“New Construction” Sena and Sons and Nephews Thereof is a grassroots organization dedicated to “new constructions” in Maharashtra, preferably in Mumbai and Pune. We are “promoters” of regional pride which we also sell, preferably by square foot. Following is the aptitude test for those sons of the “soil” who wish to “develop” our cultural “property” by becoming members of our noble organization
Question 1: Spell your name in Marathi.
Question 2: The greatest Manoos is
a) Bal Thackeray b) Uddhav Thackeray c) Raj Thackeray d) William Makepeace Thackeray
[Hint: William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta]
Question 3: Which of the following is the most inimical to our culture:
a) Amar Singh b) Celebrating Valentine’s Day c) Amar Singh celebrating Valentine’s Day
Question 4: Which of these concepts do we absolutely oppose?
a)Chatting b) Chatterjee c) Chhat Maiyya d)Chhat Magni Pat Biya
Question 5: How is the great Marathi manoos Shivaji Rao Gaekwad better known as ?
a) Rajanikanth b) Vijaykanth c) Coelacanth d)Anghsuman Gaekwad
Question 6: What has been Amitabh Bachchan’s greatest transgression in 2007?
a) Promoting his home state Uttar Pradesh despite being a resident of Mumbai b) Not paying “tribute” to the new king of Mumbai namely Raj T c) Signing on the dotted line for Ramgopal Verma ki Aag
Question 7: Name the greatest historical figure among these four:
a) Hitler b) Mussolini c) Franco d) Stalin (not the son of South Indian Karunanidhi)
Question 8: How does one express outrage in the rare event that one is “offended” by something? (circle all that may apply)
a)Attack TV stations b)Set fire to vehicles c) Damage public property d) Hurl stones at private homes e) Watch reruns of Dada Kondke’s Andheri Raat Main Diya Tere Haath Main
Question 9: When women get molested in the streets of Mumbai on New Year’s Eve, which of the following agencies are to blame:
a)The women themselves for going to a hotel for drinks [Link for reaction 1] b)Anybody but Maharashtrians since they, by definition, cannot behave in such a fashion [Link for reaction 2] c) Pakistan-backed foreign Jihadis d) The horny ghost from “Hawa”
Question 10: We all agree that Western dance and girls and boys rubbing against each other are against our culture. However sometimes when funds need to be raised, even we need to make some moral exceptions. If you are given the charge to organize an inter-collegiate “ball dance” competition which of these following slogans would you choose:
a)Manse Chalo Dilse Khelo (Synergy through Stumps and Steps) [Link for actual poster here] (courtesy Youthcurry) b)Manse Chalo Tanse Khelo (Synergy through Balls and Bats)
Question 11: A certain person alights from a train in a Mumbai train station. He tells you he is here to sit for an examination. He also says that Sasura Bara Paisawala is his favourite movie. What should you do?
a) Sing “Ladki Hiya Voltagewali Current Maare” together b) Follow him as he goes to examination center and once there tear up the answersheets of anyone who has ever hummed “Iskool Ke Tem Pe Aaja Gori Dem Pe” c) Shout “Biharis should remember that if they abuse us our hands will rise. If they try it again we will hit them again. We will hit them everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They can stay here but they should treat Marathi people with respect,” before beating the crapshit out of the person d) Burn posters of “Babuwa Khiladi Daduwa Anari” , the Bhojpuri dubbed version of Bachchan’s Namak Halal
Thank you for your time.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
Funny!!
Lol …
It would be fun to see Tendulkar attacking Rohit Sharma (northie) during the course of a match .Rohit Sharma took up a place of Maharashtrian player in the mumbai team and so he must be punished….Indian politics is full of f****** retards.
Will they even ask all the companies owned by non-marathis to move out of the state?
I once met a person complaining about migration of biharis in his city of Surat. I asked him what the heck is he doing in US and why is he planning to immigrate?… obviously no answer.
What is the difference between Islamic terrorists, khalistani , Thackrey?…none as all these parties think religion/region is bigger than the country.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Eita ek-khana darun diyechho.
May I also suggest incorporating the brilliant cinematic acumen of aadarniya Smita Thackeray (tai or bai, take your pick).
Jai Maharashtra!
Amazing research,
Although its difficult to get anything logical inside the head of New Construction n company. But, still I feel this article should be printed in their Mukh-patra ‘Samna’
Lolz
Ok, this is not very deeply connected to the post. But ‘Chat mangni pat biya’ reminded me of an anecdote. In Oriya the word ‘biya’ (as told by a friend) means well….the female bit. Now apply it in appropriate places, it can be a fun game.
Great post btw.
Very well written. Thank you.
What are the benefits that come with membership?
Sad but true. Regionalism seems to have taken over the minds of all Indians. Not just in Mumbai… I lived in Bangalore 3 years and though not so overt I have encountered the similar dislike and aversion for non-Kannadigas in Bangalore…. apparently “non-kannadigas” are taking over all the jobs in Bangalore not to mention spoiling the south Indian culture. Even autowalas in Bangalore will not stop short of screaming at you because you are a north Indian without giving a thought to the fact that passensgers paying exorbitant sum to hire a auto are the “non-Kannadiga” software enggr and their likes. Move to Chennai.. you will see the same. Goto Assam.. Meghalaya.. and any north eastern state it’s the same story with a little less publicity maybe. So much for unity in diversity… whoever decided to carve states in India based on regional lines didn’t know what he was doing.
WOW!… that was cool… very well written…
Add to options of Question 4:
Question 4: Which of these concepts do we absolutely oppose?
a)Chatting b) Chatterjee c) Chhat Maiyya d)Chhat Magni Pat Biya
e)Chhatrapati opposing
Well written sir. This regional bias is killing us every minute.
Even here in Kolkata we refer to various immigrant successful communities en mass in slang and look at them as devils, though they have perhaps equal contribution towards the making up of the social fabric.
I have seen this in Assam, in North Bihar, in Ahmedabad ,in Hyderabad and even in your comments section, I daresay.
Not one understands that alone they have no standing at all!!!!!!!
did anyone see amar singh arguing with NNS leader live on Aajtak , amar singh blamed NNS for violence and then said those who like michael jackson dance but oppose chhat puja and…. the NNS leader cleverly denied chhat puja comments and reminded amar singh about his scandal which was stopped to be aired on media and his divisive politics of yadav vs rajput vs xyz and blamed every second politician is criminal in his UP & Bihar… amarmani tripathi case…..and singh got stumped and said yes …yes I will answer you …and then disconnected the phone …it was fun… amar singh leaving the argument incomplete….
Q – What’s the biggest sex change operation in history?
A – Victoria terminus becoming Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus.
😀 😀
Jai Hind Jai Maharashtra
Parochialism is stupid and its political avatar is vicious. In particular in non-insular immigrant-enriched cities like Kolkata or Mumbai, it’s almost suicidal to be parochial. Benign forms are quirky and funny (as our earlier discussions on Bengali-hood of Kolkata sweets or usage of “pujo” and “poddo bibhushon” as examples of communalised Sanskrit might attest) but self-imposed tribalism is always an idea that lacks rational defense because it stems from acutely imagined (not always, but often) mental insecurities. In general people make references to culture (not personal but communal culture) as if these are “historical” but the cultural substratum is never statically defined; thus a Marathi of today is better off trying not to alienate a fellow-Bengali who is clearly more “culturally” similar (say, Bollywood, internet, ipod) than a “classical” Marathi prototype that she might otherwise proudly refer to. And with a leap of ‘faith’ in the science of genetics, the same idea can transcend ethnic boundaries that we deem so sacred (am yet to see a Bollywood flick based abroad where a foreigner character with non-zero part doesn’t have 1-D characterization, including The Namesake). So long.
Of course, a most funny and intelligent quiz it was.
Classic nuggets of GB humour.
On a serious note –
Raj had a serious chance of coming up bigtime in the state politics as it was speculated that many ‘northies’ and Muslims might vote for him as they were fed up with years of mistreatment by the Congress.
The less said about BJP and Shiv Sena the better!
Even, Narayan Rane was speculated to join Raj if his candidates won all, well, most of the seats.
IMO, Raj has lost it all due to his statements against Amitabh and the ‘Northie’ community on the whole.
The average Marathi manoos cares two hoots about the influx of out-of-towners in the city as most of the jobs done by the migrants are looked down upon by Marathis.
Seriously, I’m a Marathi manoos myself and an Architect but till date I haven’t seen any Marathi carpenter, mason, polishwala, POP contractor, ‘Chanawala’, ‘Raddiwala’, etc.
Hmmmmm, but someone’s gotta check how many of the ‘track-shitters’ are Marathis!
