arranged and you will find it easy to understand the difference between chauvinism, nationalism and parochialism.
If you haven’t visited Mumbai, you might like to do that too. The Biharis and UPites who everybody likes to see as the riffraff are Mumbaikars in their own way who have imbibed “local culture”. So it is not a special privilege granted to Kannadigas.
5 February 2008 at 9:23 pm
KL,
Couldn’t agree with you more.
6 February 2008 at 1:38 am
With the kind of opportunistic and divisive local politicians-cum-goons we have and are going to have a plenty in future, I think the best way is to:
Take away a city from the state after it attains metro status and bring it under Union Government. With this half the number of politicians will retire and try honest means of living for a change.
As we have given our rural citizens the enviable choice of either suicides or hunger deaths, we have no right to blame these poor souls for migrating in to our fiefdoms (read cities). It simply doesn’t matter whether such migrants came from within the state or outside it. Like all human beings and other living things they have the right to survive, which is written in the genes, if not in our constitution. In my opinion any person who intimidates such poor migrants and arouses local people to attack them is the traitor and enemy No. 1 of this nation.
6 February 2008 at 3:10 am
I think the best solution for this problem would be to construct a better city in UP or Bihar and invite the rest of country men and women to make a living there!! If this not possible then we will continue to have such problems!
6 February 2008 at 4:53 am
Kudos to Raj Thackerey for calling a spade a spade, political correctness be damned! Biharis are a blot on the face of humanity and deserve every bit of what they get. Assamese, Marathis, Kannadigas, Kongas, Bengalis… all cant be wrong!
6 February 2008 at 6:44 am
Population control for the Biharis (and the like) is the first priority.
Lets start with - people who have more than 2 children should NOT be allowed to stand for public office of any kind.
Otherwise this problem will only grow.
6 February 2008 at 6:46 am
BTW if we dont allow people with n number of children to stand for elections by law - it will rule out a lot of people like Laloo, DG etc.
Also politicians can concentrate on their office after making some money instead of making a fortune for their 5 to 10 children and their families.
Wont that be another great side-effect.
6 February 2008 at 6:53 am
dr Ramesh!
I expected you here! SP and BSP are making inroads in other states because “your” kind of philosophy doesn’t hold good anymore. note that the Northies (majority) dont vote in Maharashtra or anywhere else they migrate. And it is tough to imagine that reservation is possible for Bhelpuri sellers and taxi drivers who are beaten by Goons! Raj Thakarey was desperate and wanted to take a shortcut. He will be duely shown his place in History. Of course you are not going through the ‘Same phase’. why the hell stuff like “world Kannadiga Samelan” in US? have it in peace in your backyard!
6 February 2008 at 7:00 am
X is wary of Y, Q is wary of R ………….. the question is after driving away Y and R, will X and Q clean up the shit themselves. They will wait for the lesser mortal among them to emerge to do the job for them! In Mumbai, if you’ve watched the clips, it is cllear the peddlers and drivers were beaten by well to do middle class college dropouts, not by any jobless youth who is ready to drive a taxi or sell Vada Pav.
And I dont think Mittal will take labourers to France from India! Dr.Ramesh, do you know what worries Sarkozy? French work 7hrs *5 = 35 hours a week and a jobless French gets enough allowance from Government for his daily wine! Sarkozy has to say so to remain in his chair. pl do not dig out some stray comments and try to justify your vain stand!
6 February 2008 at 7:51 am
It is not because of north indians celebrating UP day or Amitabh opening a school in UP as some readers are suggesting above. The root cause for such a reaction is insecurity of regional identity. In the era of globalization these emotions are expected, though the behaviour displayed can not be jusified. The outcry against ‘outsiders’ in US to UK to France to Mumbai to Bangalore has common reason, fear of identity crisis. It may be less in US because the extent of crisis is less and people are people are relatively more informed of the fact that it is inevitable. What reaction do you expect out of a Kannadiga when a survey says kannadigas Bangalore are less than 30% and following that a FM channel makes a statement meaning that - ‘our channel is here to make business and majority of consumers are non kannadigas’? or a newpaper like TOI which tries to make people feel inferior of their own langauge and culture?
In Roman, you have to be Roman or atleast try to be one. If you are in US and has no idea what is July 4th or don’t know who is Martin Luther King, then I am sure you get the same treatment. This is the basic problem with many outsiders in Bangalore and Mumbai. They just don’t feel it to be their home inspite of being here for years. Same is the case with many ‘Bishop cotton Kannadigas’ who can not speak more than a couple of broken sentences and can not manage to read more than a paragraph.
One more issue that North Indians need to introspect is - they should try to improve their homes so that they do not have to face such embarassments. They need to question themselves for the state of their state and electing people like Mayavati, Mulayam and Lalu Yadav. If they make a true introspection and understand the true emotions of locals, be it Maharashtrian or Kannadiga, then things will be a lot better.
