The curse of the stereotype - The North Indian Vs South Indian Debate

Selected as Blogadda's "Spicy Saturday Pick" on July 9, 2011

The last few months have been tough on me, thanks to my god forsaken working hours. I’ve been asked to work in the morning shift which requires me to leave home at 6:30 AM EVERY SINGLE DAY. If you think it’s no big deal, then you must be a nerd or an insomniac. Interestingly, this post is on stereotypes.

The morning shift does have its share of advantages, like for instance, it has ensured that I don’t skip my breakfast anymore and it’s my favourite meal of the day. This post is the result of a conversation that transpired during one such breakfast while I was busy dipping my 106^th Dosa* in the 173^rd bowl of Sambar**.

*Dosa includes all varities of Dosas/Uthappams/Pesarattu which may or may not include Masala/Onion/Podi/Ghee.

**statistics for the period of April 1^st – June 25^th 2011

Pic1 ) Dosa - My staple diet today

My company for breakfast is usually project mates, most of them my seniors by 2-3 years and all natives of Tamil Nadu. While I was busy chomping into my Onion Podi Uthappam (my personal favourite) someone spoke in English. I stopped chewing midway, shocked at the atrocity of the event, and looked up dumbfounded to find the brave one who had the courage to break the unspoken protocol by talking in an alien language. He was talking to me; it had to be me considering that I was the only non-Tamil speaking person (amongst the all English speaking people) on that table; how stupid of me.

And the conversation went something like this,

My senior asks, “Hey, what do you do on weekends?”

Pic 2) Caught unaware

“Ummhh??!!” is all I could manage thanks to my mouth being full and also taken aback by surprise at being spoken to in English.

“On weekends; what do you do?” he says again, altering the question a bit, helping me understand the seemingly innocuous statement.

Still a little taken aback, I replied, “Hmmm well the usual weekend chilling out. Hang out with friends, movies, good food, etc; nothing specific or out of the ordinary”.

He didn’t seem too convinced; he gave me a wry smile, nodded his head and got back to his Dosa. I was getting curious here. After a pause for about 10 seconds, I finally decide to ask the golden question.

“Why?”

And the answer came almost immediately,

“Well I have often seen North Indian guys out with girls on their bikes on weekends. So was just curious”.

I did not see this coming. To keep things on the lighter side, I asked him,

“Why? What do South Indian guys do on weekends?”

He promptly replied, “We just look at them (the North Indian couples)”.

We had a nice laugh over his witty reply and got back to our dosas but I couldn’t get that statement out of my head. It wasn’t intended to be hurtful or malicious; it was plain curiosity, at least in this case it was. The senior who asked the question is genuinely a very nice person who is extremely helpful and nice to everybody around. Blame it on the stereotypes which are sometimes so strong that people mistake it for universal truth.

In my 5 years at Chennai, I’ve witnessed one of the strongest stereotypes with practical implications; the North Indian – South Indian divide. I am a Punjabi, born and brought up in Hyderabad, my mom’s family is from Bangalore and I have spent a considerable time there and of course, my stint with Chennai. So that makes me believe that I am as much a North Indian as I am South Indian and that qualifies me to talk about this highly controversial and sensitive issue with an unbiased point of view because I believe I understand both sides better than most.

This divide is by no way a new trend; it goes way back in time. The language barrier, unique customs and limited interstate migration resulted in a lack of understanding about each other which in turn was the genesis of these stereotypes. South Indians were perceived to be conservative, ugly and detached by their “countrymen” up North while the Southern “brothers” thought the “Northies” were flamboyant, immoral and were not as blessed in the grey area department.

However, at this juncture I’d like to point out that amongst the three Dravidian cities (Bangalore, Chennai & Hyderabad) I have stayed in, I’ve felt this divide the most in Chennai. Interestingly, many North Indians refer to South Indians as “Madrasi” (from Madras). So is this more of a North Indian – Tamilian issue?