😀 😀 😀
Where’s Manoj Tiwari (Bihari jubak) when you need him? He could have wagged his finger at the NNS and said “Jao maaf kar diya. But never again”
Given that Chhath Puja is a Sun-worship ritual, there is every possibility that it is a continuously practiced Vedic ceremony. Not to forget that Bihar happens to be one of the earliest centres of Indic civilization. NNS, think about that the next time you rant about the inanity of Chhath.
Assum! Had been waiting for long for an entry doused in laughter.
One correction (don’t know if it’s meant to be that way)
Chhat Magni Pat Biya >>> Chat Mangni Pat Byah 🙂
Awesome questionnaire that.
Balasaheb demanded 50% reservation in all housing societies for the marathi manoos…..Raj thackeray tried to go one up by doing this….
So much publicity for such irrelevant stuff…I guess Rakhi Sawant trained him on how to garner media attention…..
That was good 🙂
Also pls don’t hurt my sentiments by making fun of the great masterpiece “Iskool Ke Tem Pe..”
GB Dada,
How do you manage to get all those links? 🙂
Hilarious article, btw. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the ‘leaked’ question paper for admission to the New Construction Sena.. 😛
Regards,
Ganga
The thakres are such a shame on the face of the nation… They have destroyed the Bombay of old… these morons should be kicked to death in the open road!
I hate Amar Singh. I hate him cause i think he represents exactly what is wrong with the Indian political system. Its a disgrace that someone whom almost every one agrees is corrupt, manipulates the system, uses his star power influence to get things done and shields dons and criminals of UP can tomorrow graduate from being a kingmaker to the king himself.
I study in an engineering college that has lots of marathi manoos, many of whom happen to be my friends. Their moderate, liberal minded and dont take issues too seriously. However speaking to many of them, i see that what Raj Thackeray says strikes a chord with a lot of them. In my opinion, i too feel Raj has a valid point. Mumbai is THE Indian city. For Bhaiyyas, Biharis and the likes to come here with amibitions of being rickshaw drivers, opening pan-beedi stalls and bringing their whole sub-culture to Mumbai is pathetic. I mean these guys are the same people who voted Laloo Yadav back into power in Bihar on so many occasions. They fucked up Bihar,and then because its fucked up, they leave and come to Mumbai.
Jai Maharashtra!
Nice one GB
Well, I don’t agree with “Bhaiyyas, Biharis and the likes to come here with amibitions of being rickshaw drivers, opening pan-beedi stalls and bringing their whole sub-culture to Mumbai is pathetic”. It’s their country too!
How can you expect Malaysia to keep Indian migrants in when we ourselves can’t stand someone from another state! We are Indians before we are Marathi, Telengana, Andhra, Bihari, Hindu, Islam, Christian, Scheduled caste, Scheduled tribe, Kayasth, or whatever the case be.
I am a non Marathi working in Mumbai, and frequent a lot of other cities. So would be the case with most of us. This new development is apalling to say the least!
Question: Would you still watch cricket if India says that all matches played in India should be won only by India? That, little boys and girls, should be your answer to these lot when they propogate ‘communal’ politics.
Jokes apart –
I’m a northie who landed up in Bombay with 5k and nothing else, not so long ago. I got a job and a pg. That grew into a career, a flat, and a relationship. My bosses, co-workers, and friends have been non-Maharashtrians and Maharashtrians alike. I’ve never had reason to complain, I haven’t been discriminated against, and frankly, I’ve had an awesome time here.
But… this city is drowning in people. Local populace from the hinterland and beyond, it’s bursting at the seams with too many dreams, and not enough place for them all.
I’m an immigrant.
But I WILL oppose immigration when I hang out of trains. Pay exorbiant rents. Stand in serpentine queues. Sit in traffic jams.
It doesn’t matter who comes here. It matters a lot that he comes at all.
Its not only happening in Mumbai that people from other states are drifting there to find a job. This is happening with Delhi and every other developing city in India. And what choices do such people have?
And why can’t Mr Thackeray say “Jai Hind” in place of “Jai Maharashtra”? Why is his mind so wrapped that he can’t understand that he is hurting his own fellow Indians?
A point on the post : The most hilarious one I have read in a long time. 🙂
“I mean these guys are the same people who voted Laloo Yadav back into power in Bihar on so many occasions.”
If some foreigner has written this I can understand, but some bloody so called “Indian”!!! Is it too hard to get into your pea sized brain that NOT everyone votes for Laloo or Deve Gowda or Jyoti Basu or Arjun Singh or Mulayam Singh or what not !!! Wow this is like saying “You Americans choose GW Bush, so you need to be suicide bombed”.
And WTF is “local” culture anyway, is Christmas part of the local mumbai culture? Id? Navroz? Dandiya? Is Thakrey going to publish a list of festivals that can be celebrated in Mumbai? “People should respect local culture” What is this supposed to mean, do those poor hawkers and taxi wallahs stop the marathi manoos from crowding mumbai streets during the Ganpathi festival or do they stop them from talking in marathi and their kids to marathi medium schools. More than half of the taxi drivers in New York are from the subcontinent, I wonder what will be the “reaction” of “Indians” if some redneck gangs start picking them up and beating them in full view of the camera? We never know, some enlightened being like this fellow might come along see some sense in that too?
Btw, what do people expect from a party which openly supported the molestors, I am just waiting for Mr. Raj Thakrey to come out in support of the two marathi manoos who raped and murdered a BPO employee in Pune recently.
“i see that what Raj Thackeray says strikes a chord with a lot of them.”
If this molesters supporting, poor hawker and taxi wallah beating, racist scum of earth strikes a chord with someone then well they must be rally proud of his acts and ergo their “marathi culture”.
And oh the people who are like “Though I am not marathi but I understand what Raj Thakrey is talking”, forget that even if they throw the UP/Bihari out of mumabi things are not going to change, there will be unemployed Marathi manooses around who will readily join MNS for the sense of power they get out of it and knowing them well they will pick on someone else.
And god forbid if they happen to molest your sister/wife/daughter you can forget the word justice in this jungle called Mumbai.
Too funny 🙂
Too sad an incident 😦
And too fuuny a post 🙂
It’s bizarre the way these people want to promote regionalism in a place like Bombay…. a city that I think stands for cosmopolitanism wayy more than Delhi, Calcutta or Madras.
Nice post, GB. Dahl-level dark humour
Funny as usual..
The horny hawa ghost was too funny man…
man respect.. you knew ‘iskool ke taem pe aaja gori daem pe’
Naice.. i like…
@spark
“i see that what Raj Thackeray says strikes a chord with a lot of them.” – yes its sad but true.
After spending a lot of years in Bombay what I can clearly see that its a calculated political move. After all Raj T is not a stupid to have uttered those words.
Its simple – Congress is loosing ground everyday and there is nearly a certainty that people would choose others in next election. Now, the non-marathi ‘right-minded’ Hindus are too much in love with Modi than Bal T or Uddhav (proved once again by last month’s rally). But Marathi couterparts are taken for granted by the original Sena (specially Udhhav). So there is disillusionment among some of them that their voice is lost.
Raj is directley striking at them. If 10% of the people go with him, he still can get a sizable percentage of votes accumulating may be 20-25 seats (comparing he’s zero right now). That is not at all bad even after loosing all the north-indians votes. So after few more elections, when he grows he can always make another statement to accomodate them (like Uddhav is doing now and nobody is complaining).
In the ideal scenario Raj will make original Sena irrevalent and make himself CM candidate with the help of BJP unless of course in the meantime Modi grows so big that all Marathi manoos are enamored by him and Thakereys become history.
before going bang bang we should really find out if there has been a study about the immigration population in state of Maharashtra and city of Mumbai specifically.
unchecked immigration can have serious impact in long run. The larger question is not North/South or in this case North and West, the larger issue is can Mumbai now sustain it?
Lot of people who are connected to Mumbai know the answer in their hearts. The answer is NO. It cannot. It’s crumbling under its own weight.
And i think not only migration from North but migration in general [which includes people from Maharashtra itself coming to Mumbai] should be discouraged.
Luckily Maharashtra does not have only Mumbai as the city of opportunity. There’s great immigrant population in Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad. Also the Gujarati and Marwari community is the dominant community in such small but cash rich cities of Kolhapur,Sangli etc. Even Solapur has a huge Kanadiga population.
Maharashtra and Gujarat are the machines of development and are magnet for inflow of migrants. But we need more distribution of development. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai have become power houses in their own right. They too are attracting crowd from elsewhere.
But we really need more Noidas, more Gurgaons, more Delhi type development in North to reverse this trend. I am suggesting “even distribution”
About Raj Thackray’s statement on Amitabh Bachchan (and not North Indians) i think he has a point. The city of Mumbai and Maharashtra state has given that dude everything a man can ask for. Yet this guy promotes UP in elections and becomes UP’s ambassador. I think RT is right in questioning that.
