Reading about Raj Thackeray's (& MNS's) issue with north Indians in Bombay, I was saddened and shocked. I was also reminded of a movie I had seen quite some time back called 'The Others'. In the movie, Nicole Kidman, who lives with her two kids, starts to feel the presence of 'others' in her house and gets very irked about it. She frets, she shouts, she expresses her anger, only to realise at the end of the movie that it is she who is the 'other', the spirit that has been living there beyond its time, the spirit that doesn’t have sole right over the house and hence has no right to ask anyone to leave. It’s quite obvious why I was reminded of the story and the parallels I am drawing.
Bombay is a great city. Perhaps even the greatest. And what makes it so, is exactly what makes New York the navel of the world. Bombay is a melting pot, a paradox, a ‘Khichdi’. And it’s always been proud about that.
Or atleast the Bombay I grew up in.
The Bombay I grew up in was about differences, about having a certain attitude. In that Bombay it did not matter who you were, where you came from or what you did, as long as you had a dream and you could keep with the pace. That Bombay was about accepting; about holding out a hand from an overcrowded train to help a running stranger get in, without asking who he was or where he was from. That Bombay was about adjusting; about squeezing into a train seat to fit 7 where 4 were meant to sit. That Bombay took in everyone who came to its stations and airports from near and far, and became the richer for it.
The Bombay I grew up in was where a kid would attend a college run by a Sindhi Trust, eat Indian Chinese food made by a Raju (who was most probably a migrant from UP or Bihar), rush to classes run by an Aggarwal, ride in a taxi driven by a yadav, Cheer at a cricket match played by Tendulkar or Dravid, lap up movies acted in by a Khan and aspire to work in companies owned by an Ambani. That Bombay was Joshi, Patel, Subramaniam, Shah, Bansal, Aggarwal, Yadav, Fernandes, Singh and many others. It was Straight, Gay, bi-sexual, deviant and devout. It was stinking rich, upstart wealthy, nobly middle-class, and roadside-poor. It was desi, urban, and American-confused. The Bombay I grew up in was the Bombay that had a place for everyone.
And that Bombay belongs to no one. Not to me, not to you, not to the Marathis, not to the Gujaratis and definitely not to hooligan Politicians. It belongs to anyone and everyone who has ever lived in it, dreamed in it and carried a piece of it in their hearts. And we all belong to that Bombay. We all make it what it is. We all love it for what it represents. And we all want to keep it the way it is.
So Mr. Thackeray, like it or not, I am a Bombay-ite. And I don’t need to speak any one language, wear any particular clothing, celebrate any specific festivals or have a specific surname to call myself that. I just need to love the city and uphold everything that is great about it.
Perhaps you should ask yourself, how Bombay-ite are you? You might just find, it’s you who are the ‘other’ that doesn’t understand what Bombay is about; the ‘other’ that should stop creating a nuisance!
Currently Reading: Big book of crafts
Currently Listening: Forever- Papa Roach, Disturbia (Acoustic)- Boyce Avenue
PS- Yes- Bombay, not Mumbai!
PS2- See 'The Others' if you haven't already. though I've probably ruined the movie for you, giving away the twist and all. But still.
50 years of Roti Kapada aur Makaan
4 days ago
11 comments:
Interesting parallels you've drawn between The Others and Bombay (yeah i prefer this name too).
I think if you were to ask the regular folk here, they'd tell you they're just tired of this crap.
I think we as citizens of a country, state, city deserve more. As I write this, I'm seeing pictures of people getting beaten by the cops, cars/buses being set alight etc. All of this for a man who claims to be a martyr of sorts... even a saviour of the people.
But in the typical Mumbai (right usage here) attitude, we're gonna "adjust". People gonna look at the so called bright side of maybe getting a chutti from work, lesser traffic on the roads etc etc. I used to love this resilient aspect of the city... not so sure anymore.
I think you have hit the nail on the head.We can't have anymore of this 'Goonda Raj'The 'Marathi manoos' must first learn to behave like a manoos !We are already in a turmoil.The MNS must direct its efforts towards navnirman of the society.
Loved the way you've put it.
I guess when its about money,votes or power it no longer is about Bombay. Its no longer about a city or religion or geographic boundry then.
And despite the progress, nothing really has changed in Indian politics.
This is a very very well written post. I see the argument that you are making and the parallels you draw from your own time in Bombay.
However there are always two sides to a coin. I think in more ways than one the MNS is talking a lot of sense it's just that the way they are going about their agitation is moronic at best.
A friend of mine once told me after a rant session about the state of Indian politics I was having with him that, what was I going to do about it? and I really didn't have an answer. Till the time voices don't leave blogs and living rooms and rise on the streets articles like yours just become another in a steady stream of words.
