A friend of mine wanted to learn guitar. He comes from a fairly 'respectable' and 'well-educated' family. There were two options before him. He could learn it from a very talented maverick residing in a shady red light district for 5 grands or from a popular teacher in an affluent neighborhood for 10 grands. He chose, as most of us probably would have, the second option. No one overtly influenced him. But did he take the decision himself? Or was it, in some way, taken for him? Does a certain collective entity - faceless, nameless & memetic - often serve as the proxy for individualism?
Some weeks back I was chatting with an aquaintance in Bombay. I told him that I was living near Crawford Market. Pat came the response - "Oh! The inner Fort area..isn't it? That's a veritable mini Pakistan...lol."
There is another friend who stays near Bombay Central. The other night we were having dinner together and it was getting a little late. She told me she had to return fast..."I have to pass through a predominantly Muslim area before reaching my place. You know...it's so unsafe.."
Racial discrimination, Religious segregation, Urban ghettos....seem to be chapters from the history book. Do they have a place in the 21st century? Apparently not. Are they only the fanatics - a miniscule minority- who fan such chauvanistic emotions? That's one of the biggest myths of our times. Beneath the swanky buildings and fancy cars of the modern cities, camouflaged by the guard of cosmopolitanism, there is an unsavoury underbelly. Urban ghettos all over the world testify to the fact that even the educated elite house archaic stereotypes in their minds about other religions, castes or races. It has just become unfashionable to openly speak about them. But as they say...fashion has an odd way of turning itself around...
Some weeks back I was chatting with an aquaintance in Bombay. I told him that I was living near Crawford Market. Pat came the response - "Oh! The inner Fort area..isn't it? That's a veritable mini Pakistan...lol."
There is another friend who stays near Bombay Central. The other night we were having dinner together and it was getting a little late. She told me she had to return fast..."I have to pass through a predominantly Muslim area before reaching my place. You know...it's so unsafe.."
Racial discrimination, Religious segregation, Urban ghettos....seem to be chapters from the history book. Do they have a place in the 21st century? Apparently not. Are they only the fanatics - a miniscule minority- who fan such chauvanistic emotions? That's one of the biggest myths of our times. Beneath the swanky buildings and fancy cars of the modern cities, camouflaged by the guard of cosmopolitanism, there is an unsavoury underbelly. Urban ghettos all over the world testify to the fact that even the educated elite house archaic stereotypes in their minds about other religions, castes or races. It has just become unfashionable to openly speak about them. But as they say...fashion has an odd way of turning itself around...
4 comments:
good one dude!!
a marvellous piece i must say!!
heyyy can u do something abt it?to start with try eloping with a muslim girl n then settle down in life rich n famous,have a million children,stay healthy n wise n then your testimony for the cast discrimination rampage shall be proven...
ciao noconvolutions[means no brains]
well..you don't seem to understand. it was an observation, a comment on the state of things and not really a criticism. appreciation of reality is the first step to amendment. as far eloping with a muslim girl is concerned i'm not ruling that out. :) the rest of your argument bounced off me.
you have gotta nice writing style.. :)
btw yeah there are ghettos..but i think their being dangerous is greatly hyped. i have always felt quite safe there...
and always these places have their food joints authentic all the way
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