“a city that I think stands for cosmopolitanism wayy more than Delhi, Calcutta or Madras”
Can we get rid of this nonsense once and for all?
Repeat after me – Calcutta, yes Calcutta, till date has been the most cosmopolitan of all Indian cities. In terms of the sheer diversity of communities that have called the city home.
Go look up some statistics – Bengalis are a minority in Calcutta. Marathis are a substantial majority in Bombay. In Delhi of course, the native population is a tiny minority and everyone is an immigrant.
How do you think Shiv Sena consistently managed to win elections in Bombay despite a decided anti-immigrant slant (it started off opposing South Indian immigrants in the 1960s).
The is part of the problem – this constant harping on cosmopolitanism while ignoring the simmering resentment of the vast majority of the population who are being priced out of their own city. I too can understand the anger, I just don’t understand the response.
Relax, folks MNNS, Raj Thackeray is only doing this because he was getting no attention. Maharashtrians dont see enough in him to want to vote for him. Even if they do, it is almost like throwing your vote away. So the little kiddie wants some attention and goes shit stirring through the city.
And now that he’s made life miserable for the average guy, he’s not even going to get a seat in the next elections from Bombay.
And he’s splitting up all the votes the Sena was getting. How much ever I dislike the congress, I don’t want thugs* as my state rulers.
*Narayan Rane is now in the Congress, though. So that poses a couple of problems…
Religion and Region are bane to India. Lets leave both and move on…. come to USA… 😉
@ Thalassa —
“Bengalis are a minority in Calcutta. Marathis are a substantial majority in Bombay”…
Correction mate, as per the last census, Marathis are OFFICIALLY A MINORITY in Mumbai.
Peshwa – This is a very, very recent phenomenon. Till the 1990 census and all the NSS studies done after that in the 1990s, Marathis were a majority in Bombay.
There has been a massive influx of migrants from UP and Bihar in the last 10 years which has finally tilted the balance against the Marathi population. So yeah, Raj’s actually tapping into a very real phenomenon.
great post GB!
Ofcourse what RT has done is just to get public attention. This was the best way to get some political mileage and that’s what he has done since he has not anything other credible thing.
Ofcourse immigration needs to be curbed in Mumbai. Look at the pressure its putting on the infrastucture. One of the greatest cities is in danger of being converted into a gutter. But the correct way to do so would be to not allow any illegal construction, slums etc. So that non taxpayers are not able to enjoy the opportunities at the cost of taxpayers…but hold on did I just suggest something logical. Do the politicians know this word?
Just for the record Vilasrao did try to do this but adarniya Soniaji intervened and stopped him. Even Sheila Dikshit did but lost the subsequent civic elections to BJP. Hail Soniaji. Hail the people of India.
Isn’t it cutely predictable how Ashish above has sublimated Raj Thakeray’s regionalism into something far more universal — classism?
just awesome!!!
One of the posters above, Ashish, had a valid point. There is a problem in Mumbai with the number of people in it.
Raj T has politicised it with his anti-Northie stand, since of course it pays more when you have a concrete opponent instead of an abstract phenomenon. But underlying it, there’s a problem, that cannot be denied. Whoever lives in Mumbai, Northie or Marathi manoos, will understand that.
There needs to be some control by the govt. People gave examples of Indians migrating abroad. But if the influx was too much, their visas would be capped. Or to heartlessly compare people with cars, what will happen when a lot of Nanons come out on Indian roads?
The govt will have to do something about it finally, notwithstanding I have as much right to drive a nano on the road as anyone else.
@Thalassa,
You may be right on Calcutta being more cosmopolitan. My point was on the image of it. Chennai is anything but cosmopolitan – they have only to put up signs of “Non-Tamils and Dogs not allowed” on parks and stuff. Calcutta, well, it’s in a place with it’s own language, so the ASSUMPTION is it isn’t (note assumption). But Bombay has this whole history of business and entertainment elite being there. Hence the belief. It appears (from a distance) more cosmopolitan.
Bal, Raj, and all the rest of the Thackerays and their ilk elsewehere in the country make me sick. The whole point of their existence is to instigate a feeling of resentment and a feeling that “these —— done me wrong” Fill in the blanks with whatever community is the flavour of the day..starting off with South Indians in the earlier days, then progressing to Muslims and now North Indians. The finger remains pointing accusingly at someone else for all perceived wrongs and insults.
When will his foolish followers realise how stupid they are being? The entire idiotic idea seems to be, “If I am a miserable loser, it must be the north Indian Taxiwalla’s/South Indian/Muslim’s fault. I’ll go beat him up, and burn his taxi. That’s the solution to my problems. It will make me feel so much better, and my life will improve so much.”
The most sickening thing was reading that Raj Thackeray, who ought to be behind bars for inciting hatred and violence, was a guest at the wedding of the Police Commissioner’s daughter.
Yeah Mumbai can’t take anymore migrants, marathi or non-marathi. How do the slums come up in the first place? The builder-Babu-Neta nexus that is responsible for most jfpw
Cont…
of the shit in this city is led by the esteemed shiv sena only. Another thing I fail to understand how come a few million immigrants are responsible for all the problems Maharashtra is facing, Naxalites, Power shortage, Fucked up infrastructure in most of its cities, Vidarbha Farmer suicide, Khairlanji rapes. I was in Pune a couple of years ago and it had the worst roads and traffic I had ever seen in India, how is that caused by immigrants?
You know most of the people who begin their sentences like “I don’t support Raj Thakrey, but I understand what he is saying….” sound erringly similar to people who say “I don’t support Al-Queda, but I understand why they are doing it…..”. Its funny that lunatics and their supporters on both end of the fringe sound so similar.
Even for a banana republic like India, a politician asking an actor what has he done for the people has to be a new low. Is Big B paying 1/3 of his income in taxes just because lunatics like Raj Thakrey can ask him what has he done for the state? Is opening schools a government’s job or an actor’s job? I doubt Raj Thakrey and his whole bunch of supporters(both real and virtual) put together can’t match the taxes AB pays to both the central and state government.
@Ashish and Rohit:
I am sure that you do hear it often enough, but there is no harm in saying it again I guess. Both of you are pricks.
Raj Thackeray’s whole tirade has been a little confusing. This was the same guy who broke from the Sena when the “mee mumbaikar” campaign was in full flow. He seems to be picking on the average Bihari immigrant and sadly, he is finding supporters among the middle class for this. This is because right now in Mumbai, there is a wave of discontent with respect to the influx of North Indians. “Bihari” has become the new cuss word in Mumbai. Strangely, it is the middle class which is pissed off whereas the new migrants are competing in jobs of the lower class. Ironically the average Mumbaikar who hates the immigrant Northie typically starts his morning drinking warm milk bought to him by a bhaiyya doodhwala, reaches office by rickshaw driven by a bhaiyya while listening to Manidh Tiwary sangeet, gets his clothes ironed by a UPite and sleeps soundly while a Bihari security guard burns the midnight oil protecting him and his family. Strage but true.
However seeing Abu Azmi (the man famous for asking for another partition) acting as the saviour of the Northie makes me think of a conspiracy theory. Maybe Raj T and A Azmi had a closed door meeting to discuss how to be back in the news and make people realise that they still exist.
I lived in Mumbai for almost two year, one of the best places in India to live and work. All this talk about ‘You folks come from outside and take our jobs’ was a common talk in office and one got to hear it from colleagues quite frequently. Despite that outsider Vs. insider feeling, the Marathis were pretty likable and easy going folks. Even in US, I am indebited to some marathi friends for their help in some of my troubled times. So I definately have nothing against Marathis in general.
If Raj Thackeray and his Marathi Manush supporters think that Outsiders are taking up all the jobs in Mumbai and Maharashtra then they should act fast and first make sure that no Marathi leaves the shores of Maharashtra to take up jobs elsewhere.
Lastly, till now I have never been disturbed by the anti-Bihari sentiments in any state of the country, but Raj Thackeray’s comments about ‘Chhath Puja’ have infuriated me to the core and I have been deeply hurt by it and I am sure so are many Biharis (Yes I am one) and UPites who celebrate Chhath Puja. I am not very religious, but Chhath Puja is part of our identity, our soul and it is probably the only thing that can bond almost every bihari together and it is probably occasion when Biharis can rise above the shadows of Castiesms.
I know this piece is supposed to be funny, but just couldn’t help myself. My apologies for bringing the emotional quotient into this discussion.
@Ashish: “I’m a northie who landed up in Bombay with 5k.”
Don’t you think everyone deserves the opportunity to make his or her life better?
@Annon: “About Raj Thackray’s statement on Amitabh Bachchan (and not North Indians) i think he has a point.”