So I ask you (and I don't have an answer for this) What are you going to do about it? and when you do have an answer get back to me :)
Blackfayth: I know what you mean about adjusting. What used to be Bombay's best quality is somehow flipping on its side and turning into a 'chalta hai and thank god it's not me' attitude...
Manju: So true. What Nav-nirman is the group achieving?.. using old hackneyed tactics and devision-based politics.
Aarwen: Thanks. And what you say about Indian politics is true. In fact, I would say that given the politics in India, it's amazing the country has made the progress it has. I read this book sometime back "Inspite of the gods" and that talks about this very well (as well as about religion in India). Pick it up if you like reading that kind of stuff.
And oh, welcome to the blog! Dropped by your blog and I see u r new to Singapore. So send a shout out if you need anything. A'ight? =)
Bananafish: What the MNS is asking for is stupid and senseless. The fact that they are doing what they have been doing, in support of this cause only makes it worse.
The stuff that MNS is asking for and doing, can bring no good to anyone. Division politics have never worked in the long term. ever, except to help the dividing political party come to power. Agreed, the kind of pople they want ousted from Mumbai are not your north-Indian super achievers (AB,Khan n all) or even your average office goers. They are targeting somewhat lower than that. And yes, that layer of people can come with their share of nuisance. But my key point is that MNS has no right to decide who stays and who goes. Labour migration is a side effect of urbanisation. And just as the city enjoys the spoils of urbanisation, it must also bear the injury.
Of course that is completely apart from the fact that Bombay is more 'Indian' than 'Maharashtrian'. Quite like Delhi. And in that spirit every person has the right to call bombay his own and make a life for himself here. Something like this chips at the core of the very stuff that keeps India together. And bringing it up is dangerous and un-indian, no matter how mmuch sense (or nonsense) it makes.
Maybe it is true that Laloo is favoring Biharis for Railway jobs n all. But then he is Laloo. And I don't think India can handle two like him. Besides, Bihar does need all the help it can get. :-)
As for your question, (I mentioned in a previous post), I will become the PM of India on day and then we shall see baby! And till such happens, I will vote! :-) But seriously, it is a question to ponder. Much easier to be the critic from the outside, no?
On second look, I could have just written another post about this...Ah well!
Yes I know a little dumb to not post this as a blog I need to keep scrolling down to see what you wrote and then scroll up to write my stuff.
Did you know that Bal Thackerey and Raj Thackerey are both creations of the congress? They created Older Bal to fight the commies in the 60s and then he fucked them. They then in their infinite wisdom created young Raj to take on the Shiv Sena and just like his uncle grew balls and said Hey! I can do this alone so is Raj. You reap what you sow. and in the case of the congress if you don't know your history you are condemned to repeat it. So I don't think it's fair on Raj T that you say he's a psycho we need to look at who and what created him.
and to tell you why I see some justification in what he's saying well in my first week in Bombay I was horrified when my bus went past Kandivilli on my journey to Powai to see loads of people lined up on the road to take a dump (its bothered me so much I even wrote about killing them : http://apsd.blogspot.com/2008/05/storyboard-idea-45.html
So as I passed through that 'shit corridor' day after day for a year I wished they were thrown out of the city. I mean even London and NY have massive labour migration but the cities cope. Do you really think Bombay is coping? Squashed in a Borivilli fast feeling something trickle down my leg that doesn't belong to me is justification that the city is bursting at its seams, the infrastructure is lagging and I don't think can ever catch up. So unless you start sending the labour back everyone from your everyday illegal Bangladeshi immigrant to some dude sitting in Chattisgarh are going to land up there not to be a part of labout but to beg, steal, pimp, black market and finally to take a dump in the shit corridor.
What I'm trying to say is that if Raj T said I'm going to get all the riff raff out and hey you know what let's do our own work instead of being lazy and hey lets fix up stuff and hey let's protest peacefully I think he would have gotten a lot of respect all around. When I refer to moronic actions I'm talking about beating up people that's a nono.
I can go on but I have a feeling that this can go back and forth forever. That's what makes political debates so much fun.
and oh yeah I come from a family deeply involved in Politics, an Uncle was minister of defence, gradnpa's brother was a Chief Minister, I have uncles and cousins who are sitting MP's and MLAs and having seen and met so many politicians I think when we label all of them corrupt and greedy laregely because that is what the media wants us to see. A book like Luce's Inspite of the gods makes my blood boil because the only way you become a bestseller or win an award is if you write crap about India . (Mark Tully's books offer a more balanced view) If India has made progress its because of good governance (inspite of many dicks) otheriwse after independence we could have easily been a Pakistan or we could have been a North Korea today.
Lastly we always forget how truly vast India is. For that to work for more than 65 years makes it in my books the eight wonder of the world so the occasional Raj should be welcomed because it shows how our setup allows all kinds of people to flourish.
