Deny it as much as you want but it exists. The divide between the North and the South. North Indians feel they are the best, South Indians feel they are the best and the fight goes on. Over the years being a North Indian I too had developed a few misconceptions about the South side of the country. Some are them turned out to be really true, some funny, some lame and others just plain dumb! I am writing a few of them below, they are really good for laughs:
2. South Indians are sincere and hardworking people.
3. South Indians are pure vegetarians and eat food cooked in coconut oil only.
4. South Indian girls always dress modestly.
5. South Indians are generally more studious.
6. They hate North Indians.
7. All south Indians have curly hair.
8. Crime rate in south is almost nil.
I know I am not alone amongst the North Indians in thinking so. There will be many others who feel just the same. In fact the south Indians would have a similar kind of a list for us North Indians as well!This post sprouted in my mind because of a recent development in the PG I lived in. We are a mix of cultures here, with people from J&K, Orissa, Bhopal, Lucknow, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Quite a mix isn’t it? The difference in states and culture was never an issue between us (though it still isn’t, to some extend). After a new girl came from Andhra we suddenly noticed a great change that took place in the PG. All of a sudden we were unknowingly divided into two groups. Yes you guessed it right ~ North & South!
I considered this fight between North and South like that of Girls Vs Boys, which is sweet, adorable and entertaining! Little did I know that what I thought to be superficial was something so deep and serious. I have a habit of generally googling about the topics I intend to write. So while surfing I came across this very awesome blog (http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2010/12/the-indian-north-south-divide/). The blog post was somewhat similar in lines to what I was planning to write. So far so good. But what caught my attention was the comments on this particular post. If you go through this post of the blog, you will see the hatred and revulsion reflected by people for each other. Reading this spoilt my mood big time. Even in this age people in India are not one. The caste, culture and creed still come inbetween the country’s progress.
Does it really exist or am I blowing things out of proportion?
You have to discuss in detail with two persons. One north indian living in south, other a south indian living in north. Then the difference would be crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteHey
ReplyDeleteInteresting post..but I guess sometimes v can help it..happens like the great Mumbai and Delhi divide..lol
good post as usual snehaji..hey btw..thanks yar for those consoling words..and sorry for late reply.just returned to sharjah..am really touched..will stay connected:)
ReplyDeleteGuess this is the human nature, engrained in the subconscious to discriminate, intentionally or otherwise... This one particular case is pretty obvious and apparent, but there are scores of small incidences in one's daily life- at workplace or outside- where one observe subtle regional divides harboring..
ReplyDeleteSuch is life !
I think a divide does exist. But only in the minds of people. The ones who feel they are superior keep on boasting and trying to insult the others. The ones who feel inferior keep on blaming the others for everything. Its the mindset that needs to change.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah there are a lot of silly misconceptions like the ones you mentioned!
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Very informative post, Sneha!
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're blowing anything out of proportion, and these divides exist not just from continent to continent but also even from a neighborhood to a neighborhood! It's as if we need to FEEL like we're better than someone or something else or another group of people, so we'll be lame and arrogant enough to promote ideas like, "My neighborhood is better than yours!" You're in the same damn village, man, quit it!
I know of a couple of South Indian girls, and my family went to their wedding, and I heard some really interesting things about how they conduct their wedding ceremonies. Their dressing style, eating preferences, and even ideas of entertainment are all very different from what I have seen with North Indians. I think it's perfectly okay to acknowledge these differences so long as we don't think that one is necessarily better or worse than the other because of them. But unfortunately, most of us do like to think these differences make us better and the other side worse than us!
And it's tragic that even online, they exist violently! That's just pitiful. I've seen that happen with Pashtuns all the time, but online, they're at a minimal, something that makes me hopeful for a better future.
Is that so? Because by birth I'm a south Indian, but have spend most or rather the whole of my life in the North. Fortunately, I have never come across any such divide. And if such a thing actually does exist, then I must say that its really sad that we as Indians are dividing ourselves into two parts.
