Scene today at an Indian-Pakistani store (run by a Paki) where I went to get my lunch from:
Me (looking at the stack of Tamil and Telugu DVDs behind the counter): Aapke paas koi Kannada DVD hain kya?
Her (with a quizzed expression): Kannada? Yeh Kya Hain?!
Me (a little flabbergasted, but quickly realize she’s a Paki, hence she probably wouldn’t know): Kannada – ek aur South Indian language hain – jaise Tamil, Telugu hain vaise. Aapke paas Tamil Telugu DVD hain tho maine socha aapke paas Kannada bhi ho saktha hain.
Her: Nahi, hum sirf Tamil-Telugu DVD rakthe hain. Ye Kenadda bolthe kaha hain?
Me: Bangalore pata hain aapko? (her nodding in recognition) – Woha Kannada hi bolthe hain – Bangalore karnataka mein aata hain, aur waha Kannada bola jaatha hain.
Her (looking surprised): Hain ji? Main tho samjhi ke Bangalore to TamilNaad mein aata hain? Waha tho sab Tamil bolthe hain naa?!
Me: Yeh aapko kissne bataya?!
Her: Henji, hamare ek do baar jo TamilTelugu log aate hain naa DVD lene woh keh rahe the. Mujhe tho lagaa Bangalore tho Tamilnaad mein hi hain!
Sigh. Identity issues again. It feels sad when cultural identity of a place is hijacked by some misnomers and propagated as false propaganda. Why is it so difficult for people to accept the cultural identity of a place? Amusingly, in contrast I haven’t met any Gujaratis (from Mumbai or elsewhere) who have claimed Mumbai belongs to Gujarat. And this is not the first time I’ve heard of such a incident involving identity issues of Bangalore either.
Not that I am big fan of Bangalore as a city anyways, but heck, let it be what it is.
Some people really need to grow up!
In other stories, Shilpa Shetty who finds herself in another controversy surrounding her Richard Gere kiss made a statement that she wouldn’t apologize.
Meanwhile, Shilpa held an impromptu press conference and exclaimed that she was ‘shocked’ by the protests. “India has the second highest number of HIV patients in the world. Yet, we are talking about the kissing incident rather than the HIV cause. We should not waste national time on such trivial issues.”
But here’s a funny part:
The actress refused to apologise for the incident. “Apology! For what? Did he kiss on my lips?
It seems Shilpa is suffering a cultural crisis of her own. While kissing on her cheek did not seem to go against the rules, her questioning that “Did he kiss on my lips?” seem to suggest that if indeed had Gere kissed Shilpa on her lips, she too might have considered it offensive, undignified and against the culture. I wonder why.
Though good point Shilpa – some people in Mumbai, especially these Shiv Sainiks need to grow up as well. Idiots – that’s all they are.
There – 2 rants, 1 post. Enjoy the rest of your day 😀