Friday, December 19, 2008

North Vs South

A lot of us must have faced scenarios where in collegues, aquaintances and even friends at times mock South Indians. I am not denying the fact that the case is vice versa as well. I also admit that we are all Indians at the end of the day and belong to one nation.

But, is that how we see ourselves unless and until there is a major mishap(terrorist activity of sorts)?

This is on account of what I have witnessed and am not out here to condemn, demeen or use derogatory terms against North Indians or Non-South Indians. I infact until recently always had a soft corner toward North Indians for reasons unknown.

I am appauled by the audacity of people who possibly don't consider themselves as INDIANS but also make fun of South Indians - their skin color, accents, style of speaking, pronunciation, habits and food while they(the non-South Indians) live in South India to earn their bread and butter. This annoys me the most. If you can't respect others for what and who they are the least you can do is not make fun of them(more so while you reside in their land). For the North Indians, South India equates to Madras(thanks to Bollywood as well) and black people as they refer to us. Black implies Dark, that is the right word in English for Kala(in hindi). Didn't you know?

A gujju once said:"There are snakes in the hole", he meant "There are snacks in the hall". A bong said:"There are babes in the water", he meant "There are waves in the water". A Punju said: "I am com-for-table" he meant "I am comfortable". What about those of you who replace the word "THINK" with the word "HOPE" in every other so called English sentence of yours("I hope you are frustrated"!, boy what was that? Well it means "I think you are frustrated")? Do we speak of achievers from various parts of India? Well I am not getting in to that. One can go on, but like I earlier said I am not out here to make fun of anyone but to express my views and disgust towards such people who make fun(unless done in good spirit) of others irrespective of wheather they are from the South or the North of India.

Disclaimer: My intent is not to target North Indians or Hindi speaking public(fellow Indians) through this post. I am trying to put across what I have seen and how South Indians(implies Madrasis) are victimised. I will be more than happy to read/hear from you about instances that work the other way round(though I never did or will deny the possibility and the reality). Neither am I generalising that all non-South Indians possess such an attitude towards South Indians nor am I trying to claim that South Indians do not have a problem and/or are very friendly, forthcoming and approachable towards non-South Indians.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very good post that is out of line with the spirit of the current times. In the case of North Indians making fun of people and traditions of the South, it mostly comes from growing up on bollywood movies where South Indians are portrayed as Idiots. It actually is their poor sense of humor and understanding of this region that is to blame. Now that some of them are living here, they don't seem to learn. Now, that's a perfect Indian quality: Not willing to learn and change one's mindset.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post! I completely agree with what you have to say....most of such behaviour of non-South Indians is probably because of the way South Indians are portrayed in Bollywood films.

I have always seen only (mostly) non-South Indians complaining about the way they are treated in South and heard about how unfriedly South Indians have been to them..but the vice versa rarely comes out..wonder why this is not widely sopke about...though most of us agree that it also happens.

And coming to the films part of this whole thing...I sometimes feel that its not just Bollowood films but..South Indian films also have been the reason for creating such an image for South Indians in the other parts of the country.

The "Hero" of the movie capable of supernatural things...infact nearly impossible things..

This happens in most tamil and telugu films atleast...

No wonder why Rajnikanth and the typical South Indian films are so talked about...

Is this also a reason we sometimes experience such behaviour from non-South Indians ???

Anonymous said...

You seem to have captured what most feel.

Perhaps people(South & non South Indians) should remember the saying " While in Rome do as the Romans do". Expecting the contrary leads to all problems.

Karthik said...

well,

i feel i have seen balanced result - North Indians mocking South Indian and South Indians mocking North Indians. my college has 50% of Tamil Nadu guys and rest - all over India. i have seen Tamilians mocking North Indians when they are outnumbered and sometimes North Indians do this when any South Indians watch any movies in our Open Air Auditorium, among N.I.s

i have not seen any such thing after that. not in office premises. we are matured enough to respect other's. i believe! :)

good post to orient my thoughts. thanks.

Anonymous said...

well said .... i think .. a person has to be human first rather then being southie and northiee...we cant just make such jingoist prejudices on the basis of melanin in ones skin...well on the other side..

See Bee said...

wah wah!
clap clap

finally a good post from a not-so-splendid blog

even tho you have put umpteen discalimers - u r sorta northie-bashing yourself - but it is understandable cos ur not 'northie- bashing' but bashing up the juvenile idiots who do not grow up, as explained by Shashi

one thing about northies that annoys me (sp mota - hehe) is how annoyed they get if u insert an 'h' in your spelling. In English English,
t - is the sound in the word tomato
th - is a soft half-lisp sound, not the same as the th' sound Indians make when they pronounce the word 'thumb'

yet to me it is these silly northies who add unecessary h's while writing hindi in english, they cannot stand the way suchithra or geetha is spelt, but add not one but two h's in the word chhota. how come that is acceptable?

yes i know im being juvenile and idiotic - but oh i LOVE making fun of north-indians and south-indians (kyun- becos im a wannabe anglo-indian na? hahhaha)

popsie said...

@Shashi: I completely second your thoughts.

@Betty: True in a sense but can't one just be oneself and respect the other, simultaneously?

@Karthik: We are expected to be mature adults and a lot of us are. As for seeing such things at work place I think you aren't a great observer! :P :) ;)

@Trauma Queen: Agree with all what you have to say, as well. You undoubtedly are a wannabe! ;) :P

Scribber said...

hey las.. after a lonf time read your blog.. quite funny this one!!

no comments on northies or southies..

i have realized (thanks to acn & b'lore) tht 'not all south indians r as same as rajnikant ;-)

u knw i have a soft corner for a few.. and you r def one of them :)

hehe.. good post!!