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ఈ మధ్య రాసినవి
వ్యాఖ్యలు
An Untoward Incident
Submitted by gopal on Sat, 21/05/2011 - 17:33
Probably this is my first experience of its kind. Though I've heard a few like this in the past, the intensity is not evident until today. I don't want to rant over it. But I see a point in sharing it.
Just not to alarm anyone with my awkward dance, I was sitting there quietly, enjoying looking at friends dancing playfully to some good music mixed by the the DJ in the bar. All of a sudden, this guy from nowhere came over and started blabbering something in an unknown language, what I assume is Hindi. He was not clear. I understood only one word in his conversation (if it can be called so) - "Bengal". So I assumed he's a Bengali. I politely told him that I don't speak Hindi, and asked if he can speak English. I don't know what's with him, he suddenly started abusing me for not speaking Hindi. I told him that I'm from a southern state, Andhra pradesh and we speak a different language, Telugu. There were few swear words from him. One of my friend intervened and tried to communicate saying I speak Telugu, a different language. But he did not seem to care, all he wants is me speaking Hindi to him.
I did not care him and got tuned to the music again. While leaving the place, we saw him again and my friend wanted to make it clear to him that he is being mean. He argued long enough to get frustrated and the rest of us urged him to call it off.
I spent nearly 8 months outside India and I have never been bothered by any other national. It is a very friendly and cool world. It is more than embarrassing to find a fellow Indian offend me in a distant land, Spain, and a Peruvian communicating on my behalf to broaden the perspective of that ignorant brat. In this regard, I also recall many north Indians who reside in southern states, complaining about the south Indian languages. These guys are no different from him. As the saying goes, when you are in Rome, be a Roman. So, when you are in Andhra/Tamilnadu, be an Andhrite/Tamilian. Complaining that the local people don't speak your language or English is being very, very, very mean. If I'm wrong, prove it, show me the number of north Indians who have learned a south Indian language. As far as my opinion is concerned, a supposedly orthodox (these tags are put by these ignorants, I would never say they are!) Tamilian is more broadminded than a north Indian. If it sounds racist, so be it! Time to digest few things.
Edit (26/5/2011): My allegations on the north Indian community seem to be unfair, based on this incident alone. However, I ask the reader to follow up my other arguments here. Thanks to Aniket for prompting me to write it, with his analytic comment.
Couldn't agree with you more,
Couldn't agree with you more, I think we Hyderabadis encourage it knowingly or unknowingly by starting the conversation in Hindi ( not even English ! ), it is okay if they do not attempt to learn the local language, I understand it requires time and energy, but mocking it is just heights of abusing our hospitality !!
So true Gopal! In fact, I
So true Gopal!
In fact, I encounter lots of these kind of people here in Austin, TX rather than India...They feel it is a big sin in not being able to communicate in Hindi and refuse to talk in any other language.
Anyways, have fun in Spain!
I'm surprised you don't speak
I'm surprised you don't speak Hindi :P
But seriously, this attitude has been there since ages when the Aryans came over with their caste system and all.
Did you know that in Ramayana, fair-skinned Rama was supposed to represent Aryans, and the dark skinned Dravidians were Raavan & his kingdom, or at best the Monkeys who helped Rama? Aryans surely believe(d) they're better, be it for skin color or whatever.
@^- wasn't Rama depicted blue
@^- wasn't Rama depicted blue always? or am I missing something here?!
@^^ yeah, you missed
@^^ yeah, you missed everything, you missed the scandal, you missed the whole sinister design.
Let's not get into the other
Let's not get into the other things. There are sure a lot of things we can fight over :P But let us observe some tolerance in our discussions, if any.
You're saying the
You're saying the following:
1) the guy did understand that you don't speak Hindi
2) which is why he abused you for not speaking Hindi (in Hindi)
So he is essentially abusing you in a language you don't understand. Is that right?
You note the following: "I also recall many north Indians who reside in southern states, complaining about the south Indian languages. These guys are no different from him."
In your own words, you say the above is complaining and hence is different from what the guy you encountered did. That was abusing. So these two guys are different.