Hyderabad and Bangalore have had a comparatively more cosmopolitan environment with majority of the population having no qualms speaking English or Hindi in addition to their local language. So that way, if someone from these cities went up North, they wouldn’t have a problem and the North Indians coming to these cities would also feel at home. However, Chennai was never too hospitable in welcoming a foreign language, especially Hindi, and it always treated it suspiciously(read more). 

Was the government right in imposing Hindi as a national language in spite of knowing that Hindi wasn’t spoken in many of the Indian states? Had someone in the government given a thought to the repercussion of their actions, we could have probably avoided this scenario. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

Let’s make things a little black and white and go back in time to the good old retro days, to the point in time where I “believe” these "North-South" sentiments would have first emanated.

Note: The forthcoming flashback is completely a work of fiction conjured by the hyperactive imagination of the author.

Murugan Swamy decided to spread his coconut empire up North and chose to make a trip to Delhi while Sukhwinder Singh thought it would be a good idea to give Chennai a taste of tandoori chicken. These were otherwise novel business ideas that went haywire and it was utter chaos all around; each experienced a culture shock and witnessed a life style so disparate from their own. In addition, no native individual would have been able to explain to the visitors about their culture and beliefs, thanks to the limitations of the tongue. This might have caused these gentlemen to do what each one of us loves doing, forming an opinion with hardly any substance. This handicap limited the understanding of their “strange” neighbours and their way of life and would have resulted in a highly erroneous judgement of the other.

Now Murugan anna would go to akka and Sukhwinder paaji would go back to babhi and tell them about the “strange” people they met. Since these were times well before twitter, women were the fastest mode of broadcasting information. News passed family to family and each time there was a little “tadka” (spices in hot oil) added and soon a stereotype so strong was born that even years of education, migration and breaking of the language barrier would still not be able to neutralize the impact.

H.G. Wells could not have put it better (and of my all time favourite quotes)

“Crude classifications and false generalizations are the curse of the organized life”.

It is understandable when people who aren’t educated and who haven’t travelled enough develop such perceptions over the years.  The disturbing fact is that a lot of educated folks also have similar beliefs, in spite of being a nation that together celebrated the World Cup victory.

A lot of it has also to do with the kind of upbringing one has; parents play a very important role in shaping the child’s thinking process. If a child is raised in a household which has strong communal and regional tendencies, more often than not, the child grows up to have similar beliefs. So it is important that one makes their judgements based on facts and not prejudice. 

Maybe the next time you make a generalization about a person, gender or community, I urge you to think twice and help bringing us closer to being a more open, tolerant and loving nation.

Jai Hind.

3) Together we make life colorful.

 Disclaimer: The opinions here are based on my experiences and there is absolutely no need for you to have to agree with me and I’d love to hear your point of view, however disparate it might be. Those of you, who do agree with me, help me out if someone who doesn’t, comes to break my head. Peace.

Photo credits:

1)        http://www.facebook.com/pages/trying-to-expain-something-to-someone-while-your-mouth-is-stuffed-with-food/341683684185

2)        http://www.redbubble.com/people/rakeshsyal/art/3644769-unity-in-diversity

3)        http://tiffography.com/?p=578

The Language Barrier

It was an ordinary February evening and I had just got home after another non-constructive day at work. I greeted my roommates and headed towards my room to get rid of the formal clothes and get into something more sensible for the Chennai weather. As I was stripping down, something caught my eye, a certain article that was stuck on my door.

The article I found stuck to my door.

It was a newspaper article titled, “Tongue Tied” and I was quite surprised to find it on my door. As I read through the first paragraph, it started making sense. The newspaper article was “targeted” on me. Yet another of my roommates attempts at proving I wasn't “Indian” enough, well at least not enough to their liking.

The article was about how the younger generation of Indians, especially in the urban centres, do not know their mother tongues and “are taking recourse to English as a means of communication between themselves and their children”. As a result of this a lot of languages in our country (196 is the number mentioned) are on the verge of  extinction.

