MEE MARATHI! I MARATHI!
I’m living in Mumbai for the past 15 consecutive years of my life and have seen and understood many things. This city has taught me a lot and of course the people. I’m a thoroughly a Maharashtrian by caste and to be precise I’m a Rigvedi Deshastha Brahmin who speaks Marathi at home and with all Marathi junta. And yes I’m proud to be one too.For the past few years Maharashtrians have been very patriotic about Mumbai and feeling very unsecured about their status in the city; joining hands with certain political parties and trying to flee away the non maharashtrians away from Mumbai claiming, “Amchi Mumbai!” I was not totally supportive to the entire movement of the marathi crowd trying to make their own space in the city.
I witnessed horrifying incidences in the trains where the maharashtrians were fighting together with the other people for claiming a seat without identifying themselves as maharashtrians and somehow knowing they are maharashtrians some non-maharashtrians subtlety commented, “ voh saala Marathi ich hoga.” I overheard that comment which means that chap is definitely a Maharashtrian. It was quite disappointing for me to hear that comment cause it somehow reflected aggression synonymous with maharashtrains in a wrong way.
Years passed by after that incidence without it making a significant scar in my thoughts but yet the remark he made in the train was always there somewhere behind in my mind.
Last year on 26th July when Mumbai experienced heavy showers, I was stuck with my bike in my college. The next day I tried moving out thinking rain god would show mercy on the Mumbaikars and me… but it didn’t. I moved out on my bike slowly and praying. Unfortunately my bikes tyre got punctured on the way. After giving a lot of thought I planned to return back to college (fortunately not very far but definitely not walking distance from the scene to the college) walking the bike which would had definitely taken 2-3 hours! However I just kept moving on and on trying to look for a mechanic somewhere on the corner of the street. The situation was similar to a thirsty man walking in a desert trying to search for an oasis!
Like a ray of light that one can see in dark cave, I saw a car battery shop and a mechanic trying to fix some bikes outside the shop. I went running with my 150cc bike to the shop and told the shop owner about the punctured tyre. He said he would charge me 200 bucks! In normal circumstances everyone charges around 100 bucks. I could understand what he was thinking; exactly like one of the business tactics adopted by 5 hotels in Bangalore which one of my dearest professors kept on telling me throughout the year while teaching, “When the sun shines, make hay.” How could I forget that line…(its a IHM joke!)
I agreed to his proposal of fitting a new tube in the tyre and paying 200 bucks as well. When I took out my wallet I soon realized I just had 50 bucks and on enquiring I figured out none of the ATM services around were working! I had given up and went walking with shrugged shoulders towards my bike and start again with my walking bike journey to the college. Suddenly I heard a voice from behind calling loud, “Baccha!” which means Son. I turned back and to my surprise it was the same aged shop owner who was calling me. I went to him and then he asked me where was I going. I soon told him my problem and to my surprise again, he said that he would give me a tube for free today and I can come and pay him whenever I can! I was delighted! The mechanic fixed the tube into my bike and rhoom…… I went to college. Thanks to that old man that my 26th July experience was not as horrific as what other faced or what I could have faced!
The essence to this incidence is that the shop owner was definitely not a Maharashtrian nor did he care what I was, who I was, how honest I was etc… All he knew was here’s a boy… a Mumbai boy who’s a college student, who’s in trouble, who needs help and which the man did very dutifully.
Unifying both the incidences one- mee marathi(train and the protests) and the 26th July incidence something is really very salient about them.
May
be its not fair and the right thing to do to distinguish people on the basis of place of origin… Definitely have pride about our culture and traditions and so should everyone, but its wrong to say, for that matter for anyone to say, “Our culture is superior to yours.” Maybe there were many maharashtrians as well on 26th July who were helping non-maharashtrians… even they must have not asked the sufferers are you Marathi or not? Why are we getting unified only when calamity strikes us and on any other regular day we are just a marathi or a gujju or a punju and not Mumbaikars as a whole? What I can see here is Mumbai today does not belong only to the maharashtrains... Ofcourse maharshtrians have been one of the major contributors to the city and its their own land but there has also been an humongous contribution by the gujjus, the parsi's, the sindhis and the marwadis, the muslims, the shetty's and for that matter even the britishers. Isn't it?JOBS AND PROFESSION
Do we really need to throw out people out of Mumbai for jobs? By We I mean maharashtrians… I mean we are in the 21st century right? On one side we are talking about globalization and on the other hand we are talking about Mumbai is only of and for Maharashtrians. If we are trying to compete China then we are competing as India (and not as marathi) and if Mumbai is the base for our growth shouldn’t talent from all over the country be encouraged to give the best they can to Mumbai for a better and competitive India?
As far as jobs are concerned each person has his own potential then he might be a marathi or a gujrati or sindhi… he will make it to the highest point where he is destined to be… then he doesn’t really need Mumbai to reach that point, then why the protesting, aggression and breaking of glasses of malls etc? Aint we spoiling our own image by doing that thus reflecting ourselves as a non-seculiar community as against our ancestorial peshwas and the marathas? Aren't non-maharashtrians as well enriching Mumbai with what they have?
It’s very common to say gujjus are good businessman or shetty’s have catering joints or bhaiyyas are taking all lower level jobs… have you ever noticed MAJORITY of the best DOCTORS are Maharashtrians? All the Pandits n Kulkarnis n Desai’s and Mandke’s are common names for a Doctor aren’t they? Might not be true in the north but definitely in Mumbai and for that matter even abroad at places like London and New York. Most of the average marathi families definitely have a doctor or a engineer somewhere in their family free. There have been quality journalists, singers, sportsmen, actors, politicians, freedom fighters from the land of Shivaji. Even maharashtrians can hold pride in that. Theres nothing wrong to say that Maharashtrians are and have been Good Professionals! Thus there's no reason to feel insecurities in Mumbai except that the competition is rising which would rise anyway at one point or the other.
Its time to understand that life in Mumbai or for that matter life in globalization of the world has become a competition where a youngster in USA feels unsecured cause his job is taken by a Indian or a Chinese and in Mumbai a Marathi feels that his place is taken by someone else… Time has come for everyone and yes even maharashtrians are very much in the race to compete for their place in the globe like anyone else rather then trying to drive out people from a particular place and then being driven out themselves unknowingly from the same place and the race!..... hey that rhymes!
posted by Omkar @ 12:31 PM
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