Surely India is a vast country....so vast that you really do not get to know much of the farther geographical extreme. And I'm a living example of it. When I joined in the first year of my LL.B. in Gujarat, I was 'asked' (emphasis supplied) by many of my 'highly respected seniors' and batchmates, if I was a sardar, JUST BECAUSE I WAS FROM PUNJAB..few more respected ones did not even ask me and presumed that I was a blatant violator of Sikhism since I had cut my hair!!!! One such an entity saw me in temple, and was amused so she couldn't help asking, "Oh, I thought you go to Gurudwara!!!"
What amazes me are few fundamentals:
First, how come people not get this idea that any person can live anywhere he wants.
Second, how come this misconception that Punjab has/should have only Sikh population!
Third, even if I'm a sikh, why should the visit to a temple be so surprising??!! (the female who asked me was a 20 year old-& i thought our generation-atleast the learned ones who are lucky like me to get best of the education- is beyond this notional divide atleast)
As a matter of fact, many of the 'north-indians' also consider all the southern cultures 'more or less same'..as the lingo i heard at my place was "Dilli ke neeche sab madras hota hai"!!!
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just cant relate more....though i am nuts abt d gurudwara thing I admit i expected all punjabis to be sikhs,though I found out othrwise.The north-south divide s something which annoys me a lot.I m a south Indian doin my graduation in north n believe me I ve had 2 face a hell lot f issues.The beauty of our country lies in its diversities but wen d people start thriving on those diversities 2 make a living its disgusting to say the least.
ReplyDeletePS:plz remove d word verification.I dun think der r too many spammers around to bothr u
where did i use this word?
ReplyDeleteHillarious. I also experienced a similar feeling in Manipal.
ReplyDeleteHave you observed one thing, that Indians exist outside India? Here no one says that "I am an Indian", everyone is like "I am a Konkani/Marwadi/Punjabi/Gujarati/...." Only when we go abroad we start calling ourselves as Indians.
good post...made an interesting read..it's so duhhh !!!
ReplyDeleteeven i thought ur a sardar who chopped off his hair...although i didnt ask u...thank God for that :D :D :D
and of course..all south Indians are the same....no divide between kannadigas, tamilians etc... :| duhh
nice post and keep writing...
@ yaju..yeah that is something ingrained in us....to this I have both the opinions, it is obvious in a way.e.g.within a school if someone asks you, you may reply that I study in Class 10. Outside the school, at first you will say that I study in this school...
ReplyDeleteOther side of this is what you feel..that we should first be an Indian and then categorize ourselves in the regions we belong to..
But many people would have their reservations to this, i feel so.
@ mads
ReplyDeletemy dear..you did say this to me..and in fact you were in my mind while i was writing this blog..and trust me..i am not the victim here...i also used to think that Iyers and Iyengers are the same..and all the four languages-telegu,tamil,malayalam and tamil can be spoken by person learned in one!!
haila :O i asked u??? damn!! oh okay..fair enough then..damage done from both sides :D
ReplyDelete@Chitwan
ReplyDeleteToughtful one indeed... but the ugly side happens when racial discrimination happens in your own country.
In Noida, some locals used to behave as if they are doing "ehsaan" on me by keeping me in their state. In Manipal some people had this prejudice that I am a North Indian, I don't deserve good treatment, etc..
@ yaju
ReplyDeleteoh yes..u have had lived at various places..
howz pune treating you btw??