A couple of years back, in the year 2008, Indian cricket was threatened by a huge controversy. The Sardar from Punjab, Harbhajan Singh, was accused of racially abusing Andrew Symmonds. The situation spiraled into a major issue when Symmonds claimed that the off spinner had called him a monkey, something which he considered a racial slur. After several meetings with the officials, the issue was settled when Sachin clarified that it was not monkey but 'maa ki', an abuse to one's mother.
Indians back home were flabbergasted with the situation for two reasons. They just could not comprehend how a word like monkey be considered derogatory and racist. Once, while passing some people on the roads of New Delhi, I could not help, but hear one of them saying, '' abe hum toh hamesha ek dusre ko bandar, kutta, aur kya kya nahi bulate hai, isme kya problem hai..aur Symmonds bhi ajeeb hai, jab Sachin ne bola ki woh ek gaali thi, toh gore ko koi problem hi nahi hui..'' There was another reason for the bewilderment of the Indian janta. How dare a gora call us a racist when we ourself have faced racism for several hundred years and continue to bear the flak even now? It seemed that the victim had become the culprit.
We Indians, sorry for the generalisation, feel outraged when a racist incident occurs against our 'brothers' in a far-off land. But we never realise that, in some sense we are even more racist (towards the same brothers) than the goras who ruled us for centuries.
Let me give you some examples. Ask a guy in Delhi, what is the first thing that comes to mind when he thinks of South India, and he will not even blink before saying 'garmi, madrasi, idli, sambar and dosa'. He will forget that he lives in the frying pan of our nation which burns at 45 degrees every summer, but he will not forget to connect South India with heat. Mind you, if the same question is asked to a Bangalorean about North India, it will elucidate an equally racist remark. One of my friends has been called a 'tribal who lives in the jungles of Andhra' because his place of birth is not heard by many people. Another has been laughed at, why quite simply because he hails from Bihar. I have to admit that all these remarks were always made in good humour and to the credit of my friends never taken in the wrong sense. I have handled a fair bit of 'racism' myself. It's quite expected considering I am a gujarati (having no idea of my family's 'native place'), who speaks marathi at home, lived in Bangalore, studied in Delhi and now working in Mumbai. I have been named Maddu (read as Madrasi), when I have actually been to Chennai only twice. On the other hand, I have also been called 'Dilli wala northie' and what not.
To be honest, I am guilty of laughing, poking fun at my friends, who come from different cultural and social backgrounds and propagating this racism. But, what is amazing is that we Indians do not bother so much about the racism within our own country; we will call one another names, make fun of each other's eating, dressing and speaking habits, but will turn red when some phirangi jeers at us. And at that point, you will hear a collective voice from all corners of the country saying 'teri *#@ ki'.