Culture and traditions are two words that are extensively used when you talk about India. India has such a rich and diverse cultural history, one which draws tourists from all across the world and language is an essential part of this culture. Then why are languages losing its importance? The answer to some of the most complicated questions is actually quite simple. Like human beings, cultures evolve and this automatically impacts languages also and evolution occurs to adapt better to conditions and improve quality of life.

Why is it that  language plays such a crucial role today, than what it did a century ago or even 30 years back?

Hundred years ago or even 30 years ago, the world was a gargantuan spherical object but today it isn't. It's not that earth has gotten any smaller, but it is a flat world as put beautifully by 3 time Pulitzer Prize winner, Thomas L Friedman in his book - “The world is flat”, the title to which was derived from a statement made by Nandan Nilekani, former Chairman of Infosys. Wiki calls the title a metaphor and says, “It alludes to the perceptual shift required for countries, companies and individuals to remain competitive in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant”. In a nut shell, this means the world is soon becoming a level playing field and factors such as languages are going to lose relevance and could actually be a deterrent.

We are all truly global citizens today and we need to be global citizens if we want to stay competitive and on par with the rest of the world. Had India been averse to using any other “foreign” language like China, the IT boom would have never happened in India. With so many countries having cheap labour to offer, India got the edge because of the large English speaking population. If ability to speak English coupled with a high school degree (fake or original, doesn’t matter) can get you a job paying 10-15,000 Rs to start off, then why not? This in no way means English is superior (or lesser) to other languages; it is about a standard form of communication the world over. Had Hindi or Arabic or anything else been the most spoken language the world across, who knows, we would all be talking one of those languages. Just a few days back I read an article in the newspaper which said CBSE was planning to introduce Japanese for class 10 and 12 students as it would help in employment opportunities considering that a lot of Japanese companies are entering the Indian market. The rules of the game are changing.

It's a multi-dimensional issue which isn't just about money or better career prospects. 

I am a Punjabi, born to Punjabi parents in Hyderabad , brought up in the same city and have been in Chennai for the last 5 years. As a child and even today, I have been in a highly cosmopolitan environment, like it is in most urban centres. Most of my friends have different mother tongues so to keep it neutral and uncomplicated we stuck to English and Hindi. Staying in Hyderabad I picked up Telugu too and my Telugu is a lot better than my Punjabi. As a matter of fact, I hardly know any Punjabi and it has never affected me in any way. Emotionally you can accuse me of “tearing away from my roots”, as the writer dramatically puts it but pragmatically, I can’t think of any way it could have helped me considering the fact that I have no one to speak Punjabi with.

Right through the article the writer has spoken to people from various organizations who all say, “Oh it's bad! Very bad! Terrible! Catastrophe! Anarth! Dushta Dushta!” On being asked why, they all seem to have the same response, “Losing touch with their culture”, but not one of them has given a sensible reason as to why we should stick on with a predefined culture in which they were brought up in and counteract the natural evolution. The writer also mentions that this is not only a trend in India but something seen the world over.

The Indian culture is beautiful and it does not pertain to languages only, it is a way of life. Respect for elders, family, honesty, etc are virtues that can be incorporated even without knowing our mother tongue. We need to find a balance and take the parts of our culture which finds relevance in the current world and with the future in mind. Remember Sati, child marriage and Dowry? They were a part of our culture too. We need to let go of certain things while incorporating newer ideas and beliefs which are in accord with the times.

By no way am I advocating that we must forego our mother tongues and that it is absolutely irrelevant in the modern world. My opinion is based on my life and what I see around me. There might be factors that I may have overlooked or not considered and it is quite natural for you to agree or disagree with some or all of my points.

The main motive of a language is to communicate and today we need to be able to communicate with a lot more people than our neighbours, doodhwala (milkman) Ramu kaka, servant Nagarani and the rest of the village or town. With the advent of technology and internet we need to be able to communicate with everybody around the world, be it New York or Nambaiyufa. The world today is a global village and we need to be able to talk the language the rest of the villagers speak or be left out.

Read the original article at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Are-we-losing-mother-tongue-/articleshow/5729796.cms