Onion Uttapam : India's Leading Satire Daily

I remember in school books when we were taught that our country is a good example of Unity in diversity, I used to be filled with pride.

Singing the national anthem used to bring a smile on my face when the lines:

"Bharat Bhagya Vidhata

Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha

Dravida Utkala Banga

Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga"

The smile came, because it underlined the unity in diversity feature. May be it was fault of my schooling and my upbringing that I was not used to dividing people on basis of caste, creed, religion or occupation.

I had and have many Muslim friends. In fact I used to look forward for Ramadan and Eid more than the the navratra's (reason used to be the food).I have eaten with a Jain and a Muslim from the same plate with equal ease.

But over the last three years as I moved from my comfort zone to a new zone, I have discovered a new set of rules of our society, which I had not experienced before.

The rules which I discovered and made fun of earlier by saying that they must be lower strata mentalities now stand today before me and I can't deny them today because they are present in Educated Middle Class (a class which I was proud of).

Today I feel sorry for my friends because:

1) When a Muslim friend of mine goes looking for a house to rent, the broker calls me up and says "Anshul, you should have told he is a Muslim before, sending him across to me.". When I asked him the reason he said "People are very hesitant in renting a flat to a Muslim".

Sorry but this thought never occurred to me. For me his finding a house was equivalent to me finding one. Living with people of other religion may be an issue, but renting out is a different issue. May be my eye has become so myopic and I can see only the person and not his religion.

2)When my ex-roommate asked the caste of a friend of mine , who was going to shift with me, fortunately that guy who was coming was from so called High castes and I was saved of the embarrassment of saying no to him.

I and my parents have friend in so called Lower castes and none of us are ashamed of it. My parents never asked me their caste and to be frank I don't know surname of most my friends.

3) This is something I am sorry to say. To be a Bhaiya in a Marathi city of Maharashtra. It doesn't matter if I like puran poli or sabudana wada more then aloo ka paratha. Even if I dance during Ganpati, I am still a Bhaiya.

Even if I start speaking in Marathi, then also I will be a Bhaiya.

I have the pleasure of sharing my room with a Malayali guy, working with Marathi, Tamil and Telgu people. Some of people whom I admire a lot don't belong to Hindi speaking states at all.

I am sorry because my parents always keep on worrying whenever Raj ji appears on TV.

I am sorry because I was born in a country which propagates "Unity in Diversity", but tries to crush that diversity.

I am sorry because we talk of globalisation, but preach regionalism.

I am sorry because we talk about "Sarv Dharam Sadbhav", but support fundamentalism.

I am sorry because I am a part of this hypocritic society.

I am sorry because I am an Indian

Comments (1)

Kabir said:

Language of the heart here and I understand it and yet I present an alternative view. If one has sincerely practiced the correct principle of "Sarv Dharma Sadbhav" it will be noticed by others and Anshul may lead by example and become an inspiration for at least one more Indian during his life time and that is not a bad thing at all. No need to feel sorry then. Why discount the power of one? Anshul’s post itself is a worthy effort of one. One has to accept (and that is not same as "approve") the reality that we have a fragmented society and any amount of papering over will not alter the deep fissures. What Indians have done is to retain a sense of unity in spite of differences. It does not mean the differences are gone. What matters is what we as individuals have done. Differences are not bad at all provided they do not lead to violence. If a landlord does not want to give a house to a person of different religion, caste or persuasion, he is just being a normal Indian. Such practices are not unique to India. A Malayali who was a Christian and non-vegetarian and worse, a bachelor landed in a small town of Gujarat in 1946-at the height of nationalistic fervor in the very area of Sardar Patel whose man the young Christian was!! And, no landlord gave him a house on rent. He lived in a fellow-Malayali's car repair garage. And went ahead and built "Amul". And I don't have to talk of the Boatman's Son from Rameswaram whose class-teacher wanted him to sit afar just because he was a Muslim. They would not have wanted anybody to feel sorry in any manner. May be they knew that in the making of a man, those who masquerade as men, too contribute.

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May 17, 2008
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