6 February 2008 at 9:14 am
All this nonsense about “insecurity of regional identity” is a big farce. Yes, I am a Kannadiga and I am worried about my language in my state. If that is called, “insecurity”, then so be it. I personally and honestly dont care.
What pisses me off, is anyone who stands up and says, “I am worried about my language” gets branded as a chauvinist even without trying to understand if they have genuine concerns/complaints. I would rather live with chauvunists than liberals. Atleast they are lesser of the two evils.
6 February 2008 at 10:32 am
All the talk about region, language will head no where. You just happened to be born in Kannada speaking family and so you speak Kannada. What if you were born in a English speaking family?
Language has a life. Sanskrit is dead. It will be the case of all languages. The smart learn the language of the day & live happily.
English is the future. So I request Indians to stop the stupidity and master English.
6 February 2008 at 11:00 am
In the last six years I have spent in Mumbai I have come across Mallus, Panjus, Gujjus, Kannadigas and even a few Bongs who speak Marathi and live in harmony with the local culture. It’s the Bhaiyyas who think they own the place and have been screwing this great city and its culture. I think the ones who got beaten deserved it. You don’t go to Dadar, which is a Maratha strong hold and celebrate UP formation day. That’s like rubbing salt on an open wound.
6 February 2008 at 11:16 am
Bhaiyyas(North Indians), educated or uneducated, are pain in the ass..It’s their belief that they own this country pisses me off..Is there any way we could tell them ‘India is a union of states’?
6 February 2008 at 11:29 am
We must look at the history before drawing conclusion about one’s ability to adjust with outsiders.
India was never a country with one culture and one language. Before independence, we were all a bunch of separate identities with a different language, culture, way of living. Now in the name of One country, one language, the center is forcibly imposing Hindi on every culture/ language.
When we talk about Unity in Diversity, we must give equal respect to the word Diversity as much we give to Unity.
The diversity of culture, language, customs, way of living must be respected and protected. What we see now is exactly the opposite. Marathis are big hearted people, who have welcomed anyone to everyone. But, have the outsiders returned the good will in the same spirit?? Sadly, I would say no. Everybody is free to move and settle anywhere in India, but people should respect the local’s culture/language and locals too and should try to become a part of the local’s social fabric.
Why haven’t the marathis have targetted Gujjus, South Indians? coz for a simple reason that they have learnt Marathi, have become a active part of the maharashtrian culture and Biharis/UPwalas should take a lesson from them.
Lastly,
Why this mass migration from states like UP/BIhar?? It is for a simple reason that the administration there have failed miserably to look after their people by failing to provide them any kind of security for life and livelyhood.
The Laloos/Mulayams first should develop their states on par and create jobs for their people instead of creating just new train services to lucrative locations for their people to migrate.
6 February 2008 at 11:35 am
these are the major reasons as to why Marathis are facing problems in Mumbai:
1. Allowing Hindi to become the de-facto language of Mumbai. If Marathis had not started speaking to all migrants in Hindi and had insisted on Marathi, NIs would have been forced to joined the Marathi mainstream in Mumbai. Language is very critical aspect of being in the mainstream of a place.
2. Allowing Hindi cinema to dominate the Maharashtra market. Not growing the Marathi cinema industry. If Marathi cinema had created a strong market in Maharashtra / Mumbai, it would have been a different story altogether.
the above two points - Hindi as the day to day language of Mumbai and domination of Hindi cinema has given a major advantage for minority Hindi speakers to take control of Mumbai.
3. Also, the three regional parties of Maharashtra (Shiv Sena, NCP and MNS) have not been true regional parties for the Marathis. it is very funny to see Sharad Pawar and the Thackereys speaking to media in Hindi & not in Marathi. Maharashtra without Marathi is like a man without a soul. there is no strong marathi vote bank in maharashtra. if 1 crore non-marathis can take on 6 crore + marathis politically, it shows the sorry state of regional politics in maharashtra.
4. Marathis have not taken major control of industry and employment opportunities in Mumbai. This has resulted in migration. To reduce migration, Marathis should become more enterprising and take up all businesses / employment opportunites.
6 February 2008 at 11:38 am
abhi — who is the scrap who told u that there were only 30% kannadigas in bengaluru , it is unfortunate that even now people are so misinformed .
radio survey conducted in the city showed that kannada is the hot thing in F M.( rainbow fm, radio mirchi,big fm,93.5 f m which air 80% kannada songs were the leaders leaving behind hindi channels by a long way).
the fact that all states are protesting BHAIYYA MENACE indicates that there is a problem , why not solve it rather than saying we are indians and evading the issue.
