It is not unusual to come across posts from non-Maharashtrians, in the present heated debate, about how things should be different, about what the constitution says about rights of individuals, about how we are Indians first and lot of other high and mighty ideas. People somehow tend to believe that in the context of a nation-state, ideologies are more important people, that people exist for the sake of the nation and not vice versa. One such person is this blogger.
Here is my response to his blog for the benefit of many who seem to have similar outlooks as this guy. His original blog was in response to an interview that Shobha De gave to CNN–IBN.
“I would like to remind you, that to be great, to lead, …”
When did Shobha De say anything about becoming great? She said when you are in Maharashtra, you should learn Marathi (just like when you were in Karnataka, you should have learnt Kannada, then you wouldn’t run into a situation where you call the cop an imbecile for not writing in English/Hindi and he won’t call you an imbecile for not knowing Kannada).
“How would you feel if Mumbai starts behaving like this?”
What do you think ordinary Maharashtrians feel when you come to Mumbai/Maharashtra with a sense of righteous entitlement expecting the residents to bend over backward to accomodate you?
“Would you be able to boast about a future Ambani or a future Ratan Tata? “
Do you think ordinary Maharashtrians give two hoots about the Ambani’s and Tata’s? They are busy making their ends meet so they can survive in a city that is rapidly pricing them out of their livelihoods.
“What Raj has raised in here, is an inherent feeling that is present in all Indians, don’t you think it’s wrong and unconstitutional?”
Wrong and unconstitutional? What comes first in a nation, people or constitution? When the constitution is not working, it is in dire need of amendments.
“don’t you think that you should rise above parochial confinement and tell where Raj is wrong?”
We should rise over parochial confinement? What have you done to rise over parochial confinement in your home state besides escaping it to come to Maharashtra?
“When families come from other states and never want to live, it’s not a problem Ms. De, it’s a privilege.”
It maybe a privilege for them, but it’s a problem for the locals. Have you traveled in the local trains lately? Would you like your children to travel in the same inhuman conditions or possibly worse with uncontrolled migration?