That is something I have to disagree with. Does living outside your state/country mean that we stop caring about it? Case in point: This blog; most of its readers.
@Sanjay: We all are pretty pissed too.
Joy Maharashtra…
Shibaji Maharaj-er joy
(byatara bongodesh akromon korechhilo)
read about the gandhigiri here:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080206/jsp/nation/story_8868695.jsp
“Raj to apna yar hai, abhi to woh bimar hai”
@ everyone:
I hear about a lot of MNS suppoters being nabbed and all that. And except for an FIR lodged by Amar Singh, I do not get to hear any action being taken against Raj. Infact I read that inspite of the FIR in his name he is to attend the wedding reception of a Top Cop’s daughter in bangalore. Isnt there any legal case against him – I thought there would be some grounds on-
1) instigating violence with provocatyive and divisive public state,ents
2) making anti-constitutional jibes against the tenets that say every Indian citizen can pursue a livelihood in any part of the country and every citizen is free to observe their religious/cultural festivals and way of life anywhere in the country
If there is legal ground to act against him, then its disturbing that nothing so far has been done
If there is no legal gorund to act against him, its even more disturbing!
Coelacanth!!! LMAO!
This has to be one of your most humourous posts ever!
Even so, the situation in Bombay should be taken most seriously. It was sickening to see images of 1 or 2 Northies being punched, kicked & beaten with belts by gangs of MNS cadre on the streets, in their taxis & even on running local trains.
God knows when people will stop playing into the hands of shrewd politicians indulging in ‘bayaanbaazi’ from inside their dens.
I had a office at barabazaar. The whole building was full of bihar and UP people. Their profession is ‘trade union’. They have illegally occupied most of the space.Neighbourhood buildings are owned by UP ‘dons’. They have criminal past. Even the bihari durbans are musclemans. The way they fight over small things would make anybody scared. What i want to say is some people from UP and bihar are too aggresive and political. Just see the politicians from barabazaar…all are Sonkar, Pandey, Singh. My friend is a UP guy. Two of his brothers are engineers and one is a local goon.Though most of my friends are UP and biharis. And they are really nice people.
It hurts me when I see that people, that too Indians with so-called ‘secular’ tags hanging round their necks, claim that it’s bad because Biharis are immigrating to Mumbai and supposedly destroying the ‘local culture’ (which is what– hanging out at Someplace Else, or Barista?).. How stupid can one get? Branding all Biharis as pan-wallahs and rickshaw-drivers is as foolish and bad as branding all Bengalis as lazy sarkari-babus, naming all Sikkimese people as nightwatchmen, or for that matter, calling all Marwaris banias!! When shall we get rid of these stereotypes and try to move on. The real problem is not whether Biharis are immigrating into Mumbai or not– the problem is that India has such a huge population. A population so huge that many have to deludedly turn to Mumbai as a last hope to bag their dreams. Not all succeed– in fact, most fail, ending up as no more than mere bricks in the wall. To stop the problem– and let’s put this quite bluntly– we need birth-control (stop fornicating like dogs!). The situation in India is that of a boat with a gaping hole down under, whose crew is trying in vain to scoop out water using their coffee-cups!
And in the midst of all this, sit our dear old politicians– each almost as bad as his adversary, and all haggling like madmen for power, money and women. We have left our country to these idiots who find the most foolish of reasons to call a shutdown, and can only think of ‘protecting our culture’ (culture, monsieurs?) by opposing Valentine’s day and beating up couples in parks. I am no supporter of V-Day celebrations, or PDA, but I believe that people should have the freedom to do anything they like unless they are seriously harming anyone. What’s all this moral policing about? Do a bit of research and maybe you’ll find these same champions of our culture regularly visiting prostitutes!
@Rohit:
That means Raj needs to set up Maharashtra embassies in all other states and then scan all these people who have voted for Lalloo and only then provide Maharashtrian visas to them..
@Annon: “The city has done all that for AB, what has he done anything back to the city”..
How is that a city can do anything to him?
Why does a city itself come into picture? Why don’t you ask what has he done to the country?
And in one way, he has acted in so many movies which itself has popularised Mumbai and Bollywood to the world.
If you get a job in New York and you work there for two years, does it mean that New York has done a lot to you and hence you are obliged to provide New York 50% of your earnings.
@ Sudipto Basu
“It hurts me when I see that people, that too Indians with so-called ’secular’ tags hanging round their necks, claim that it’s bad because Biharis are immigrating to Mumbai and supposedly destroying the ‘local culture’”.
What has ‘secular’ got to do with regionalism? Dont understand how secularism fits into your argument.
The population problem is the real issue here. India is reaching a point where the sustainablity of the population becomes a real issue, irrespective of infrastructural and economic growth. The urban areas are the first casualty. Since you are a Bengali, here is a link that concerns the population analysis on Bengal. You might find it interesting
http://www.voi.org/books/tfst/appii1.htm
Note table 1.4
great post GB…
Sarcasm at its best….
Thank you very much,
Tarzan
Great as usual, GB…am a long time fan!
Anyway…on this issue, I have penned or rather keyed some works of my own…pales in comparison to yours but probably worth a read…
http://democrazy-liberal.blogspot.com/2008/02/mns-has-pms.html
http://democrazy-liberal.blogspot.com/2008/02/rajdo-you-dare.html
Nyahahahahhaha..
Coelacanth !!! =D
btw .. does MaRa(j)Tha(ckeray) have any clarity about what side he’s on ?!
I mean.. supporting ‘ballroom dancing fest for college students’ on one hand & ‘abolishing chhat maiya’ on the other ! .. too confusing/idiotic to fathom !
btw .. GB was firing on all cylinders in this one … totally hilarious post … =))
*runs away laughing his ass off*
My questionnaire
1) Why have Hindi speaking states lagged consistently in all matters since independence despite inheriting better local governments and educational institutions from the British (Blame step-motherly treatment from the Centre. Forget that Hindi speaking states have the largest chunk of seats in the parliament – (202 seats out of 552,i.e, around 37%)and the majority of Indian prime ministers and central ministers are from UP.)
2) Why lower castes in Hindi speaking states view the government’s population control programmes as upper caste conspiracy?
3) Why do the majority of Central Government staff come from the Hindi speaking states?
4) Why do they insist on imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speakers? (Just visit any Central Government office or Railway office. Better still watch a railway bogey. “Hindi hai ham, Hindustan hamara” written everywhere.)
5) Why were local language programmes given minuscule slots in good old days of Doordarshan and AIR monopoly?
I hate parochialism. But questions do arise. Biharis and UP people are no less parochial than others. Bihari ministers used to make regular raids on Tisco and Telco to find out how many Biharis (actually the minister’s caste fellows) were employed. JRD Tata remarked “I employ Indians on merit not people from any particular state”. Tatas retaliated by shutting the doors of higher management on Biharis.
To avoid problems like these economic growth should be evenly distributed all across the nation (like the USA). I dont know how this could be achieved as long as people like Amar Singh, Paswan, Laloo, Mulayam, Mayawati et al who favour their own castes over the gereal progress of their states – continue to rule the roost.
This is just the beginning. Get ready for future job wars!!
Good one…
@Decepticon
I may be wrong, but for me, secularism is a concept that means accepting and tolerating, without any unfair bias, all people irrespective of criteria like religion, region, caste, sex etc. Now that should make my point clear, I hope!
@ Sudipto Basu
Thats very noble of you, if you want to include “accepting and tolerating, without any unfair bias, all people irrespective of criteria like religion, region, caste, sex etc”, as your definition of “secularism”.
I was going by the more accepted definition, ie, non-involvement in religion” part.
Now it makes sense.
BTW, you may also want to add, age and race and gender.
only 1 observation..
karuna adresses press in tamil, budhha in bengali, vilasrao in hindi. why???
great news: T. Khanna joins MNS. Raj Welcomes him.
Sorry, another observation.
The media has really “lost it”. just compare coverage of 7 slaps and 11 taxis to more than 100 murders in Assam (Biharis).
Decepticon,
That’s a very interesting link you have on your name.
@DV :-
“3) Why do the majority of Central Government staff come from the Hindi speaking states?”
I dont think many of us know the answer, and that includes you. I hope you are not pointing anything sinister on the part of Central Govt in order to employ Hindi speaking folks. Its like asking why most engineers are South Indians or most successful businessmen are Marwaris etc. From what I know Biharis/UPites work their ass off to get central govt. jobs and hence they succeed more than others. That is the reason you will see More Biharis in Railways/Banks/Central Govt. jobs etc.
Secondly, North Indians (Biharis/UPites) are willing to go and work in any part of the country as opposed to people from other states whereas You will rarely see a South Indian applying for a position in Northern Railways or Punjab National Bank.