6 February 2008 at 1:00 pm
I was surprised to find myself empathizing with Raj Thackeray. The devil in me really relished seeing those images of a pink T-shirt clad goonda hitting the hapless taxi driver. I admonished myself, but at a deeper level, I relished it. After a few minutes of munching on the mindless media-fed frenzy fodder, when I dug still deeper, I saw that these offshoots of hate-politics are nothing but the proverbial snake trio trying to out-gulp the adjacent one, making an eternal circle.
We are in the cauldron. Love, hate, jealousy, richness, poverty, amazing success stories, doom all are just elements of a vibrant society such as Mumbai. Bengaluru is becoming a Mumbai. Some say its good, some resent it. Can’t help though. We are what we shit. So, I think we deserve such an event, framed well by the profiteering media, gleefully latching onto the expert opinion bandwagon.
7 February 2008 at 11:29 am
I think the media, dominated by NIs, is blowing this out of proportions. Apprehensions of Marathis/Kannadigas are justified.These cant be addressed by repeating the story of some taxi driver being beaten up by hooligans ad nauseum
8 February 2008 at 2:11 am
The rabid and the virulent hate being spewed against some communities by “educated”doctors and echoed by a few others on this site underlines the deep-rooted animosity among a section of our people. If the likes of KRV in Karnataka, Raj Thackeray in Maharasthra etc are not crushed and allowed to go scott free then rest assured India will be the scene of ethnic cleansing in the future and join the league of Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Darfur….And not the G-8 or the likes that meet at Davos that most dream of.
The media including Churumuri has not helped matters either by raking up North Vs South non-issues while Biharis have been specifically described by the timmas of this world as pain in the “ass” (sick)…
Pathetic people who need to grow up, get some dose of Indian history and its culture and outgrow their narrow and provincial outlook and develop a breadth of vision that will make them .And those who sympathize with the goons of Raj Thackeray need to remember, his father’s outfit Shiva Sena had targetted “Madrasis”, Muslims and now North Indians.
And those who endorse the sectarian violence and applaud the hammering of Bhaiyas need to recall and internalize this verse reckoned to have been penned by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the silence and thus the acquiescence of German and world intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up for me.
Perhaps it could be revised to suit the Indian conditions.
8 February 2008 at 9:57 am
“Why this mass migration from states like UP/BIhar??”
Each family has 5 children. Each of these 5 children have 5 children. And so it goes on. In 3 or 4 generations, they exhaust all the resources around them and most are be forced to migrate elsewhere. Where they take their strength in numbers.
Its the same with all living creatures - rats or humans.
And that Indian twist about the oft quoted poem:
They came first for the Punjabis,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Punjabi.
Then they came for the Assamese,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Assamese.
Then they came for the Marathis,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Marathi.
Then they came for the Kannadigas,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Kannadiga.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up for me.
And eventually the whole place was overrun by the ones who didn’t believe in family planning.
8 February 2008 at 1:07 pm
So the the often-quoted poem “…They came for….
has been given an Indian twist but with a communal tinge in the tail. This is how all sectarian conflicts end up. Remember Nellie in Assam in 1982 ? It began as an anti-foreigner purge during the Assam agitation and was initially directed against the Bengalis but soon took an anti-Muslim turn… And as for mass migration from different states like Bihar and UP, well… as an Indian I have as much right as anybody to settle and work where ever I want… India is as much as my father’s property as yours. People need to grow up.
8 February 2008 at 3:45 pm
all non-hindi states should Introduce visas for hindi speaking handis
8 February 2008 at 9:53 pm
ragpicker,
‘And as for mass migration from different states like Bihar and UP, well… as an Indian I have as much right as anybody to settle and work where ever I want… India is as much as my father’s property as yours.’
Yep, exactly the attitude expected which will feed the fire.
Problem is some fathers have too many children since the law doesn’t forbid it and the government doesn’t discourage it. There is the right to move anywhere which is fine, but no duty to reproduce with thought for the future natural resources around you, which for some reason our founding fathers forgot to put in the constitution.
Actually people like you need to grow up and realise that this is a growing problem - and the solution doesn’t lie in hiding behind one right, while conveniently skirting the bigger issue. And then take the necessary steps to curb the problem.
8 February 2008 at 9:58 pm
_
Yesterday I had to visit Mysore and I was trying to catch an auto from Indian Express to Railway Station at 6AM.
I found an auto. To my surprise the driver looked like an UP guy. I asked, ’station ge barthira?’. He said, ’stasionnn, 40′. A northie auto driver in Bangalore ?! A first for me. I said, ‘ippathu’. He looked blank and I had to search another auto.
In the station, I felt like having a coffee and went a bru coffee booth. He gave me coffee and it was Rs 5. I asked, ‘iinoorige change ideya?’. He was blank. I asked again and then flashed the 500 rupee note. He said, ‘no change’. This guy looked like a Tam/Mallu and he knew zilch of Kannada. I gave him 5 rupee coin and boarded the train.
