Friday, November 13, 2009

Of Earthworms and the MNS Connect.

An andolan against North Indians? A controversy out of not referring to Bombay by its colloquial(and rather crass-sounding) name?

And now, an outright disruption of a state assembly session because Azmi took the oath in THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF INDIA! What next? Work permits to work in Maharashtra? Seriously? Last I checked, Maharashtra was a state. A part of India. Not a separate country.

I find Raj Thackeray too ridiculous to pass a serious comment on. I would merely choose to sneeze in his general direction. Sons of the Soil. Yeah, right. As is evident, earthworms have far more to their credit.

(Pretty little thing spotted on college campus. Prettier than Thackeray, at any rate. It's a caterpillar, after all.)

20 comments:

Rene Lacoste said...

The sons-of-the-soil is all about I-came-here-first-so-this-land-is-mine. Nevertheless, outsiders taking up jobs in Maharashtra is a serious enough issue. Especially when the electorate is composed of those who are threatened by competition. (Don't get me wrong, all electorates are like that)

Sherry Wasandi said...

I get the theme. But it's Indian soil we're talking about. National identity above a communal one. In a globalized world, why should opportunity be measured and restricted in terms of geographical coordinates? Why not in terms of need-skilled-labor, get-skilled-labor.

Is it really an "issue"? Why? I fail to understand.

Tangled up in blue... said...

We have similar things on our mind today.

I wish I cud take him so lightly as to content myself with sneezing in his general direction, but the fact that he manages to get his party into the state assembly is like a cold shower.

A friend compares him to Hitler and we laugh at the thought. But a little voice in the back of my mind whispers dark words and fills me with foreboding.

and the "need-skilled-labor, get-skilled-labor" bit,

havent we seen america struggling with the same "issue".

Indians arent the worlds only xenophobes.

Tangled up in blue... said...

and btw, earthworms as "sons of the soil" awesome thought! :D

i wish mr. thackeray (whichever one) cud come read this now. ;D

Soin said...

err india doesnt have a national language. there are two official languages of the indian constitution-english and hindhi..whatever in the end he amuses me to no end..our dear india needs such people for uniting the rest of the lot loosely..and whatever his allegiance he seems to take the matter more seriously than the other thackray..so its interesting to see him.. and hey hes getting the attention which he wants..btw what will he do if they put the movie bombay on tv??stop that??..free

Mr Happy said...

the world will really be a square if indian politics becomes that simple :)

Clezevra said...

I wish I could strangle some people. Instead I end up cursing at the newspaper. Ah, apathy.

JD said...

Somehow, living here has kept me away from the dirt that's going down in my state. Terrible stuff.

And earthworms are PRETTY! Why do you compare them to Bal Thackerey, even in sarcasm? Am I the only one obsessed with pretty insects? :(

Anyway, nicely done with the segue about the earthworm. Very nice :)

Sherry Wasandi said...

@ Tangled up in blue: The state of the economy brings out the xenophobes in everyone. However, that is circumstantial. We're caught up between the ideas of globally mobilized exchange of resources, power and labor, and that of keeping what is ours to ourselves while hoping that the rest of the world violates that very criterion. In times of crisis, one is left hanging in doubt. It's going to be this way to that eventually.

Sherry Wasandi said...

@ soin: Yes, I checked the whole bit about the national language part before posting, as I was unsure myself. Had the oath been taken in either of the two official languages, the situation would have been the same, or worse.

True. As Sanghvi said, he feeds on notoriety and attention. To ridicule him would be the best mode of operation at the moment.

@ Lincoln: Which was my point in the first place. It is very square and simple. Only, the masses possess a distorted perception that makes them see everything as shapeless rugged edges. Logic is surprisingly lucid. Each problem that generates such a hue and cry, is actually very simple, only if people decide to use that wonderful contraption housed inside their skull. That, my friend, is the idea behind this blog.

Sherry Wasandi said...

@ Clezevra: Ahh... empathy. But then, maybe it's for the best. I'm pretty sure you'd be of much more use not serving a life sentence in jail.

@ JD: Though there are a fair number of insects I find pretty, earthworms are not one of them. Maybe I have too many biology lab dissection visuals stuck in my head. Exposed organs, blood and gore don't freak me out. An organism cut open, with only pink flesh and soil to see irks me so much more.

Kirra Serra said...

I often read about him, hear of him, and this one question never ceases to echo in my mind- Is he for real?!

Madhur Bhatia said...

what a wonderful comparison. i hardly see any contrast there. i believe, you still did him a favor. i would give that man a tribute worth a horse apple. today he rose with another baseless act, north indians must not be allowed to appear in SBI's recruitment exam. please write more about this man. i wish he becomes as popular as narendra modi and i wish i have another name in my list of people to kill before i die.

mgeek said...

Go girl! Ridicule is the way to tackle this 21st century Ku Klux Klan...

mgeek said...

And by the way, Shiv Sena is equally earth-wormish... http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/shiv_sena_to_sachin_stick_to_sports.php

Sherry Wasandi said...

@ Kirra Serra: No. Fake as fake gets. It's the notoriety he feeds off.

It is simply not possibly to stoop lower than that to seek attention. It just isn't.

@ madhur: May you succeed in the noble crusade. Monuments will be erected in your honor! That is, of course, if Mayawati leaves any room. :)

Sherry Wasandi said...

@ mgeek: Ku Klux Klan. How apt! Why didn't I think of it? :) Shiv Sena is a centipede. That kind that would magically regenerate upon being sliced and diced. Grr...

Mr Happy said...

And its tough to teach masses for every other person's skull is as shapeless as it can be :)

Sherry Wasandi said...

Assembly line products, like I always say.

Sharad said...

An MNS or a random Thackray cannot "create" differences in people's hearts. They just exploit existing differences which we keep hidden in the bottom of our hearts. This happens because we deserve no better. We Indians are racist pricks of the finest lot and yet fail to recognize ourselves as one "brown" race. Interestingly the Marathi-Bhaiyya conflict or Gujarat's Hindu-Muslim riots bear an uncanny resemblance to Hutu-Tutsi conflict: the street-fighters look all the same and lead an equally miserable life.