Need to outgrow petty differences
CHANDRIKA R. KRISHNAN
The article “Attitude matters” (Open Page, August 12) made interesting reading and in this context, I wish to add my views on the subject. I have lived in many a place with Bangalore being the seventh move. Though I agree with the author in most respects, I feel that the expression ‘Arrogant Americans’ is not the monopoly of only “north Indians” though there is some truth in it.
I find that many north Indians believe that all the people in the south are “the Madrasis.” Many of them are woefully unaware of different cultures, languages and the topography of the various States that constitute the south.
This I feel is largely due to the myopic vision of our Bollywood filmmakers who resort to caricatures to depict their version of south Indians. Many movies employ the ‘Mehmood’ kind of humour with Tamilians speaking a language that can best be coined as “Thindi.” So, it was a pleasant surprise to me to see that Hindi filmmakers have come of age when I saw “Chak De India” where a person quips that the difference between a Telugu and a Madrasi is as wide as a Bihari and a Punjabi!
We too have regional movies that make fun of north Indians a la “Mouna Ragam” where the heroine teaches all wrong phrases in the name of humour instead of appreciating the man’s intent to learn the language.
On the other hand, I had a Pune based acquaintance regaling me with anecdotes to denote how badly “south Indians” dress and behave little knowing that I too am a “Madrasi” much to her husband’s squirming discomfort. This kind of generalisation and impoliteness does not reflect well on our education.
Insularity
Be a Roman while in Rome is not passé as far as NRIs are concerned. Most Indians when living abroad do attempt to and often succeed in doing a complete volte-face to fit into the new surroundings. I feel that the insularity that is reflected by our citizens is more rampant within our own country. Instead of taking pride in the kaleidoscopic differences of our country, we indulge in our national game of making fun of the various accents and differences or fight among ourselves.
The States demarcation based on languages was one of the singular mistakes done by our political predecessors. We have developed a parochial feeling based on our regional differences that even rivers that flow through our land with abandon are not spared! We have what is called ‘tit for tat’ syndrome as far as developing language fanaticism is concerned.
This is all the more evident with public transport plying within a city limits or beyond sporting boards only in the regional language. It is just not sufficient to learn the spoken language of the land we live in, but we also need to learn the script! The world is growing smaller is a popular notion but sadly within India we are growing further apart.
In our 60th year of Independence let us all hope that we have the intellectual upgradation that can do away with our petty differences and work towards the goal of one nation one people!
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