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.