Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Not all those who speak Hindi are from Bombay

This happened today morning when I was on my way to work. Since I started late from home this morning, in order to escape the horrible traffic and crowd of Bangalore, I decided to walk up to the nearby junction from where I can catch a relatively empty bus. To diverge from the main topic - Yes, I take public transport to work. I don't have a car! Whenever I tell this to my friends or colleagues, from their facial expressions I could  understand that I just sounded like an alien. In a city like Bangalore without a car. I don't have to elaborate. The statement speaks for itself.

I was nearing the junction. Chaos. Everyone wants to go and no ones wants to wait. In India, when you notice carefully(?), the drivers honk even when the signal is red as if they beg the signal to turn green. Perhaps, signal is seen as a god to whom they plead on-the-fly and pay respects by honking. The signal was red. Two motorists came to a halt. However, the second rider was unable to control the speed before coming to a halt. He started yelling in Kannada (regional language) at the first rider for suddenly applying the brakes on seeing red signal. The traffic police who was standing few yards away was observing this. The first rider, in turn, asked the second in Hindi (National language) to pay attention to traffic signals hereafter. So far their yelling was all about road safety. I was not interested and started walking away. But the arguments that followed caught my attention and gripped me. The second motorist - guy from this region - a Kannadiga - got down from his motorcycle and approached the first motorcycle. In the highest pitch I have ever heard, the first motorist said the following in Kannada (regional language):

"This is not your Bombay. This is our Bangalore. Talk in Kannada. Or shut up".

The first thing that impressed me is the ignorance of first motorist. I immediately pitied him. Not all those who speak Hindi are from Bombay. This is textbook. Secondly, the words "your" and "our" are quite amusing in this context.

I fail to understand the underlying cause of such hatred. Although prevalent in India, Bangalore seems to display more of it than others. Logically, regional people population in Bangalore is less than 30%. Those who come from other states help build economy of Bangalore. Developments in and around Bangalore including Metro is because of those who live, work, earn, and spend here. Instead of being blamed, they must be praised and celebrated. Regional fanatics should understand where they failed. Blaming the successful is a typical quality of a loser. Failures never make us losers. Ever.

Shouldn't migration be a right rather than an opportunity? I mean globally.

1 comment:

Sapna said...

thanks for reminding me that i need to get back to my blog as well...Poor thing is lying idle for dont know how many months now.
Even incidents as simple as this one make a good read if written well ...Great job! :)