I just can't sleep. There are so many things thats coming to my mind, so here I am, at 4AM typing them out for you. I have made streams of thoughts revolving around one core area but before that I have put down the conclusion questions for those who dont want to read the streams (I urge you to read it though, atleast that part that is you with respect to me)
I would like to ask:
1) Are we so scared or irresponsible that we don't want to protect and stand up for the very land that we live, earn, eat and drink from?
2) Are we really "The Indian Crab", who dont want all to progress together but are more keen on bringing down other's progress or being so selfish that only we want to progress? If yes, do we want to continue to be them despite knowing it?
3)Are rational thinking and human nature to adapt and accept, washed out from us, that the land we live in is not our's, but the land we left behind is always the one we protect?
4) Are we not able to see "IT" as a means of getting this Nation to be one strong county but we use it to make it more divided and make the divide stand out more starkly!
A reply to a different argument:
Situation is the Cauvery water dispute. A friend of mine, a tamil settled in Karnataka, asked, what if all the tamilians in Bangalore boycott offices - His complaint was about not getting tamil TV channels - and prove to the Government of their influence and presence.
My reply:
Boycott offices but go say "We too live in Karnataka, this is our home now, we use the water from here, this land's growth matters to us, justice to this place is our right, be just and come to a fair decision - to our land - the land that is sharing it's waters freely over so many decades. Give it something back for giving you the lifeline of precious water instead of just being more greedy". It's time for you all who live in this place, to call this place your home and stand up to protect it. Else, there might come a time when the water and money is all gone and just like the gardens are gone from the garden city, the people might too from the city...
The water from Karnataka gave Tamilnadu the lifeline, just like a mother's blood gave life to the child in the womb, like a friend's help revived a weak one. It's time the child and friend to grows up and becomes self sufficient, time to protect the Mother instead of just gnashing at the womb for more blood. Time to become a responsible child than to just become a arrogant mindless brat. (In my own personification.) Time to stop asking for more free help and instead get to be self reliant and repay with gratification.
The thought streams are here:
Stream1 - My Family:
At a function, 4 generations of the family - grandparents, parents, us and the next generation. There is a constant stream of talk, switching between kannada and Telgu effortlessly. In the 200 or so people about 3 grandparents and one entire sub-family (father, mother, children - a new addition to our family by marriage) can't speak Kannada. Most of us are good enough in Kannada to completely express ourselves - from screaming to sweet talking. Some have gone further and have studied this language with Masters and PhDs. Ofcorse, Telgu is not forgotten but happily intersperced in the conversation. It's an easy switchover, infact so easy, that till now we have not seen them as seperate languages, or that I am supposed to be partial to Telgu or Kannada. For us, both are mother tongues. Afterall, we live here and we use all this land's resources and that empowers us to say, THIS IS MY CULTURE TOO!
Stream2 - My Office:
At work we are a mixed crowd. There are Mallus, Tamils, Telgus, Northies and a couple of us Kannadigas. The outsiders plan to stay here for upwards of a decade atleast if not more. Strangely, only 1 person in that set is making a concious effort to inculcate this culture and calls bangalore her Home. It feels as if everyone else has an aversion to Karnataka and it's culture. It's looked upon almost as a criminal offence to absorb this culture. There are almost 70% outsiders in my team, they come here to bangalore, use all the infrastructure available and never once want to call it their place. Never once care to make a difference. They prefer to remain outsiders living inside. How can one expect to be accepted and united if such is the mindset? Whatever happened to the responsibility to the land that gives one the food he eats, the water that he drinks and the space to live in? Is this mind block fair? Human? Why blame someone when there is bias in one's own self?
Stream3 - My Friends:
I have friends who are kannadigas as well as those who have moved here for work. Those who have moved in have built houses here, have families here. Most also know the local language and culture. There are also those who are otherwise too. Those who isolate themselves behind the shut doors of their homes and tele-port back to "their" land from within their tele-visions. Those to whom it hardly matters what happens to the land they live in. They come out only to brashly point fingers at everyone else when something happes to their comforts but never to live with the locals. It pains that most of them are people who don't want to know about the local culture, who's families are not known to each other and they have not grown to become a tight bond but have remained - just friends. Gone are days of "aunty's coffee and snacks", "the parents' talks and gossips", "the sit at home, with the family and talk", I dont know their family and they dont know me; ofcorse the families don't knowing each other at all. Sometimes it's 'cause of language barrier, but more often it's a person's own barrier. Thanks to those few with whom I have bonded and not just remained friends.
Grand meshtru(on the lines of grand parents)
My meshtru(teacher)