"I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.
~Langston Hughes, The Black Man Speaks"
At times very small things do mean a lot. At times there might be no intention towards the meaning of a word or phrase, but still it does leave its impact huge, unintentionally.
I 'again' went through a similar feeling, the previous evening at work. Though I had a zillion things accumulated in my mind to what the next post would talk about, ranging from Obama to Chandrayan, work related to tourism, poetry to prose, I chose to blog this incident which is not new to me (and many others) but still has the same effect as it would if it would've been.
It was a normal day with the usual satirical humour and fun at work.
"hey you Punjaban", he said to a lady friend who hails from north of India
"Shut up! you Mallu", she replied him as he's from Kerala.
As we are close friends at work, I chose to get involved to break free from the routine boring work, and have some fun and commented at the lady "oye, Punjaban kudi" (hey, girl from Punjab), at which she promptly retorted "You keep quiet, Pakistani !"
That word hit me like a nuclear missile. Initially I tried to put it off as a mere joke, but couldn't fit it in any kind of humour. Infact, it infuriated me, though I was definite she was joking and did not mean it. Its not the first time. I've been through it, heard and seen a lot but remained silent. Today I choose not to.
If it was a joke, why Pakistani? Why not Iraqi, Afghani or a Saud? No, why outside India? Why not any Indian community - Kannadiga or Bangalorean? She's from Punjab and called a punjaban - agreed. He's from Kerala and is called a mallu - and so he is, no offence. I am from Bangalore, Karnataka which is very much in India. I have no relation with Pakistan, nor have I ever been there, nor am I associated with it in any way. Oh, is it because I am a Muslim?. Interesting - but aren't there any Muslims in Iraq? Egypt? Saudi? Turkey? Indonesia? Australia? Europe? UK? US of A ? or INDIA ???? or do I need to go through the 'patriotic tests' of reciting vande mataram or being a part of bhoomi puja ?
India is secular nation - on papers and history text books. This is a small incident with a common Indian like me, and many more out there who are victims of this hatred spread by the "true and trustworthy" media. I'm not talking about those bigger issues which made news of not renting/selling a house to a Muslim, the hindutva policy, the recent attacks on churches and Christians in Karnataka, the fake Batla house encounter case, the Shaheen bagh case, the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and claiming pride in it by Mr.Modi, the terror blasts, the Malegaon case, the Babri masjid, the 1982 Sikh riots or the 2002 Gujarat massacre.
Its a small name calling "joke", which I tried my best to laugh it out, but I could not and I never can.
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.
~Langston Hughes, The Black Man Speaks"
At times very small things do mean a lot. At times there might be no intention towards the meaning of a word or phrase, but still it does leave its impact huge, unintentionally.
I 'again' went through a similar feeling, the previous evening at work. Though I had a zillion things accumulated in my mind to what the next post would talk about, ranging from Obama to Chandrayan, work related to tourism, poetry to prose, I chose to blog this incident which is not new to me (and many others) but still has the same effect as it would if it would've been.
It was a normal day with the usual satirical humour and fun at work.
"hey you Punjaban", he said to a lady friend who hails from north of India
"Shut up! you Mallu", she replied him as he's from Kerala.
As we are close friends at work, I chose to get involved to break free from the routine boring work, and have some fun and commented at the lady "oye, Punjaban kudi" (hey, girl from Punjab), at which she promptly retorted "You keep quiet, Pakistani !"
That word hit me like a nuclear missile. Initially I tried to put it off as a mere joke, but couldn't fit it in any kind of humour. Infact, it infuriated me, though I was definite she was joking and did not mean it. Its not the first time. I've been through it, heard and seen a lot but remained silent. Today I choose not to.
