What Kerala floods taught me about #BeingIndian

Indians talk of unity in diversity with aplomb, but in actuality clannish biases are held on to

By Sushmita Bose

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Published: Sun 19 Aug 2018, 7:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 19 Aug 2018, 9:26 PM

It's a strange thing to say, but I learnt about national integration in Dubai - not in India. And while I've been in its pursuit, the Kerala floods turned out to be a watershed - no pun intended. Let me tell you why . and how.
It's in Dubai that I learnt to say, "I'm from India". First and foremost. Back in India, when I lived in New Delhi and said, "I'm from Calcutta", I'd be greeted with rolling eyes and "Oh dear, you're from the failed state where no one ever works!"
When Indians are termed "racist", it's an observation that's spot on. But not because of biases we harbour towards skin colour: racism, by definition, is contempt for a particular race - not darker skinned people who belong to the same race or who belong in your own family.
We are racist because we talk about unity in diversity with aplomb, but when it comes to walking the talk, we refuse to let go of our clannish biases. Indians, by and large, cannot come to terms with the fact that a conglomeration of diverse cultures can be homogeneous. You're Punjabi first. Or Bengali first. Or Gujarati first.
 We cling on to preconceived notions and ideological baggage - even while we speak in English and imagine we're global citizens.
Being Indian is a dubious honour best left for the national cricket team.
Having said that, the south of the country - along with the northeast - when viewed through the prism of urban isolation elsewhere in India, has been a casualty. Growing up in Calcutta, the four southern states of India (there was obviously no Telengana then) were conveniently clubbed under the folder name of 'South India'. Consequently, I never bothered to go beyond the generic of semantics.
 Couldn't be bothered to find out the difference between a Tamilian and a Kannadiga. Dosa was what 'South Indians' ate; filter coffee was what they drank. As a kid, I'd assumed all 'South Indians' were vegetarian: they only ate dosas, sambhar and idlis, how could they not be? When I moved to Delhi, almost 20 years ago, my national disintegration was cemented - although it was here that I was introduced to Chettinad cuisine and had inanely asked: "South Indians eat non-vegetarian food?" I never felt ashamed to declare, "Goa is the southernmost part of India I've ever visited."
To which, many would tell me how Kerala is a tourist paradise and the food is great - but never that, since it's part of my own country, it's ridiculous I've never been there.
In Dubai, I met, for the first time, people from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and realised they are not blanket 'South Indians'. They are individuals with identity. Yes, at times, they appeared clannish but the onus was on me to make an effort and go beyond the surface.
A few weeks before the Kerala floods happened, I watched my first Malayalam movie, prodded on by a friend who's from the state. I've come a long way, I thought, as I watched the wonderful Bangalore Days and felt such a sense of connect with it; there was a time I didn't know the difference between Malayalis (the people) and Malayalam (the language) because in Delhi everyone just said Mallus.
It was the same connect that led me to feel at one with Kerala when the floodgates opened last week. I was following rescue operations, investigating fund-raising avenues, talking to people whose lives had been affected.. Kerala was no longer a distant notion planted somewhere in the south of India - it was part of my own ethos.
When my Indian friends on social media were squabbling over which state was giving more money, and drawing judgements on the basis of that, I jumped in and started saying it's time for positivity, not pettiness. It bothered me deeply when certain Facebook friends pointed out, perhaps correctly, how the north India-centric central government is dismissive of the south. I was angry at how the 'Delhi media' - the country's power centre - was watering down coverage.
I was furious at how armchair analysts, who never let go of an opportunity to shriek about "issues", were politicising the situation and milking it for engagement. I unfriended a former colleague in Bengal who said "we" have our own set of troubles, and "our own" floods - what is with this Kerala obsession?
As the water recedes, another mammoth challenge faces the state: the process of rebuilding - infrastructure, homes and hopes. If unity in diversity has to be a touchstone for the Great Indian Dream, let it sink in now.
sushmita@khaleejtimes.com
 
 
 
 


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