You have problem with that one particular north Indian guy. Why do you have to generalize to all north indians from this one particular situation? And the comparison between Tamilians and North Indians is uncalled for.
A very immature analysis of the situation. I hope you correct the errors in your analysis.
He abuses me in English, the
He abuses me in English, the language I understand very well. And FYI, there are a lot of north Indians who are very, very uncomfortable with the south Indian languages. The level of uncomfortability might be different, but it is there in many of them. It is the same uncomfortability that made this guy turn impatient with me. Does that answer you?
It is not a generalization. It's funny how you seem to stick to the literal sense of something that is written ;-) You should learn to read it more carefully, and with open mind. Especially, don't prejudice that I'm complaining about you.
Further, I just expressed what it feels like. I did not want it to be judged or any wrong conclusions be drawn. Let your discussion end here if there is more complaining. If you are the rational guy, I appreciate it. I knew some north Indian friends who are. I'm always happy in their company.
Thinking further about your
Thinking further about your comment, I wonder why you would bother about the language he used for abusing me, is that important? May be you should streamline your thoughts on necessary points, rather than the useless details, right?
Though I agree with your view
Though I agree with your view that there are some north indians who does as you said but generalising it... i wont agree.. it sounds like comparing every muslim to a terrorist
I see eome of my north indian friends who are broadminded and try to learn regional language
Well, I sure appreciate the
Well, I sure appreciate the ones who are fair. What I'm saying is forcing something down the throat is not a good practise. There are fair and unfair ones in every sect. I'm only addressing the later ones. Please don't get offended, I mean no offense to the fair guys, I love them too!
Dear Gopal, This blog post is
Dear Gopal,
This blog post is disturbing at several levels. I will attempt to address the different issues involved here in some detail. Let me begin with an incidence which happened with myself.
Me and a friend of mine were traveling on my bike from Hyderabad to Ananthagiri on a fine monsoon morning. It was a lovely ride. A side road looked particularly inviting and we took that, expecting to catch upon the main road later. Unfortunately, we got confused, could not track the way and landed up on a village road. A well-built boy of around 20 was coming on a bullock cart. "Main Road?" we asked him. He got down from his cart, came near us and said something to us in Telugu. "Anna, naku Telugu radu", we replied.
We were both for some reason not sitting on the bike. Upon knowing that we didn't know Telugu, he became violent and started hitting me. From his mix Telugu-Hindi, I could make out that he was saying that if we didn't know Telugu, what were we doing in that village. I managed to deflect his blows, and me and my friend both started shouting apologies the best we could, even folding hands and catching ears. He was a well-built boy, the bike was parked at some distance and most importantly, the village was his territory. But seeing that there was no way he could cause harm to the two of us, he proceeded to take out an axe slung somewhere in the front of his bullock cart. Alarmed, we pushed him into a ditch at the side of the road, ran to our bike and took off in a direction the fast we could. Only when we reached the main road, which we luckily starightaway did, could we again breathe properly.
In another incidence, me and two of my friends were sitting in a very respectable bar in Hyderabad. The news was showing Shri YSR Garu and we started discussing something about him. We were not mocking or even critical in the least. One of the three men sitting at the next table started abusing us that we were making fun of his leader. When we protested, he started abusing north Indians, hindi speakers in general. The waiter promptly came, showed us to another table and apologised profusely.
These incidences were unfortunate, just like the one you had to unfortunately endure. They were probably more violent and intense than yours. It never once crossed my mind, even though these were communal attacks, to brand the people of Andhra Pradesh, or Telugu people, in the same mould. I am not going to let my feelings towards hundreds of great Telugu people I know be affected by a couple of loose nuts. These were communal attacks, happened because I didn't speak Telugu, was from a different part of the country. But it takes all kinds to make up a 10 crore strong community. Some of them will be communal too.
I forgot them as they were an exception, rather than the norm. Now whether you consider the behavior meted out to you by a north Indian as the norm across all North Indians, I leave to your objective judgement.
I am however, alarmed at some of the analysis you have done to reach your conclusions.
1. "If I'm wrong, prove it, show me the number of north Indians who have learned a south Indian language."