Lastly except for certain southern/Eastern states, everyone else can speak Hindi and hence assumed as Hindi Speaking aka North Indian.
“4) Why do they insist on imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speakers? (Just visit any Central Government office or Railway office. Better still watch a railway bogey. “Hindi hai ham, Hindustan hamara” written everywhere.) ”
This is your ignorance, the term ‘Hindi’ in the above slogan/sentence doesn’t mean ‘Hindi Speaking’, it means ‘People of Hind’ (short form for Hindustan).
“5) Why were local language programmes given minuscule slots in good old days of Doordarshan and AIR monopoly?”
I dont know for sure but common sense tells me that it was because a. majority of their audience was Hindi Speaking b. perhaps the government didn’t have the resources to cater to the demands of every region in every regional language hence they started it off with Hindi c. the politicians thought that this would help in making Hindi the common language of the country.
“I hate parochialism. But questions do arise. Biharis and UP people are no less parochial than others. Bihari ministers used to make regular raids on Tisco and Telco to find out how many Biharis (actually the minister’s caste fellows) were employed. JRD Tata remarked “I employ Indians on merit not people from any particular state”. Tatas retaliated by shutting the doors of higher management on Biharis.”
That is Bullcrap and kind of tells me how misguided and misinformed you are and kind of ironic that start your post with “I hate parochialism” ? I am from TATA and have never heard this sort of thing going on in last 25 years. At least 15 members of my family (all Biharis) working in Tatas and I have never heard this thing. It seems more like a figment of your imagination than anything. Heck my dad tells me that in 60s and 70s they didn’t have enough manpower in the region and they would pick anyone who was interested and had some sort of technical certification(ITI etc) and would offer the job in the company.
Biharis didn’t get into the management because either they were not qualified or if qualified they would rather work for Government which had more power(and income) to offer.
Those Biharis who were intersted in Management in Tatas, got the jobs if they worked hard enough. I dont have to look elsewhere because my own family members are still there in the management positions in the Tatas and I have lived in Tata long enough to know that There have been many Biharis who were part of the senior management.
DV dear, let me clarify.
“Hindi hain hum, Hindustan hamara”
The reference is to the people of Hind, i.e. “Hind-i”, not Hindi the language. Yes Iqbal used a Persian expression. In Persian we are all Hindi.
Also, your logic is flawed overall, but let me address the critical point:
There is absolutely no parallel between what happened at TISCO and what happened in Bombay. By your own admission, in TISCO Bihari ministers were trying to force their own relatives into jobs.
This wasn’t an organized movement against outsiders.
And what is this UP movement against outsiders that you speak of?
@Dv :- “This is just the beginning. Get ready for future job wars!!”
So the problem is Mumbai is because of Northie migrants taking up all the Marathi Jobs ? As far as I know 90% of the North Indian(Biharis-UPites) Migrants do the jobs which the marathis aren’t doing. Jobs like that of ‘Dhoodhwala’, ‘Dhobi’,’Mochi’, ‘Waiter’, ‘sweeper’, ‘Cabbie’, ‘Sabjiwala’ etc are performed by them. That’s what they do in all the states and they are there only because the local populace doesn’t want to do that. If Marathi Manush are willing to do these jobs, then all powers to them.
There is a very small population of Northies taking up the white collar jobs(e.g. IT) in Mumbai. Those Northies who are doing a central government job and posted in Mumbai are there due to sheer hardwork and not because Laloo or Mulayam gave them the job. I myself worked in Mumbai (In IT) and was not there because Laloo or Jagannath Mishra gave me the job, it was because I was selected(by Mumbaites) based on my qualification and experience.
Is the question here one of an etchnic group claiming Mumbai to be their own. In that case Mumbai was never a Maratha city. It was a bunch of island where the Satvahanas and the Mauryans kept fighting over.Later the Portugese handed over to the English King as a part of his dowry. The subsequent growth of Bombay as a financial powerhouse are due to –
1. Suez Canal
2. Hornby Vellard project
3. Parsis, Gujratis, Marwaris, Shettys (etc sorry if I missed anything) and their business sense.
I can understand that the Marathas can claim Pune to be “their city” but Mumbai is only a neighbouring location (albeit a small one).
@DV : “Hindi” means people living in the lands South East of Mt Hindukush. Did you always doze of in your history classes or was your teacher to “garam” for you to concentrate on anything else?
As far as overcrowding in Mumbai city is concerned then restricting entry is not the solution. Cure the disease not the symptoms. The only reason for this humongous influx is the governments inablility to make any headway with infrastructure and development of satellite towns.
Dibyo: Excellent overview and may I add – Bombay was originally a fishing village of Konkani-speaking people. So the Konkanis have greater claim than Marathi speakers over the place, if they choose to exercise it.
@Thalassa: Thank you.
Great cities always thrive on diversity. Look at New York, if you walk a block you will possibly meet people from all continents !
This is merely a political stunt aimed at obtaining publicity. I think and hope that it backfires. We do not want people with such viewpoints in power.
For those of you wanting to learn more about current Mumbai I strongly recommend reading Suketu Mehta’s “Maximum City”.
Very interesting discussion. Blaming “outsiders” for systemic problems is an almost universal phenomenon—affecting it does native Kannadigas or Bangali bhodrolok or Marathi Manoos or Lou Dobbs for that matter. And Raj T is simply tapping into the entitlement-driven paranoia that characterizes “sons of the soil” almost everywhere (after all uncle-ji came into prominence by doing this only).
And while I abhor squatters and illegal encroachers , I also detest the state X is for X-ians sentiment a) it is the inalienable right of an Indian to be anywhere he/she pleases in India b) anti-outsider feeling is the most convenient way to white-wash the natives’ own shortcomings. If the Marawari garment-seller was being able to put the three Bangali shops out of business because of certain “reservations” that favor him, yes I would object to that on the grounds of level playing field. However that is not the case– the “sons of the soil” are just not being able to “survive” in a free market for goods and services where all Indians are being allowed to compete. With that being the case, Raj T and his supporters just end up sounding like a violent lot of petulant cry-babies.
See ya Great Bong and others, you are not understanding.
Since every product needs to have a USP, like same way it is for political parties. What option did poor Raj have?
1. Saffron/Hindutva agenda – Already owned by BJP-Shiv Sena combine (apart from VHP and others).
2. Minority friendliness – Core competence of Congress
3. Jailed peoples applying for political ticket – taken by many UP-ites and even Gawli in Raj’s own home state. Blasted bloodies.
Things looking bleak. But wait. Not so fast. Differentiation is there.
Maharashtra is still politically viable groupism. That’s why only he is doing like this, men.
It’s like all fighting to get their hands in a pile of tatti. And he’s now hurling littil bit at all of us. Soon to be hitting fan. Cheers.
http://daily-humor.blogspot.com
wholesale garment-seller business is done on credit. With good reputation in market or good references one can get credit.
look at ankh morpork!
vetenari is accepting dwarfs, trolls, werewolves and the vampires if not the zombies.
so, the city is minting money.
@gb
do you prachett? i am very fond of rereading ‘thud’ where the dwarfs vs trolls is the issue.
@Dibyo
I know my history well. I quoted it to show how Hindi chauvinists distort a well known poem to serve their ends. This was just an example. Another thousand slogans exhorting people to become “Hindi” could be seen everywhere in a railway station or any Central Govt. organisation.
@Sanjay
That is Bullcrap and kind of tells me how misguided and misinformed you are and kind of ironic that start your post with “I hate parochialism” ? I am from TATA and have never heard this sort of thing going on in last 25 years.
I quote from Sunanda k. Datta Ray (former editor of The Statesman – a Tata-owned newspaper). I have seen a relative of Laloo (absolutely unqualified) get a job (Professor!!) before my disbelieving eyes in Regional Institute of Technology (RIT) at Jamshedpur (Adityapur).
Secondly, North Indians (Biharis/UPites) are willing to go and work in any part of the country as opposed to people from other states whereas You will rarely see a South Indian applying for a position in Northern Railways or Punjab National Bank.
People leave home en masse only when their homeland cease to offer economic opportunities.
For India to progress it is necessary that Hindi speaking states should pull up their socks, stop being chauvinistic and catch up with the rest of India in matters economic.
@Thalessa
mumbai? konkani speaking? LOL.
WRONG info. Konkani starts more than 500km south of mumbai. it has to cross agri, malwani languages (Dialects of marathi) first. I can understand your hate but no lies please.
@DV :- “I quote from Sunanda k. Datta Ray (former editor of The Statesman – a Tata-owned newspaper). I have seen a relative of Laloo (absolutely unqualified) get a job (Professor!!) before my disbelieving eyes in Regional Institute of Technology (RIT) at Jamshedpur (Adityapur).”
