Unity in Diversity, My Experience!

"Unity in Diversity" and so goes the speeches of many Indians who are connected with Nationalism and State authority. Every Indian, mostly the schooled and schooling, is very proud in uttering these words on every January 26 or August 15 or during any speeches that are connected with Independence and India. No doubt, India is a diverse country, a fact that can be supported by its sixth place in World Cultural Diversity Index. Yet, here arises a question – does the Indians themselves, in reality, are really proud of their “Unity in Diversity” and respect the diversity their land hosts?

Most of my classroom learning had been in Tamil Nadu and to be exact Perundurai, a taluk in Erode District. I ‘m one such proud lad, as said in the above paragraph but never had an opportunity to know what people outside Tamil Nadu think about Tamil people. Fortunately though, I had my post-graduate diploma course done in an institution that hosts people from different parts of the country, yet, unfortunately, dominated by one state. Some states went unrepresented also. Yet it is mosaic of culture.

For all the years till that, I taught to be a proud citizen of India and being Tamil gave an extra feather. But I was never taught in school or in college that I would get ridiculed outside Tamil Nadu for being a “Madarasi”, a slur word used to term people from South India. More importantly, it was also the time when Lankan civil war got over and all political speeches in Tamil Nadu were targeting Indian National Congress (INC) for its dirty hand in massacring ethnic Tamils and Dravida Munnetra Kalagam (DMK) for its betrayal and backstabbing. More so, Rasa, a Union minster from Tamil Nadu representing DMK was seen as the grand architect of 2G scam – another black mark for a Tamil.

Speaking in favour of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or for innocent Tamils was a taboo. You will get branded as “Terrorist”, if you did, more so by the ‘Gang’ who readily despises ‘Biharis’ for unemployment in their state, a half-witted one. It was the first time, I realised that things in books are just bookish and people in reality are bullish. Yet, every teacher used to prise Tamil Nadu for its progress in economy, women rights and more importantly for its tolerance. And, as expected, the Gang used to fume and write some blathers and had shown their artistic skills in depicting women in a way that will be termed as uncivilized and barbaric in a civilized world, works of a lunatics perhaps.

People from Tamil Nadu were not alone to face the harassment. The word “Bihari” or “Chinky” or “Punjabi” is used to ridicule. The hardship of a Bihari, the tolerance of a Chinky or the valour of a Punjabi was never respected. Though, wondered at first instance about the un-Indian behaviour, after reading the politics of the Gang state, I got to the core why people are like that. “Ko yevvali, Kudi avvali” (How the King is, so are his people) is a famous Tamil saying and I just got where the problem was. Perhaps that “Sher” was just a “Sher” only in jungle where it belongs. And the days passed on, with increasing hatred and animosity.

Till the dusk of my course, a Tamil was never understood. Perhaps it needed brain!

But many events after that bitter experience, and love of the people who belonged to that Gang state itself taught me that Diversity was never a thing to be ridiculed. I had seen many such headless chickens at my own backyard and having many factors to blame for their state of affairs. Literacy is what that is taught at institutions and qualities like civilization, sympathy and empathy are the ones that one should get acquire from the society, that includes such instititions also.

“A Chain is no stronger than its weakest link”. India is no stronger when the weakest qualities of intolerance, narrow-mindedness, partisan and sectarianism get acquired by their people. India should rise, with liberal, free-minded and civilized minds to unchain the bonds of past barbarism to make this land really a “Union of Diversity” that got accepted, respected, practiced and loved.