Yesterday I just happened to call one of my best friends, a "Ganwaar Bihaari". As chauvinistic and abusive as it may sound, I would never say something so terrible to any person, let alone someone as dear as her! It was just a unnecessary adjective, spoken on impulse in our regular conversation, where we keep taking shots at each other! However, that kind of sparked off a thought which has always played on my mind, but never managed to put it on a piece of paper. (Though this doesn't count as a paper, i'll settle for the literal web "page". :) ). The South/ North Indian and even deeper and absurd debates and conflicts that stays as a silent devil among a huge chunk of the Indian youth ( LOL, sometimes I take myself way too seriously!!! Never mind! :D ) In plain words.. the battle of the Gujjus and biharis versus the Madrasis.. ;)
Statutary Warning : Just because I am writing this piece, doesn't in any way suggest that I am endorsing this idea. In fact I find it revolting and hate anyone who keeps poking on the "region" card.
India is inherently a very diverse nation, the origins being as different as Mongols to Arabs to Dravidians. It just happened that a hard headed, pampered and pompous empire decided to exploit a group of kingdoms, for their merry ways of trade and fun, and hence, came into existence, our INDIA. It was a result of a hard fought revolution of the oppressed lot against a single enemy. Though, we'd need to thank them for building a single entity out of a such a diverse group of cultures, we haven't done ourselves any good by still keeping a boundary between each other. A guy from Tamil Nadu marrying a girl from Punjab is still taboo. These can still be tolerated as long as they don't hurt anyone else. But the reality is, the divide still persists and it comes to the fore in those odd moments of frustration or conflict.
First of all, what bemuses me is the prejudice. An "Indian from the north" (I really don't like the tone of "North Indian") has such a superficial view about an Indian from South (this is getting tiring. Lemme just call 'em IN and IS.). What more evidence do you need than the fact that any guy below Maharashtra is a "Madrasi" for INs. I was called a Madrasi when I stepped into college. Not that these particular people had any grudge against me, we did get along too well through our college life. But they just were blind sighted towards a possible life form here, down south. I used to quip initially, "Hey Bihari.. Mind your language!". And then comes the response, "Dude.. I am from UP"! "So, now u see the difference heh?"
Well, its not really fair to blame just them. Neither do some of us, South Indians, see what is life up North, and obviously many of us lack the "breadth" to accommodate the possibility of lives so diverse on either sides.
However, bring some pragmatism in this real world, and a probable dissolution of the Wheatish North and a dusky south is "hoping against hope". There would definitely be differences; there would definitely be clash of faith; there would definitely be collision in taste. A hunk from Delhi would frown upon the lungi wearing population; dosa and idli are definitely not on the list of his favorite delicacies, whereas Namma Chennai will never prefer starting the day with Aaloo Paratha, or settle for a lassi instead of a hot and piping filter coffee. Even the movies and the stars both the parties love are as similar as chalk and cheese. You have more chances of finding resemblance between French cinema and a Hollywood production, than listing the similarities between a "superstar" and a King Khan flick. For starters, King Khan would never have as passionate a fan following that the "superstar" could boast of. The list of differences prolong so much that, we don't seem to have a consensus in celebrating the same festival on the same day :D. "Diwali" and "Deepavali" ain't one single holiday. (It's like how Americans preferred staying different from British English with the subtle change of spellings and lingo. :) )
One has to be highly optimistic, with all these, to hope that we are gonna live as one, and scrub away the differences. By the most charitable disposition, some sanity in conduct and being cordial, are the best we can hope for, between the 2 "races". But even to achieve this, we have a long way to go. To be frank, I take exception to the regular banter being considered offensive. It's sometimes such light hearted dabs at each other that can sow the seeds for a rather "friendly" future.! Let's hope for that..!
I wanna wake up to a day where my friend, a certain Ashish Gupta, yearns for a crunchy dosa with piping hot sambhar while rushing to a Rajni Magnum opus in Namma chennai, while Mr. Mugesh Mylsamy gobbles a couple of dozens of "gol gappas", with the slightest effort to conceal the slurps and burps before breaking into a Bhangra disco number and a Patiala Peg. Some "Maa-Behan" expletives would have made the unison more profound, but knowing Mugesh, he'd be too shy to mouth all the profanities!!! :)
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