How did you conclude that north Indians do not learn south Indian languages? Only those who arrive in the south after their childhood, and that also to live in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore where they can get by without having to learn the local language don't learn it. Face it, people learn things when they automatically get to, like in childhood, or when they have to and not many like learning languages just for the fun of it. The north India people who came to south early in their childhood all get fluent in the southern language. There are a number of examples in our IIIT batch. People who go to smaller towns (Marwari businessmen, Bihari laborers etc), all speak fluent Telugu. Marwaris and Gujaratis in Hyderabad speak better Telugu than Hindi. The Marwaris in the colony (Masjidbanda) near where I lived in Hyderabad were indistinguishable from Telugus.
Fact is, there are lakhs of North Indians living in AP alone who speak excellent Telugu. I am not exaggerating.
2. "When you are in Rome, be a Roman. So, when you are in Andhra/Tamilnadu, be an Andhrite/Tamilian."
I don't know what you mean by "be an Andhrite/ Tamilian." If it means that one should respect the culture of Andhra/ Tamil Nadu, then I wholeheartedly agree with you. If it means that one should not complain about the difference of food/ language, I again wholeheartedly agree.
But if being an Andhrite/ Tamilian means he has to learn a certain language, I have to disagree. It is desrable that a person learns the language, but it cannot be made a necessary condition for him to live there. Does everyone who lives in the Hindi belt have to learn Hindi? Absolutely not. Any place is for all those who are living there legally. If someone can get by without learning the local language, so be it.
3. "...a supposedly orthodox Tamilian is more broadminded than a north Indian..." I would like to see how you defend this statement. Do reflect upon it, think what all can it mean to a reader and then do respond.
Best Regards
Aniket.
Aniket, I appreciate what you
Aniket,
I appreciate what you have just said. And I heed to every argument you presented. I was expecting someone to ask these questions. Thanks very much for giving me the opportunity to express my thoughts. I also appreciate for being tolerant in your comment.
The incidents which you have described are very close or, perhaps can be called the same as the one I described in the blog post. I feel sorry for your bad experiences, and I know how it feels like. Let me point out few other things which together lead to the breaking point at the happening of this particular incident.
(i). I have been to a number of restaurants/places in Hyderabad, both run by south Indians and the north Indians. I do not understand why it is so difficult to find a telugu speaking waiter/waitress/person in some. They are not even sorry for it, most of the times. I feel like an alien in the same land I grew up. Why so?
(ii). I can swear that I have never kept the conversation in Telugu, if there is a non-Telugu guy in the group having the conversation. But if it is the other way round, is it wrong in expecting the same? Anyhow, since most of them are just casual chats, I just smiled/laughed with the rest and forgot them. By the way, the groups sometimes have few telugu speakers, who also choose Hindi over Telugu/English, which pisses me off even more.
(iii) It feels so bad to see your own local community drift away in a pseudo-patriotism or pseduo-broadmindedness, whatever it is. With that weird notion, they feel that learning Hindi in schools, now, is much better than learning Telugu. Who has done this idiotic weed seeding? As a north Indian, you might not be aware of this and I'll not say anything about it. But reflect on:- why it is mandatory for south Indian children to learn three different languages, and north Indian children, just two? Isn't govt. of India itself being idiotic here, supporting Hindi narcists of first generation post-independence?
(iv). Let us reflect on a very low level detail now. Don't think this is unimportant. Of all your stay at IIIT-H, you saw several Telugu guys performing with north Indians for some bollywood numbers. Count the incidents, which happened the other way round. I'll be happy to hear a positive number, however small it is.
These are few, which are hurtung, to say the least. These are not exceptions, Aniket. Not at all. They are the disgusting and painful norm.
Now, to answer your other questions:
1. "If I'm wrong, prove it, show me the number of north Indians who have learned a south Indian language." - In all my time I have spent in Andhra pradesh until now, I have never been able to strike a Telugu conversation with a north Indian guy. I'll be the happiest guy, if what you are saying is true.
2. "When you are in Rome, be a Roman. So, when you are in Andhra/Tamilnadu, be an Andhrite/Tamilian."
