Madrasi Bhaiyya

Though born in south India, I grew up in UP and MP thinking and speaking in Hindi. The reason I say “thinking in Hindi” is because I spoke the slang and cursed like my friends. I was so fluent in Hindi that my friends used to think I am a UP “Bhaiyya”. UP became an integral part of my life. I lived and breathed Lakhnavi culture. The only thing that was odd (if I may use the word) was that after knowing my name sometimes I was referred to as “Madrasi” though I was born in a different part of the south. Other than that, I was treated like anyone else. I did not face any xenophobia during my entire stay of two decades. Of course that does not imply that everyone else goes unscathed as well. Many of my friends have had bad experiences in other metropolitan cities. But my good experience combined with the bad experiences of other tells us that while evil of xenophobia does exist, it is not impossible for us to overcome. If our neighborhood, our society, our city, state and country have to grow and prosper, then defeating xenophobia is not a choice but a stark necessity. We need to unite as Indians rather than stand divided based on caste, language or region.
But my heart aches to see politicians across party lines demanding a caste base census even after 60 years of Independence. Actually over the years we have further divided ourselves beyond the traditional caste system and strengthen the discrimination even more by bringing in the language and region into the mix. When we meet a new person we invariably want to know if that person is a Brahmin, Thakur, Yaday, Baniya or Dalit. Then if that person turns out to be from outside the state we go through the next level of screening that is to find out if one is a UP/ Bihari Bhiyya, a Madarasi, a Bengali, a Punjabi, a Gujju, a Mallu or a Marathi Manus. We are everything but a Bharatie Manus or Indian Manus. It’s a tragedy that many Indians don’t feel nationalistic enough except when there is an international cricket match, worthless English symbol of nationalism.
In our schools we learn English instead of Sanskrit, Shakespeare instead of Kalidas, and world history instead of Indian History. We are not taught about the greatness of our culture or about our great poets, saints and the Mahabharata the epics scripture that would produce generations after generations of true blue Indians. It is a shame even after 60 years of independence we have Mayawati as the Chief Minister in UP who’s mentor Kanshi Ram had this as the slogan for his party; Tilak, taraju aur talwar, unko maro jute char (Brahmins, traders and the warrior caste should be kicked).
Let’s become truly independent from this bondage of racial bigotry. Let’s drop all our petty differences of caste, creed, region and language to unite and save our Ram Janmabhumi, our Kashi and our Ram-Setu.
Here is another great old article from the IIM; Bangalore Prof. Vaidyanathan; where he says, “British-inspired propaganda that education was not available to the so-called backward castes prior to their efforts is not valid. The “secular” education was always a major tool in social transformation prior to British rule”.
Caste discrimination a British invention, bigger than steam engine
The colonizers were part of the Abrahamic tradition, which believes in homogenization, and the heterogeneous and non-conflicting Indian society would not have suited their design. That might have led them to construct a class-based discriminating society out of the multiple sampradayas and castes co-existing peacefully. After all, history is constructed to suit the colonisers and victors.
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/column_caste-discrimination-a-british-invention-bigger-than-steam-engine_1152940

Indian cabinet approves caste-based census for 2011

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11241916