SOME IDIOTIC INDIANS
I am afraid I have been proved right again on a point I would be happy to be proved wrong on .
A film critic ADITI NADKARNI wrote on a website[REDIFF] that thanks to bollywood with its big dose of Punjabi words , culture, ambience and bhangra people from many parts of India have imbibed a smattering of Punjabi language and revel in their dance form..This is factually correct and is a tribute to the Punjabi domination of hindi cinema . No complaints on this score—may the best masala makers win.. The problem is that the critic-like many of that Mumbai based tribe– cannot resist trotting into the usual territory—madrassi bashing .She goes on to say that ‘as usual the south is impervious to this and is still obsessed with Prabudeva’s gyrations’. I maybe wrong but I felt that there was an implied contempt in this. Sure enough the internet was swamped with responses to this statement. As usual the anonymity that the net guarantees brought forth the usual torrent of hate mail on the familiar topic –north vs south. The north guys were inevitably in agreement with the incendiary statement of the critic and poured forth their scorn of all things south Indian. Comparisons were made about the relative contributions of the south and north to India and one guy even furnished statistics about the NRI remittances from southerners to India. I am simply saddened at this. To begin with the critic could have pondered as to why the north does not take to southern niceties . She also should consider if the north has any right to lay down norms for the rest of the country. Why is it necessary for south to do precisely those things that the North does? Why is it not proper for everyone to do what he or she likes without pressure from others to conform?Maybe because the south is far from the power centres in Mumbai and Delhi their viewpoint gets short shrift.
I recall some years ago a friend of mine was selected as a trainee in Mumbai’s top English language newspaper. As part of the induction process she and other trainees were addressed by a top manager. My friend asked the luminary why the paper had not started a Chennai edition.[This has still not happened] The great man replied
‘Chennai people are insular .They do not migrate to Mumbai’
What he implied was that the fact that Tamilians do not choose to move to Mumbai was proof that they were ‘ insular’. It does not need any genius to see the stupidity in this statement—In the 60’s Tamilans were physically attacked for migrating to Mumbai—the Shiv Sena’s first target were ‘madrassis’.. Now the Tamilians are criticized for not migrating to that city. You have only to see the way North Indians are treated in Mumbai to understand that it is Mumbai that is not only an island in the geographical sense but is getting more and more insular in attitude.. In any case that Tamilans choose to migrate to Silicon valley on a large scale ought to remind that great manager that maybe Tamilians were more expansive than he himself is . It is he who was insular enough or not capable enough to see great opportunities elsewhere in the world.
Maybe south Indians prefer California to Mumbai. I have seen both these places. No prizes for guessing which is the better experience..
I must however thank these critics and their followers on the net. I have analyzed these Freudian slips and found enough material for a PhD Meanwhile I used the gathered data to author a book that is now a best seller in India called THINKING ABOUT THINKING. The last time I wrote a blog on this subject I received a torrent of hate mail that gave me gist for another book set to be released in June. It is called YOU ONLY THINK TWICE. Incidentally I was attacked for trying to promote my book with comments like these. I am afraid that book sold so well that three reprints later is now out of print. Chuck these idiots away, India. Try to develop your cognitive skills. THINK AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK.IT IS A GOOD HABIT.
By the way Aditi is probably a Maharashtrian. I hope she will not let the Shiv Sena loose on me. After all I am a madrassi !
K.R.RAVI , U.S.A.