Yes, the culture. And more importantly, respecting the place the local culture holds in its locality. It definitely involves the language. I would not force other people to learn Telugu, but you should sure be able to keep up and be tolerant with something, that is local. I will be surprised, if you did not witness anything short of this.
3. "...a supposedly orthodox Tamilian is more broadminded than a north Indian..."
I wonder if you really did not know it. But it is very casual for Indians, especially, the Hindi speaking section, to label a Tamilian as orthodox, particularly when it comes to language. At several stages of history post-independence, it is them, who fought meticulously for liberation from imposing Hindi on them. The ego of mankind has played an important role here. Poor them, the wrong tags are never cleaned up. I've not been aware of a struggle which protested that Tamil/Telugu be imposed the same way on rest of the India. I hope I'm clear on that.
The fact is, I, as a person from south India, am witnessing things which you, as a person from north India, have no opportunity to witness. I'm not happy with it.
I've always loved the companionship of people like you, irrespective of caste, creed, state, language etc. But when it comes to the interaction between communities, the personal relationships seem not to play a good role. I really want them to.
I thank you very much for putting in your thoughts and helping me express what I've been through. Do think about them. I'll be more than happy to answer you personally, if you like to have a conversation over this.
Which is worse? Protection or
Which is worse? Protection or Imposition? ;)
Gopal, First of all, I was
Gopal,
First of all, I was really shocked to see a north Indian guy abusing you in an alien country. That was really sad. But for some reasons, I feel that your take on the whole North Indian community is slightly unfair. That may be because of the embarrassment caused to you by that particular a**hole who abused you. And yes, that particular guy deserves to be called an a**hole.
Here, I'd like to add a few points:
- "Count the incidents, which happened the other way round. I'll be happy to hear a positive number, however small it is."
There are many such incidents.
1) Do you think there was any reason why a North Indian had to watch movies like Bommarillu, Happy Days, Pokiri, Magadheera etc.? But they did. Why? No one has asked them to or rather forced them to.
2) I was the DJ for Felicity '08 DJ Night and I played a few Telugu item numbers. People across the batches came and congratulated me for playing Telugu songs. That included people from North too. They love Telugu music as much as Telugu people love the Bollywood numbers.
The fact is: they were trying to be as much closer to us as we were trying to be close to them.
- "Isn't govt. of India itself being idiotic here, supporting Hindi narcists of first generation post-independence?"
This particular line is deeply disturbing. I understand what you have been through, but making such a statement is totally uncalled for.
I agree with Aniket w.r.t learning languages. I myself learnt speaking "fluent" Telugu when I went to Vijayawada where I was left with no option but to expand my Telugu vocabulary and communicate with others. Before that my extent of Telugu was only limited to books and no one would want to speak to someone who speaks bookish language.
Finally I have a small question to ask. Why don't you try to learn Hindi and read it's literature? I'm sure you'd be surprised by the extent of it. :)
Srirang, Again, I repeat
Srirang,
Again, I repeat what I have been saying. I appreciate all such cases. THEY are the exceptions. A few people watching Telugu movies, or playing Telugu songs in Felicity once in a life time (you know that I've been there as long as you have been and I'm watching things too) - these just contribute to a pittance of what is possible and can be justified. Further, no one watches movies or listens songs because there is a need for it. Despite having no good knowledge of Hindi, I watched 3 idiots thrice, and many other Hndi movies too. I don't see any reason to brag about it.
All the things I've said so far are very contextual, including the statement on Indian goverment. Nothing is uncalled for. I'm quite clear on what I'm conveying. I've the Indian history and facts to back me. There is a very little reciprocation from the north community in learning about and respecting south Indian cultures so far. I don't see the justification since it is not evident.
If you agree with Aniket, then you should probably not ask me to learn Hindi for no reason. I would love to learn N number of languages because there is a need, of which Tamil, Sanskrit, Spanish and Catalan are right at the start of the queue. About Hindi, there is absolutely no need for it now, as I don't see a need to stay in a Hindi speaking region for at least 5 more years. For literature, movies, or music.. I would love to learn it, provided I have enough time and energy to spare.
I've nothing against anyone. I'm just asking my north Indian peers to be a little more conscious about their surroundings. You need not put great efforts to do that, just be open.
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