The thought first struck me when I had moved with my parents to Rajasthan, and every new classmate of mine wanted to know “Where are you from?” The history repeated it self after I joined college, job…
After so many years in this state where I did my graduation, PG diploma, and now working for last five years, still people call me outsider. It puzzles me that even after eight years if I still don’t belong to this state, then where do I belong? I have my immovable house, and my movable bike and friends here. I have my “little sansar” started and built on this land. The popular reason given to me often is “You don’t know the local language!”. All I can say to my defense is that “I am not good in languages!”, and if it’s any excuse, I don’t know any of the 13 dialects of my so called “native state”.
I am not worried about being called outsider after so many years of being here and there, ton thanks to my father’s transferable government job, I can live with it. I can understand the humor, hence the smile, the security concern, etc which the people show after learning my “native state”. I to some extent can understand the indifference and the uncomforting cold attitude people show towards me, after the question. What bothers me is that they feel I am polluting their society and their culture. I wonder who is to blame, whether it was my parent who instead of making me a “Bihari/Jharkhandi” aspired me to be just Indian. Just for the record I am proud of my “native state”, I am informed of what brings a bad name to it, but at the same time I know what brings pride to it. I may not wear the “state flag” on my sleeves for the one reason that I love to be just part of the country than being part of any state. It seems ironical that whenever abroad we try to connect to other people, with things like “we both are foreigners”, or “we belong to same part of the continent”.
Regionalism is like a virus that doesn’t stop at dividing the state. It further breaks down the state to the N/E/W/S part of state, each part to district and so on…
The daily news tells me that my friends haven’t stopped at just calling me “the outsider”. Now they want me out of this state, and to top it all so do fellow countrymen in Maharashtra, Orissa, Delhi and still counting.
5 comments:
Is it a common title which all new bloggers write .. or is the stuff inside..
might want
http://leadpb.blogspot.com/2006/08/who-am-i.html
http://leadpb.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-town.html
It reminds me of what Russel Peters says in one of his shows, "Indian's can't hate others, Indians hate each other".
I always think that people should travel around the World to gain better perspectives for looking at things. Their minds are too constrained to borders and notions.
That said, I'm often asked whether I'm an outsider!
I think the thought of being Indian is foreign or may be repulsive. Whatever may be the reason, it is we who have to take the initiative to blur the border lines.
In Bengal, I was called a 'Hindustani' as I spoke Hindi. In Delhi, 'Bihari' is the most popular topic of creating humor. In Bangalore, I am called a 'North Indian'. But I owned up to it and trust me ...it did not prove to be a disadvantage for me.
I have not met anyone who said he wanted me out of his state or that he did not like people from my part of the country. I think...people don't bother... Its the vested interests of some which bring about such ideas.
I was told by a friend of mine that neither did I look like a bihari nor do I speak like one. Probably she wanted to make me feel good.... I just told her that I am a Bihari.
May be all we need to do is to break the cliche about our identities.
I agree with you Mrinal, but if you have not heard it, it doesn't mean the thought doesn't exist. It's just you have to be in right time with right people. I have heard these things from not only by my prof, but also from my colleagues, with whom I had stayed and worked for more than a year. Listen to the news and it's not only the politicians in Maharastra talking, its also the common people. Theslang "Bihari" is used in dark humor in Delhi. The notice put by Railway police in Maharastra is just another example.
It doesn't mean all are like that, I have great friends, but they are minority in these school of thought.
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