Seeds of Hate

bombay
the city of dreams. i associate this city with the song 'laree choote' from the movie 'ek chaalis ki last local'. i heard it when i was about to leave delhi for bombay in may. it seemed to me to be full of sadness and hope. i could imagine bobby deol sitting at the door of a moving local, staring wistfully out at parallel tracks awash with orange glow from overhead streetlights. of course, the actual video was shitty, a group of people dancing like ducks running from a hunter. but this is my mind, my blog, my connotation. deal with it. anyway, as i was saying, the city of dreams.

but in the last month, so many people have had their dreams broken. many more have fled the city, in a rare instance of mass exodus. all these poor people have one thing in common. they're north indians. more specifically, up-ites and biharis. castigated and condemned for coming to the city of opportunities and stealing away jobs from the 'sons of the soil', they can't find support from any quarter coz the perpetrators have the people, the police and the government eating out of their hands.

i was in office one fine day, when i got a text from my mausi in hyderabad, hoping i was ok. i wasn't really, since i was in office against my will. but these are small matters. when i asked her why she sent this message, that's when i heard about the tension in dadar, and i was like 'hoo boy, here we go again!!' tension in dadar occurs more regularly than the weatherman's forecasts come true. anyway, i'm quite immune to them. i've walked at 11pm along streets so deserted with tension, one could easily mistake it for a curfew. the only inconvenience being that cabs become a precious commodity. those pricks have ruined my life here, making me beg to them.
but what of those who aren't immune? the economically weaker? the downtrodden? who's to save them from the hound-like packs of goons wandering the streets with bats and clubs in their hands, out for a kill? a kill at the bidding of a deluded son of a power hungry tyrant....

but there's a solution. north indian, you want to be safe from these people? come, stand with me. raise you voice. all together now. say it loud. 1-2-3.
"JAI MAHARASHTRA!"

come on guys....we have enough problems in india without regional politics slowing us enough to send us back into the dark ages. forget the states, we're Indians!