Is that your only source of Information to make a gross generalization about Biharis ? FYI – RIT(now NIT) Jamshedpur isn’t a property of TATAs. It is a government institution.
Did you care to look at the Tata Websites to see how many biharis are part of the management ?
Also I may be wrong but I am not sure that The Statesman is owned by the Tatas.
@Dv:- “People leave home en masse only when their homeland cease to offer economic opportunities.”
I am sure that’s why millions of Gujjus, South Indians, Marathis and other Indians are leaving their homes. Isn’t it ?
Nice to read all of them
One thing i Know there should be “Jai Hind” instead “Jai Maharstra” If people like Raj Thakrey get Sucess in the Mission like geting votes then they will become example to the rest of India where every state will come with one Raj Thakrey and india will be devided into 25 countries will soon become Russia…
Its Just a start…. our minds have started thinking otherwise… i can see…..I can feel…. YOUTHS INDIA COME UNITED.
See the Army camp where marathi does garbha, tamil does bangada they no one border that is national border.
“JAI HIND”.
Why Raj thakrey all of sudden came up with Amitabh Bachhan, when he was close to amitabh bachan many photos to prove.
All this years he heavent said him any thing.
All for votes.
People say Raj Thakrey Sahi bolta hai …. I say Gumrah Karta hai…He is taking the advantage of the emotional feeling of marathi manoos, A politician has 700 crore kohinoor mill land,
and has not done single charity to any one. when farmers in maharastra are dieing A politicain is worried what Amitabh did… foolish.
A money thursty Fame Thursty Man,
He is not LOYAL TO HIS FAMILY…Balsaheb on whose name he is known today. HOW CAN BE HE LOYAL TO MARATHI MANOOS???.
When Shivsena needs his strengths he has weekend it furthur.
He is Money thirsty wanna win elections and make more money for himself defaming marathi all over india on peoples cost.
what he did as charity to marathi manoos pointing fingers to other. PEOPLE like him will divide india for there own interest.
Is that your only source of Information to make a gross generalization about Biharis?
I am not making any gross generalization about Biharis. I admire many inherent qualities of Biharis. They are an industrious and hard-working lot. What I despise is their chauvinism, castism and parochialism. Tell me how Hindi has graduated from “Rashtrabhasha” to “Rajbhasha”. Who are now our Rajas? Isn’t it an insult to non-Hindi speakers? Our English mania can safely be linked to forcible imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.
FYI – RIT(now NIT) Jamshedpur isn’t a property of TATAs. It is a government institution.
I know it. That’s why Murali M. Joshi decides to reduce IIM fees. So that the Directors cave in and the minister can take as many students as he wishes (from his home state of course).
Did you care to look at the Tata Websites to see how many biharis are part of the management ?
I am talking about pre-Jharkhand JRD Tata days.
Oil is found in Assam. But our Bihari minister decides that the refinery plant must be built in Bihar not Assam. Ditto with fertilizer plant. No wonder the Assamese take up arms.
@Dv :- “I am talking about pre-Jharkhand JRD Tata days.”
So tell me which Bihari Minister tried to force JRD to employ Biharis into Tata Management ?
So far all you have come up with is a quote of the Statesman Journo (claiming it is owned by Tatas) making a statement about how he saw Laloo getting his relative a job in RIT, as if that doesn’t happen in other states.
Tell me how many movies Ritesh Deshmukh would act in if he weren’t the son of VRD or how many movies Smitah Thakre would produce if she didn’t belong to Thakre family
@DV :- “What I despise is their chauvinism, castism and parochialism. Tell me how Hindi has graduated from “Rashtrabhasha” to “Rajbhasha”. Who are now our Rajas? Isn’t it an insult to non-Hindi speakers? Our English mania can safely be linked to forcible imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.”
Oh yeah that’s why there are English schools in pretty much every block of Bihar and almost every Bihari Parent I know wants his kids to go to English Medium schools.
What a load of crap.
karkashha:
The history of Konkani speaking settlements in the Bombay region are at least 7-8 centuries old and first began when the Sultan of Gujarat held the area now known as Bombay.
At least one of the villages in the Bombay region had Konkani speaking inhabitants.
And what hate are you speaking of? Please do not make such ridiculous allegations.
@DV :- “Oil is found in Assam. But our Bihari minister decides that the refinery plant must be built in Bihar not Assam. Ditto with fertilizer plant. No wonder the Assamese take up arms.”
So Was the Bihari Minister who decided to build the Refinery in Bihar ? Let me guess – His name was “Figment of DV’s imagination” ?
“What I despise is their chauvinism, castism and parochialism.”
Raj Thakre who you seem to be defending here is the prime example of parochialism. If he didn’t have Thakre as his last name, his condition wouldn’t be different from a stray dog in Mumbai. Raj Thakre’s is a prime example of Marathi Chauvinism as well and it is there for every one to see. As far as Castiesm is concerned, Baba Sahab Ambedkar was a Maharashtrian and he gave up his religion of Birth and became a Budhist, needless to say the origins of which are in Bihar.
” Tell me how Hindi has graduated from “Rashtrabhasha” to “Rajbhasha”. Who are now our Rajas? Isn’t it an insult to non-Hindi speakers? ”
It is another one of your bubbles that has been building in your pea-sized brain. Show me where the Government of India has declared Hindi as ‘Raj Bhasha’.
Finnaly, So far you have not said anything that make sense and all your rants have been anti-Hindi speaking People and that is mainly out of your own insecurties.
Load of crap ??!!??
Can you take CA exams in Gujrati, Marathi or any other language? Why are Hindi speakers allowed to write in their mother tongue while we have to write in English? Is it not an unfair advantage to them?
It is another one of your bubbles that has been building in your pea-sized brain. Show me where the Government of India has declared Hindi as ‘Raj Bhasha’.
Yeah…yeah….yeah. I walk with my eyes shut.
Finnaly, So far you have not said anything that make sense and all your rants have been anti-Hindi speaking People and that is mainly out of your own insecurties.
Yeah…yeah….yeah….I get insecure when Arjun Singh decides that reservation shall be extended to 50%. I get scared when I see that Paswan demands reservation for Christians and Muslims (Dalit variety). If India ever breaks up Hindi speakers will solely be responsible for it.
I also want to sincerely thank our Hindi-heartland politician V P Singh whose fertile brain started reservation and caste politics.
Adios.
@DV :- “Can you take CA exams in Gujrati, Marathi or any other language? Why are Hindi speakers allowed to write in their mother tongue while we have to write in English? Is it not an unfair advantage to them?”
Shouldn’t you be blaming ICAI for that and not Biharis ?
“.I get insecure when Arjun Singh decides that reservation shall be extended to 50%. I get scared when I see that Paswan demands reservation for Christians and Muslims (Dalit variety).”
FYI – The state with Biggest Dalit Population is Maharashtra. Arjun Singh or Paswan alone can not make such law, It is the parliament that makes such laws. As for reservation, it is not a North Indian Practice, is it ? TamilNadu has 70 % Quota
That said, I couldn’t care less about reservations in India or for that matter anywhere in the world. I didn’t need reservation and am not worried about it.
Aargh! Once and for all, ‘Maratha’ is a caste, ‘Maharashtrians’ are people from Maharashtra, most of whom speak the ‘Marathi’ language. That done, it has been an interesting discussion. I am totally against violence and find these actions sad. The real issue,though, is the growing political clout of the North Indians in Mumbai, which brings a particularly odious variety of politicians along with it, which is much worse than our homegrown variety. I have personally seen North Indian vegetable vendors form a cartel and push Marathi-speaking vegetable vendors out of the Borivali vegetable market. People like Kripashankar Singh are alleged to have put hundreds of rickshaws on the streets of Mumbai and all of them seem to have been given to North Indian immigrants (of course i do not have anything but empirical/visual proof). And then, Laloo comes to Mumbai and makes statements like Maharashtrians are not qualified enough to take up Railway jobs. The Shiv Sena and other parties have failed spectacularly to manage these issues. And Raj is making political capital out of it. the real loser is the city’s inclusive culture. To me, Mumbai and Bangalore are the only cosmopolitan cities in India, true melting pots. And both are being tarnished…Sigh.
My response to Laloo’s statements is here:
http://nandanblogged.com/blog/2007/07/08/talking-from-the-la-loo/
I believe I am not breaking any of the comment rules. If i am, please feel free to remove the link.
Totally amazing article….very funny….nice
hamesha apne bare me mat socho… Marathi manoos ke bare me bhi socho…
The quiz is an extreme piece of humor which does not fail to miss out the real point. The message board is also equally interesting and there are some real value to be taken from all of it.
I ofcourse feel that DV, who started decently has lost most of his ground later on as he seems to rarely answer the questions posed at him and has always answered questions (mostly from Sanjay) with counter questions, carefully not answering the asked ones.
