I hit a link to Shobha De's interview by Karan Thapar's on the Devil's Advocate.
Shobhaa De: Well, if you go to West Bengal, Karan, do you hear anything but Bengali being spoken? Does anyone mind? You go to Karnataka, do you hear anything but Kannada being spoken? If you go to Tamil Nadu, do you hear anything but Tamil being spoken? So in that sense, may be a disconnect is happening in Mumbai. People think Mumbai belongs to all of India and therefore not parochially bound.
I was dumbfounded. And then came this
Shobhaa De: ..... Also, it’s a Maharashtrian city, people who choose to live there should learn and speak Marathi. If I were to make West Bengal my home, I jolly well (would) learn Bengali. If I choose to live in Punjab, I should learn to speak in Punjabi. All the signages, all over India, happen to be in two languages, sometimes in three. You go anywhere in India, the signages are in local script. Why is it that Mumbai is being picked on for insisting on both signages – Devnagiri, which is also Marathi, and English.
I almost threw up!
Lemme get this straight. I was born in Pune. So I should know Marathi. My folks then moved to Meerut. I did learn Hindi. They then went to Jorhat, I should be spouting Ahomi. then came Calcutta. I did manage to pick up Bengali. There was some time spent in Bangalore and Guntur - okay so Kannada and Telegu needs to be covered. I've done time since then in Leh, Srinagar, Bathinda and Arunanchal and am now in Jodhpur. SO that takes care of Kashmiri, Ladakhi, Punjabi and Marwari. Oh I almost forgot, My old man is a Mallu and mom is a tam-bram.
So I need to speak, read and write eleven , make that thirteen languages. Then and only then will Ms De be happy. KT rarely disappoints when he wields the (knife) mike.
A hooligan starts terrorizing non-marathis. His gangsters, a bunch of bullies start beating up people. And Ms De who gets her knickers in a twist every now and then with "enough is enough" and "they didn't enlist my cook in the army" endorses that whacko's views.
De madam tussi great ho,
You are misunderstanding the whole thing! The whole 'marathi' issue is brewing only because of ONE reason- and that reason is that north Indians are becoming a majority in Maharashtra. They have started threatening and abusing the marathis and insulting marathi language.
ReplyDeleteA few people not knowing d local language and staying in the state..is absolutley fine and normal. Everyone does not need to know marathi. BUT..what's happening in Maharashtra is that the north indians in the leadership of goons like Lalu and Amar Singh are trying to impose Hindi on the marathi people. and their number is HUGE. Hence marathis feel insecure. In no other state, outsiders have become majority and have started to harrass the locals, like they do in Maharashtra.
@neha:
ReplyDeleteSo some North Indian came to you and told you to learn Hindi, or stop talking in Marathi. What are you smoking?
Lady, the moment you start thinking the way you do, you allow those unmentionable people to get ahead.
And as far as outsiders becoming a majority, you will find it enlightening to check population immigration figures rather than depend upon rumours and gossip.
Xenophobia is a trait that has no place in today's global village.Our countrymen have emigrated to the States and enriched their culture and values. If a culture is unable to hold it's own amongst a more vibrant and appealing alternative, maybe it needs to go. But let that happen without violent persuasion.
So understand this, that this nation has always assimilated visitors. Remember the story about the Parsis/Iranians and the cup of milk with sugar ?!? Don't succumb to hate.
:) Shobha De can be quite the entertainer
ReplyDeleteYeah, so are any of the Saas-Bahu serials. But my position is to each their own as long as it doesn't hurt some body else.
ReplyDelete