ReplyDeletewww.jessysjohn.blogspot.in
the hatred exists because someone somewhere might have gone through the communal divide or i ll rather put it as regional divide... such a divide is prevalent everywhere.. as aptly put by qrratugai.. nd so the world can not be at peace... americans, australians etc would look down upon us as poor india.. blacks nd what not.. but its better to forget all of this... and let us assume(ha ha) that everything is fine and there is nothing of dat sort outside in the wrld we live in..then may be those who want to reflect that they are better than the rest, would sit silently on their bumps as they wouldnt get any reaction.. nd so this feeling wuld vanish.. hw is dat for a thought..
ReplyDeletethough it is hard to do .. but then if we understand all of this.. y cant we practice it in our lives.. nd m srie
ReplyDeletehey buddy thanks ya...know what..may be in mumbai in august...hope to catch up..god willing..tc..have fun..
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there is a divide ... we cannot fight it ... but can try and change ourself and make an effort to remove one prejudice at a time! :)
ReplyDelete∞ © tanvii.com ∞
There are all sorts of divide: north and south, delhi and mumbai and many more..The best way is to simply keep out of any such debates... to me such debates are fruitless and a waste of time
ReplyDeleteHey Sneha,
ReplyDeleteJust read this interesting post, read all the comments too!! had a smile on my face :) thanks for sharing :)
Please excuse me for such a long comment, but like everyone here even I wish to express my views and voice my opinion on this topic. I believe that its all in the minds of people, in reality people never differ by country, region, religion or race! There is good and bad in everything!!
India is a perfect example for unity in diversity. With a billion people, the Republic of India is the World's largest Democracy. Everyone of us are proud of our country, baring some foolish people. During emergency, like the Indo-China war or Kargil war, a statement differentiating North and South parts of India would sound meaningless, cause when soldiers from all over the country are dying in the battlefield - then people realize that we are all one, every Indian would say, "Mera Bharath Mahaan" - its the inner instinct in each of us born on this soil.
Within India, there are quite a lot of people who enjoy creating differences in the society. Infact as a South Indian, I have many North Indian friends, some of them are best pals since school days and I never even thought about differentiating, I first noticed this topic years ago through some news channel. I travelled to North India and got a warm welcome wherever I went, we are all Indians and the country is a big mixture of diverse cultures, traditions!!
Ok, if I belong to South India, still there is no common language down here, there are different languages in each state, just like North has a combination of languages. The only difference being 'Hindi' which is widely spoken all over North and there is a belief that South Indians can't speak fluent Hindi, but its not true - me and many of my friends are an example - we can easily communicate in Hindi and we love it same as our mother tongue, nothing different.
Now, let us look at the bigger picture, I mean when you step out of the country, how its like:
When I walk in a street here in England, some people see me as a fellow human, some see me as dark skinned, some see me as an Asian, some see me as an Indian, some see me as a South Indian, some see me as a Telugu guy, some see me as a Hindu, some see me as a guy from Telangana region, some see me as a guy from a posh locality, etc, etc
So, in the end, what am I? am I not just a simple fellow human? then why discriminate me? If I commit a deed - good/bad - what category would I be put into?
I'd be a human first then a dark skinned, then an Asian, then an Indian, then a South Indian, etc.
So, the more we think of divisions, the further apart we move. If a white skinned person abuse me, doesn't mean that all the English people are racist, its just that you were unlucky to have fallen prey to the bad ones among them. Similarly if a person from North misbehaves with the South or if a person from South insults one from North - doesn't mean that everyone is like that, its just the we came across lesser mortals who are narrow minded.
To conclude I'd say we are all the same, we are just different cause we come from different parts/regions.
Imagine a world - with same skin coloured people, with only one single language, with no countries - just one huge piece of land(rest is water), one religion, one culture, same festival all over - wonder how would that be?? - when you switch on the TV or read a newspaper - you would not find anything interesting, its the same, so nothing to talk about, boring ins't it?
At the end of the day variety is what that counts, like the saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life".
I sign off saying that there is nothing like North India or South India, even when you open the Atlas, you'd find "Map of India" - so we are all one, united and proud to be Indians.
Jai Hind!!
Cheers,
Sai :)