Don't Call me Madrasi!

I really hate people calling us Madrasi. Well for those who still haven’t visited north, let me give you a brief idea of what I’m talking about. In north india they call all people coming from south as “madrasi”. No matter if you are from andhra or karnataka or kerala or tamilnadu, only way they know to classify us is “madrasi”.

In most cases, the word is being used as an insult. Most of them do have a cheaky look and cunning smile when they term it. They feel superior and often try to downtroden us. It’s another fact that most people who are in higher grades in any type of business/politics here are madarasi’s. oh! sorry, I mean south indians. (I shouldn’t follow the same foot steps, might be a hangover of staying here for a long time). May be they feel we have cut down their opportunities or sharing their place/rights. I wonder, how those north indian people who come down to south for business/living are treated. I’m sure they are well treated and given equal status.

Another disgusting factor is the way they think we talk their language (hindi). Thanks to mehaboob, a famous bollywood comedian, who has enacted a role of a madrasi in one of his earlier movie. He has set a bench mark of how south indians talk hindi. Till today, whether it is in public life or in films or t.v serials, a south indian character is always shown in a degrading manner. He would be shown as stupid or idiot mostly. And in some recent films I see him as a villain. Wow, good improvement. And pity, they still follow mehaboob style of talking. I accept my hindi ascent is not as good as others here, but it doesn’t mean that we all talk in similar pattern as been potrayed by mehaboob in a movie being released possibly when I was a child. Come on, grow up guys!

I also admit that very often I’ve been insulted and I become an object of laughter for people when I accidentaly talk hindi in tamil ascent. If they couldn’t appreciate our ability to cope up with them, atleast don’t make a mockery of us. While we don’t make fun of their language, our complex (who said!) language is a topic of laughter for them! It might also be the factor of myself being pushed as a “loner” sometimes.

I am not saying all north indian guys are one and the same. There might be few good exceptions. But this is my opinion, feeling & experience in this city in the past 8 years.

Well it would lot better if we can see each other as indians rather than giving a different look and meaning to the way we look or talk…

Today's: To hate a person is a waste; half the people you hate don't care, and the other half don't know.

2 comments:

A said...

Hey thats so true.That stupid serial Malini Iyer really used to get on my nerves.
Wat bugs me is wen the north indians speak tamil with an accent it is considered cute. plzzzzzz... give me a break.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm yeah this is very rite....well I would like to say this that wen i was going through this article it was like, as if am reading one page out of my autobiography..... i think this is what all tamilians feel inspite of living here for so many years....(I have been living here since my birth) but still wen these northys calls me madrisi (with that typical accent of theirs)......i feel really bad and hurt.It is not that am ashamed to be a tamilian but it is more of sarcasm wen they say this word "madrisi"..... i think one more thing is that they have a great concern for the way we eat and dress up....they talk as if we belong to some tribe who needs rehabilitation.....well as i said that i am living here for so many years so i think i shud also have the typical delhite character in my that "chalta hei yaar".....otherwise friend it is difficult to stay over here....