About CA exam being written in Hindi and not in regional languages… come on DV…you know what is good and what is bad to better levels than this. I am an IIM material and I dont believe CAT should be written in Gujrati/Marathi/Bengali/Hindi or any such language… My father is a Bengali and I have always worked out of Bengal using Hindi as the language as it is my NATIONAL LANGUAGE…!!!
In our vast country, Hindi came as the language spoken by the majority of people and states and thus was declared as the national language. I am a proud Bengali, but speaking Hindi in other parts of India doesnt make me feel that my Bengali sentiment is getting hurt. And I dont relate Hindi to ‘UPites and Biharis’ only…
Lot of people are very emotional by Raj’s comment which many probably did not understand properly – Raj does not have complaint about the Bengali that works in Patni/TCS/IBM or the Gujrati that runs a Mumbai Hospital or the Khurana doctor that practices medicine or the Marwari that sells Burma-teak at a cheaper rate.
When I came to Bangalore in 1997, the city was less crowded and crime was really low. But with the incursions of people from north into the low paying jobs like masonry etc., the crime rate went up like anything.
From economics we know that when we migrate, there is a high probability that we might eventually introduce a new industry similar to the pattern of the homeland into the new place of settlement. Now there is no dearth of evidence about the kidnapping industry that successfully runs in Bihar. And in my personal opinion (very personal opinion based on experience) the criminal-politician nexus is more in UP/Bihar/Bengal (more prominent when one tries to do free business) than other parts of the country which economically flourished over a longer period. So any regional party would never want to change the central fabric of the political demography that runs in the place.
Moreover, what’s missing is a group of UP/Bihar politician to try and make economically stronger cities and internal communities within the state with lesser crimes, more education, better healthcare, etc.
So if you are in US migrated from India, thinking that you should be free to work for your living, you are absolutely right. But you will be wrong if you think you have the right to stand on the street corner of some Woodland street in Philly and engage in mugging or import your village neighbour and shelter him in your room while he is freely engaged in procuring prostitutes for a decent living. And you’ll be absolutely wrong to presume that you’re effort of introducing CPI(ML) into the San Mateo county would not face coercion.
@ Kaushik – “When I came to Bangalore in 1997, the city was less crowded and crime was really low. But with the incursions of people from north into the low paying jobs like masonry etc., the crime rate went up like anything.”
Is this your theory or there was some actual research done that showed this ?
Besides, why did they bring people from Northern India for those low paying jobs ? Let me guess, because the local populace was more interested in migrating to americus ? Or may be they were just too happy to enjoy the economic boom and reap the benefits out of it by making huge money in Real Estate(though Rent) and didn’t think they should be doing the low-paying jobs ?
If the locals aren’t ready to do the low-paying jobs, some body else has to do it, you cant have it both ways.
@Sanjay
Jobs are right but the supplementary imports are larger from those places. That should be thought seriously before just jumping with the “unification” and “one country” slogan. Everybody likes progress and progress cannot come without making the employment space “Free”, but the associated costs can get dangerous.
Kaushik,
I lived in Delhi for few years and there were many Oriya neighbours in our apartment and they would do the same i.e. bring their close family/friends from Orissa and would help them do the exact same thing that you are accusing the Biharis/UPites of. During my stay in Mumbai I would see a no. of Friends from Tamilnadu doing the same thing.
So I dont understand why single out Biharis/UPites ? In USA I see Maharashtrians(along with other people) doing similar things too. Go to any Organization where Maharashtrians are running the show, you will find similar imports from Nashik, Nagpur on doing the HR/Recruiting job. To me it sounds like hypocrisy.
Besides, I dont really mind if Raj Thakre and his cousin/uncle do not want Northies to come to Mumbai and take up their jobs. Infact it would be a good thing for Biharis/UPites.
My problem started when they wanted Biharis/UPites to give up their own culture (i.e. stop doing the Chhath Puja etc) . Would Raj Thakre advise his marathis brothers and sisters to give up Marathi culture and language when they leave their shores to take up jobs in other parts of the world ? How many Marathis who work in Bengal have learnt to speak Bengali ? How many Marathis who live in Bihar have started performing Chhath Puja ? Should they (those Marathis living in North) be forced to stop their channts of ‘Ganbati Bappa Morya’ and instead be forced to chant ‘Ganesh Bhagwan Ki Jai’ ?
If the Thakres are really serious about tackling this issue(which I recognize that it is a problem), what steps have taken (apart from beating up Northies) to resolve this issue. Shiv Sena was in power in Maharshtra, how many times did they make an effort to resolve this issue and what efforts they were ? How many times did they talk to Bihar/UP governments regarding this ? Raj Thakre is lucky that people in Northern India have displayed amazing calm and ignored his rants.
@Sanjay,
I don’t think you’re talking of Oriyas involved in low paying jobs and most probably they were not engaged in criminal activities. You probably did not understand or probably read what import I have mentioned. I am pointing towards import of criminal activities. That I don’t think the Marathi HR you are talking, does.
Actually UP/Biharis and criminal connection in Bangalore or for that matter in Delhi/Cal/Mumbai, becomes very evident from daily newspaper reports, no research paper available on that. You are probably aware of the absence of social research and publications of meaningful papers on that front in India. So whatever our arguments are, based on assumptions only, I think on both sides.
Yeah, the beating of UP-ite/Biharis sets worst kind of precedence. It is so dangerous that state wars come into our imagination: Between Karnataka-Tamil Nadu, between Maharashatra against the axis of UP, Bihar and Bengal/Bangladesh, between Bengal against Bihar and Rajasthan, between Jats in Delhi and South Indians in Delhi, etc. And in modern India, we have so famously seen fighting between Hindu and Muslims.
I happened to witness a Calcutta-suburb (no one will fight against me for saying Cal against Kol!!) “galatta” – a Bengali community member was beaten up by some Biharis is a fight … the Bengali community members later gathered and gave it back to them. Six hours later, late in the day, a huge mob of Biharis came out with a stunning show armory that we can never imagine and you understand what followed. Few were injured to the extent of near death. This was 1992 but perhaps this persists in the minds of people towards stereotyping Biharis/Up-ites.
Though I knew we are not debating with the most intelligent of people here, but saying that the crime in Bangalore is caused by immigrants from UP/Bihar has to be a real gem. Do you read the same newspapers as everyone else? Btw, check your facts 1992 Mumbai riots was caused by Shiv-Sena aka local people. Same goes with Gujrat. Get some perspective before making any stupid statement. Anonymity on net is fine but one should not get out right dishonest while making a point.
When I was in Pune my car windshield was broken by some local people protesting some Ambedkar’s statue desecration somewhere. But I don’t go around making statements like dalits are violent people or something, I mean what kind of stupid statement is this “I once saw a group of people fighting which happen to be of xxx ethnicity, hence all people of xxx ethnicity are violent”.
@Kaushik :- “I don’t think you’re talking of Oriyas involved in low paying jobs and most probably they were not engaged in criminal activities. You probably did not understand or probably read what import I have mentioned. I am pointing towards import of criminal activities. That I don’t think the Marathi HR you are talking, does.”
Give me a Break !! Do you consider Illegal immigration as a crime ? These companies are brining htier brothers and sisters on H1 and making them do the HR work but filling their H1 and PR as Programmer. Isn’t that an illegal act ?
Try visiting a motel in USA/UK and you will find a no. of Gujratis imports doing exactly that i.e. illegal activities. Ever heard of Lakki Reddy ? Google it out.
And no The guys from Orissa were not involved in any criminal actitivities and neither were any guys from UP/Bihar. All of them were simply doing their best to earn a living for themselves and their family.
@Kaushik :- “I happened to witness a Calcutta-suburb (no one will fight against me for saying Cal against Kol!!) “galatta” – a Bengali community member was beaten up by some Biharis is a fight … the Bengali community members later gathered and gave it back to them. Six hours later, late in the day, a huge mob of Biharis came out with a stunning show armory that we can never imagine and you understand what followed. Few were injured to the extent of near death. This was 1992 but perhaps this persists in the minds of people towards stereotyping Biharis/Up-ites.”
Sorry, you seem to be mentally bankrupt and clearly have a us vs. them mindset. When a Bengali guy was beaten up and the Bengali Mob came back you proudly brag it as ‘Gave it back to them” and when the Bihari Mob came back you describe as if they were ‘Criminals’.
I really hate it when a simple scruff between two people becomes Bihar vs. Bengal battle. It is really pathetic.
@Kaushik :- “Actually UP/Biharis and criminal connection in Bangalore or for that matter in Delhi/Cal/Mumbai, becomes very evident from daily newspaper reports, no research paper available on that. You are probably aware of the absence of social research and publications of meaningful papers on that front in India. So whatever our arguments are, based on assumptions only, I think on both sides.”