Did I make any sense?
Personally I'd like to kill Raj Thackerey... and you may delete this comment for security reasons if you wanna. :)
As you very correctly said in this tangy post Miss Lemon... Bombay belongs to everyone who chooses to make it his / her own.
I love this city because it is here that I can stay out till 2 in the morning, come back home alone and be safe. It is this place where not even a single case of eve teasing or any other shit happened during 26 July deluge, when Bombay drowned. There were women, people all over the place... wet and people all over the place helping... handing out cups of tea... offering shelter. I know... I was out on the roads. I feel the pulse of the city pulsating within me when I step out... I look at it.... breathe deep... breathe its life in me and go on to take another day in it. I am grateful for Bombay and what it is for me. Possibly my feelings are different from someone who's always lived in Bombay. I only came here three years ago and have loved it.
So I detest MNS and what they do... coz they perpetrate fear. Everytime there is unrest, my family calls asking me to stay home. If at office, my marathi colleagues try teaching me some random statements in Marathi... so if I get accosted by some goons... I can make them believe I am a marathi and get away.
I am a north indian from Bombay and proudly so. And since I have lived there most of my life, I know that people who crap on the side of the roads do not enjoy it. They at times come from respectable families in their villages. There is no choice you see.
They come because they need to earn and feed their families. Some do take the path of crime yes... but they would have done it somewhere else if not in Bombay.
It is very easy to judge people, and look at the life they lead with contempt.
I'd like to ask Mr Thackerey how many of his followers have registered for the Teach India movement. I'd like to ask him what is his MNS doing for tribals living in Solapur and such areas. I'd like to ask him why is he so focussed on Bombay... and ignoring rest of Maharashtra. I'd like to know his motive. Actually I think I already do.
He published an interview recently saying he believed in Hitler's tactics. I'd like him to talk about the Biography of his great grandfather... which very clearly indicates that Thackereys themselves are immigrants who came to Mumbai for "EARNING A LIVING" a few generations ago... It has been republished recently by a professor from the Pune University.
So yes... I'd rather we did without this person, coz I dont believe that any one helps any one else ever. They only help themselves. And this is the most warped way of going about fulfilling his ambitions... by giving poor uneducated people a purpose in life... regionalism! By filling the voids of meaning in their lives with hatred... not education or better living. Not values or desire to give to the Motherland by contributing to it s growth. By being responsible citizens. But by so violently betraying the trust young impressionable minds have placed in him. This to me is so violent that I have thought several times about killing him. May be I will.
Six feet from the edge - Thanks!! Btw - This Creed's song is one of my favorites.
Banafish- Yup I had read about that somewhere. I guess it's true what they say about people digging a hole for others themselves falling into it. But that still doesn't make what raj is doing- ok. He may have been created a frankenstein's monster but he is still to blame n loathe for his actions and decisions.
And having lived in bombay for a long while, I have seen the shit corridor. Even spoken to people who make the early morning trip to 'there'. And as 'fictional reality' says, they don't do it out of choice or a sense of adventure. More importantly, a huge majority of that population in non-north-Indian; Tamilians and Marathis from other parts of maharashtra. And so while i believe somethign needs to be done about the state of affairs, esp the 'shit corridor', It's unfair to say North Indians are the cause of it.
And what would be so much better and productive is if they just put their efforts into improving the infrastructure. More toilets, better roads, cleaner water. But u see more toilets and cleaner roads don't have the same kind of mass voter bank appeal as this current issue.
I agree that India is a very amazing place, esp in the progress it has made and the country it has evolved into. But (call me cynical) I give majority of the credit for that not to the governance and politics. India is what it is because its people are what they are.
We as Indians love to look back and count what we did right and compare ourselves to countries worse off than us. But there is so much we could have done right and we all can guess how that would have turned out.
But as you say, this debate could continue on forever! and that's what makes it fun!
Virtual Reality: I have pretty much agreed with your point above. As a person who falls into the category of 'North Indian from Bombay' it does feel threatening to have someone tell you that this is not your home. Add to it the whole inconvenience of their 'goondagardi' and the incessant calling of family to say 'stay at home'. Bombay is the city that never sleeps, the city where everyone can mind their ow business and do what they want, and we do love it just that way.
Aarwen: Oh I love that song too. Infact before I changed to Nimbupaani, my blog was called 'Six feet from the edge' as an ode to that song but then I guess that was not as optimistic as I would have liked it to be. :-)
SFFTE: I liked the emotions you have been able to evoke in Bananafish & Fictional Reality.
Philosophically speaking, we are all leaves of the same branch (Advaita philosophy). How can we cut another leaf or a branch of the same tree that we are part of? The idea itself is ridiculous!!
But then, we have people at various stages of evolution :-) they will learn, in due course, about the concept of oneness...
P
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