Kannada fans want Kannadigas to speak in Kannada, atleast in Karnataka. In Bangalore, even if you speak in Kannada, there won’t be anybody to respond.
_
8 February 2008 at 10:18 pm
>>And as for mass migration from different states like Bihar and UP, well… as an Indian I have as much right as anybody to settle and work where ever I want… India is as much as my father’s property as yours.’
>>
Is the reverse immigration and settlement allowed in UP/Bihar and will the southies able to settle comfortably and earn a living in these states? I doubt it…it is almost impossible to survive in UP and Bihar if you do not know Hindi. In fact you might be ill-treated also for being a “Madrasi”.
So stop this crap about having the right to settle anywhere in India etc. It is not a one way street. Moreover, pay some attention to developing your own states instead of leeching and doing piggy back on the southern states.
9 February 2008 at 11:36 am
>> So stop this crap…. pay attention to your own States instead of leeching and doing piggy back….>>
For your kind information, I am a Kannadiga, born in Karnataka, living in Mysore since the past 30 years, have worked all over India, never faced any discrimination though my knowledge of Hindi is poor. If a fellow Indian comes from UP or Bihar and there is no reverse migration, it is because job opportunities are less in those States. And reverse migration is not something that is “allowed” or “banned”. It is inherent right of every Indian to travel where ever he wishes to and work.
To state that all jobs should be given only to locals smacks of chauvinism of the worst kind. Please come out of your hermitcally sealed cocoon and be accomodating.That is a true Kannadiga trait. In case someone considers this is a sign of weakness, it is their problem. But should we stoop low so as to brazenly discriminate people on the basis of their region of origin, the language they speak and the culture they practice ?
The hatred being spewed against fellow Indians reminds me of the tribal feud between the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda when in a span of 100 days - between April 9 1994 to July 16 1994 - about 1.3 million people were massacred on precisely these issues. And the world stood by and watched.
INDIAN NATIONAL’s “They came first… I did not speak up..” is apt under the conditions.
11 February 2008 at 7:13 pm
To the ultimate pseud Indian national,do auto rickshaw drivers and stall vendors speak kannada in UP or hindi in chennai?
11 February 2008 at 8:07 pm
example of discrimination of worst kind — central govt jobs.
systematically kannadigas are denied employment inspite of merit. there is a conspiracy of COW-BELT politicians to see to that kannada,kannadigas should be made to suffer and more and more migration of BHAIYYAS into bengaluru should happen.
now a mysuru -ajmer train is announced.
shivappa kaayo thande ,kannadigara kaayo thande.
11 February 2008 at 9:02 pm
Ragpicker,
I am a Kannadiga too and have travelled extensively in the North. My observation was that if you do not know Hindi, you are discriminated…plain and simple. Look at the statments of Lalu Yadav today on what he has said about reservations for locals.
The discrimination was not started by us. In fact Kannadiga’s were always accomodating but now it has become a question of their own survival in their own state and hence the precaution.
As the saying goes…Good fence makes good neighbours
12 February 2008 at 12:59 am
Is’nt the question about how much can you accomodate??
Don’t we see this trend in bigger cities of the states than the smaller cities. In a smaller city like Mysore we are more than happy to attend to any guest in their language. We go out of our way to help them utmost we can.
If you come to a bigger city like Bangalore we cannot tolerate outsiders anymore. When we started off about 15 years back people in Bangalore were like people from Mysore very accomodative but being accomodative became a requirement and not a courtesy anymore and visitors totally forgot that they are in a land where there are locals and need to respect the same. If you go to 9th Block Jayanagar and talk to a vegetable vendor in kannada they will ignore you or show little interest in you. I have also heard you will get better rates if you speak in Tamil. If I insist on talking in kannada Am I Parochialistic??
As Indians we all unite when we get out of the county. But the same does not happen when in our own country. This is true with every person around the world not only us indians. I am sure Americans will not tolerate Indians if we do not blend into their culture and their values even though America is a land of immigrants.
I think only solution to this problem is develop multiple cities at a time and do not beeline to one city at one time. Ofcourse politicians will never let that happen.
25 February 2008 at 3:11 am
Raj Saheb,I support you , before the UP/Biharis start making Ranvir’s sena’s and massacre people (and the government keeping quite), before the same kinds start aborting girl fetus (and the government keeping quite) , before the likes start scams of “chara†and making others “la-charâ€, cheer up for sati (and the government keeping quite) , let there be revolution against what is wrong , in favor of right, let there be revolution against hyporites who oppose bangladeshis for the same reason for which they support low wages migrants from their regions, let there be revolution against the wrong in favor the right…