If it was a joke, why Pakistani? Why not Iraqi, Afghani or a Saud? No, why outside India? Why not any Indian community - Kannadiga or Bangalorean? She's from Punjab and called a punjaban - agreed. He's from Kerala and is called a mallu - and so he is, no offence. I am from Bangalore, Karnataka which is very much in India. I have no relation with Pakistan, nor have I ever been there, nor am I associated with it in any way. Oh, is it because I am a Muslim?. Interesting - but aren't there any Muslims in Iraq? Egypt? Saudi? Turkey? Indonesia? Australia? Europe? UK? US of A ? or INDIA ???? or do I need to go through the 'patriotic tests' of reciting vande mataram or being a part of bhoomi puja ?
India is secular nation - on papers and history text books. This is a small incident with a common Indian like me, and many more out there who are victims of this hatred spread by the "true and trustworthy" media. I'm not talking about those bigger issues which made news of not renting/selling a house to a Muslim, the hindutva policy, the recent attacks on churches and Christians in Karnataka, the fake Batla house encounter case, the Shaheen bagh case, the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin and claiming pride in it by Mr.Modi, the terror blasts, the Malegaon case, the Babri masjid, the 1982 Sikh riots or the 2002 Gujarat massacre.
Its a small name calling "joke", which I tried my best to laugh it out, but I could not and I never can.
12 comments:
I can empathize with you and understand that Mush.
And thank god u changed the look of ur website now..
@Karma
Thanks for your comment karma. For a while i thought people have stopped reading my blog ;)) Again you make me feel like writing more in this space and yea the new look speaks a lot about change :)
I'm cmg here after long...but looks like i dropped in at the right time.
I do feel sorry n empathize wit u mush.Its a hard life for innocent "good" "normal" muslims!
The problem is most of these attacks are by muslims..th eimpact is so huge..so many innocent lives are taken..n so one doesn't stop n think or worry how an innocent person will feel when they generalize.
Its surely not easy times for Muslims.. the future of the world looks so bleak to me at this point :|
@Pavi..
Yea dropped in right time :)
Well most of the attacks are by muslims or its made to believe through media hype or through the political blame game using the minority issue for political benefits are all different stories altogether. If we go into the deep nitty gritties, the truth is dark and shocking!
Simple, media and politics are two sides of a coin, both work for money fame and publicity.
As for the terrorists they dont know what is a religion or whats being pious, forget labelling them as muslims, hindus or christians or rather lets just stop it! It just aggravates and frustrates the common man even more and please concentrate on reducing terror and being just !
terrorists have no religion.. muslims must not be criticised with this attacks.. though muslims we love our country and we r indian..
@ishqia..
Very true, but the sad fact is we need to voice out that we are Indian to "prove" the patriotism.
by the way .. this incident happend long before the attacks !
It is really very sad tht at times people associate Muslims in India wit Pakistan.But a humble suggestion.The next time u find sumone referring to u in tht way,plzz correct the person there itself.Tel him/her tht u do nt tak it as a joke.Tht it hurts nd it is offensive.If said decently,most of the people will understand.Some of them may actually feel ashamed abt their thoughts.
There is of course no harm in trying.
@ manali
Thanks.. All said and done. I told that person the very next moment and she did feel bad later. I posted this to make awareness of how such small things impact feelings {and not to gain personal pity and sympathy}
hey i had no intention of offering sympathy/pity...maybe my limited language skills hav led u to tht conclusion...All i was sayin is thes people need to be corrected...so tht they do nt hurt other people in the same manner
@manali .. oops you got me wrong there now.
The point of sympathy/pity was not for you manali, it was in general to all readers so i wanted to clear that I didnt not post this to gain that. ... and i was happy to see your comment as this post was a month back and its good to know that i have people visiting my blog even if it aint updated
Keep comin back .. and sorry for not updating my blog regularly
The post definitely is a meaningful depiction of the discrimination and insane thoughts that humans still have in this modern world. You've brought it properly to light. hope somebody understands at least a little from it. If it happens, it shall be a costly "joke".
@mighty seraph
Thanks ! We can only hope ! :)
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