What Nonsense. If you make an accusation, then onus is on you to prove it. You are the one who is making an accusation based on assumptions, I am simply refusing to believe you because of lack of evidence.
Sanjay: (Statement1)
“These companies are brining htier (sic) brothers and sisters on H1 and making them do the HR work but filling their H1 and PR as Programmer.”
Sanjay: (Statement2)
“I lived in Delhi for few years and there were many Oriya neighbours in our apartment and they would do the same i.e. bring their close family/friends from Orissa and would help them do the exact same thing that you are accusing the Biharis/UPites of. During my stay in Mumbai I would see a no. of Friends from Tamilnadu doing the same thing.”
Sanjay: (Statement3)
“If you make an accusation, then onus is on you to prove it. You are the one who is making an accusation based on assumptions, I am simply refusing to believe you because of lack of evidence.”
Now my question to Sanjay:
How about practicing what you preach brother? Give us evidence of Statement 1 and 2. You really cannot. For both, you will say they are based on your observations. This is exactly what Kaushik can say as support for his own statements.
So why do you think it is okay for you to make supposedly unsubstantiated statements and not for Kaushik?
I am an Indian, and my constitution gives me the right to live in any part of MY country. I don’t give a rat’s @$$ about what someone thinks about me living in his/her city because I pay taxes there, abide by the laws, sponsor child education, volunteer to teach and do many more things that he/she ought to have in the first place. So, that’s MY city more than his/her’s.
For those who oppose MY brothers and sisters from other parts of MY country from coming to MY city to earn a livelihood, write your Mein Kampfs. Because that’s exactly what you are propogating.
@TheWalker,
Probably you are right. I am sure a sense of hatred does not help in any way other than bringing ruin. But probably this is also true that there are mud on the other side of the party, i.e. the north Indians. My view about people from UP/Bihar has been greatly mixed – while on the one side there are some extremely intelligent people that I am happy to be associated with, on the other side there are quite a majority that are extremely aggressive, dominating and blatantly immoral with the powerful capability to destroy the backbone of rational transactions off a community.
@Rohan “How about practicing what you preach brother? Give us evidence of Statement 1 and 2. You really cannot. For both, you will say they are based on your observations. This is exactly what Kaushik can say as support for his own statements.
So why do you think it is okay for you to make supposedly unsubstantiated statements and not for Kaushik?”
Learn to read and differentiate, I didn’t accuse anyone of committing crimes, I said that Tamilnadu or Orissa folks were earning their livlihood by working hard and at the same time bringing guys from their villages/Towns and helping them.
I didn’t disagree with Kaushik that Biharis/Northies bring their relatives and allow them to stay with them which is true with every other community. My problem was with the accusations he made against Biharis/UPites.
Oh and LakkiReddy’s crimes are well documented.
“My view about people from UP/Bihar has been greatly mixed – while on the one side there are some extremely intelligent people that I am happy to be associated with, on the other side there are quite a majority that are extremely aggressive, dominating and blatantly immoral with the powerful capability to destroy the backbone of rational transactions off a community.”
What an objective assessment.
Keep Supporting the Thakres, Sooner or later they will target you too(whoever you are). They targetted South Indians in 60s (?),targetted Muslims in the 90s and in the current decade they have picked Northies, next it will be someone else, may be people from East/NorthEast.
Yesterday, ShivSena terrorists blackened the boards of Airport demanding that ‘Air Travellers are not welcome” in the city. Well Done Sainiks err terrorists.
Meanwhile, the son(Udhav) of the original son of Soil(Bala Saheb)has joined his cousin and made the following very clear :-
“I want to say that as and when the promised one lakh job opportunities will come up, priority should be given to the sons of the soil. All outsiders will be considered after our Marathi Manoos (Marathi person)….If this is not done then we shall pack and parcel them (outsiders) back from where they came, and in the same flight…”
ha ha ha….funny but interesting one.
Tara Prasad
http://expeditionsays.wordpress.com
@GB: Minor correction– Q5 should read:
How is the great Marathi manoos Shivaji Rao Bhosle better known as:
a) Rajnikanth b) Vijaykanth c) Coelacanth d) Sudesh Bhosle.
Cheers.
Awesome post.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=313538
Well Done MNS and Thakre. By destroying state properties you really proved that you are true Marathas in the traditions of Shambhaji, Shivaji, Nana Saheb and Tatya Tope.
@Ranjan: Why Bhosle? I didnt get that. As far as I know, Rajanikant’s real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad.
The police have named an MNS activist, Sandeep Bhavar, as the main accused in the case. Bhavar, absconding after the incident, was arrested by the police on Thursday.
The HAL staff, Ambadas Haribhau Dharrao(A Marathi Manoosh), was killed in an incident of stone-pelting during a protest against the arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray on the Nashik highway.
Raj apologises to kin of killed HAL employee – “With folded hands, I apologise to the family members of the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited employee who was killed”, Raj said.
He, however, denied his party had any hand in the killing and said anti-social elements were responsible for his death.
My Question is – If he or his party is not responsible, why is he apologizing ? Would he have apologized if the killed person were a migrant Northie ?
Elsewhere in the news :-
“Hundreds of construction and factory workers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata are preparing to leave the city they had made their home.
According to Pune Railway spokesperson Y.K Singh, 8,369 people booked tickets to leave the city in the general category on Wednesday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
In all 15,598 passengers took trains to return to their native places in northern India on Wednesday. Pune Railway Station saw sale of tickets to the tune of Rs.1.5 million as against Rs.500,000 sold last Wednesday. “
Interesting point of view.
Tarun Vijay, the author, is Editor, Panchjanya, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) weekly.
Is being Indian not enough?
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/feb/15guest.htm
@GB: I thought you meant the king Shivaji, whose surname was Bhosle, and after whom the original Sena is named. Of course, if you meant Shivaji the Boss, it is totally valid.
@GB: I sent you this earlier but didn’t get thru…. The reason I was confused about Q5 was that Bhosle was the surname of the king who evokes a great deal of pride for the Manoos. I don’t see Rajnikanth evoking any such identification, so didn’t make the connect.
Only one thing can save this country – iron-fisted adherence to the rule of law. All else is rubbish. And by law I don’t mean the rubbish heaped on us by the likes of Arjun Singh. Maybe, if we reverted back to the original Constitution, and rigorously implemented it, the nation can hope.
@thalassa
Wiki says Bengalis are the majority in Calcutta
Regards
Funny!! Both the Article and the discussion. Being a Maharashtrian and being a migrant myself leaves me in a moral dilema. Do I support Raj? Is it ethical for me to support someone who’s anti migrant? Well the obvious answer is NO!! But then somewhere deep inside it does strike a cord. At the same time I can’t forgive myself for almost sympatising the cause which Raj propogates. I spoke to many of my Marathi friends here in the USA. Most of them felt the way I’s feeling.
May be I really don’t like the influx of the Biharis and people from easter UP who are low skilled. Coz they are dirty, some of them may be into crimes, they encroach the public land. I don’t have to care about the competition for the jobs as I don’t have to compete for the low skilled job. B ut there would be a person who’s marathi and low skilled. He may look at Raj as a new messiah. This is an illusion created by a smart politician. But for some it may give a ray of hope.
The I remember my bhelpuri wala, the carpenter who’s did all the furniture in my house and the security guard of my building. Every one from North and basically a nice person. It leaves me perplexed again.
I think we maharashtrians have a love hate relationship with the North Indians. Can’t live with you and can’t live without you.
The VHP has a strong message for invading Bangladeshis and the tacit alliance of Congress-NCP-Raj Thackeray that is hell-bent upon dividing the Hindus in India for the derivative benefit of defeating the BJP in the next elections.
—————————————————————
Drive out 5 lakh Bangladeshis (not Indians) from Mumbai, says VHP
March 08, 2008
Expressindia Story
Nagpur, March 8: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad asked Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to launch a drive to flush out ‘five lakh illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in Mumbai’.
“If these five lakh illegal migrants are driven out of Mumbai, five lakhs Indians will get job opportunities and there will be less threat perception to Mumbai as well,” VHP leader Praveen Togadia told a press conference.
If North Indians are pushed out of Maharashtra, the space will be filled by another stream of Bangladeshis, he said.
To a question whether he plans to meet Sena chief Bal Thackeray or MNS president Raj Thackeray over the migrant issue, Togadia replied in negative.
Such controversies, he said, had earlier happened in some states like Punjab but the issue later subsided.
Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Drive-out-Bangladeshis-from-Mumbai–Sena-told/281960/
Absolutely wonderful reading, I am out of touch on some topics from your questionnaire but after going through all the posts all my knowledge it up-to-date now. thanks
keep it up