Posted by: behoove_me August 7, 2011
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Timi_mero_sathi,
That is a mighty interesting read and believe me, I empathize with everything you’ve mentioned, however (and this is just my personal opinion, kindly do not call me a traitor) could we agree to disagree on few points?
- Whenever there is a potent and prosperous nation bordering a weaker one, the aura of hegemony involuntarily germinates, time and again we have seen powerful nations have bullied and have taken over powerless ones. This is an issue of supremacy and nothing else. I resent it, but I resent New Delhi for it, and I hate hordes of politicians, prima donnas and many other signal callers in the peninsula. But I do not resent a common Indian citizen just because he has lower middle class looks, thick twang or a bad dress sense.
- I am born and raised in Kathmandu, I am a full blooded Nepalese (I only mentioned that to clear any misunderstanding although I feel corny saying this because everyone who is born in Nepal is a full blooded Nepalese) but growing up, I had seen my aunts making racial slurs against Indians, my father refusing to speak to his colleague who hailed from Janakpur and my friends bullying someone who had just hailed from Birgunj. Is this our Nepali identity? If yes, please explain me how for I have struggled to decipher. I understand our Nepali brothers may have undergone similar misery in India, but is retaliation by hating someone else solve the issue? Moreover, is it mature?
- I am not advocating Indians, I love my country. But I am troubled when we seem to act a little bigot (and Indians probably act the same way, but we are strictly speaking of ourselves aren’t we?). I have my Nepalese pride, I want to die in a free and sovereign nation, but hating Indians wouldn’t make my survival any better.
- Now is the most sensitive part, our involvement in music, movies and sports. I like that awesome singer KK more than I like Sugam Pokhrel. Does that make me a pariah? What if I like Tom Waits more than Narayan Gopal? Will someone feel equally mortified? I have seen people scream Led Zepplin and not sing a Lata Mangeshkar song cos THAT particular act makes them a ‘dhoti’. Also, I find Delhi Belly far more hilarious than some MAHA comedies, does that make me an outcast? Speaking of cricket, I never watch it, but I do admire Green Bay Packers than the local soccer team in Nepal. I am interested if someone hates me as equally as they’d hate me had I been watching cricket. Interests are subjective, just because I listen to Talat Mehmood should not make my Nepalese brothers exile me from Nepal.
- The fact is (again, this is just my two pennies, feel free to lambast me), we are dependent on India time and again, the culture and the creed both are dead ringers. And that dependency makes us more aware of their shortcomings than anything else. If India were to live off Nepal, the tables would have turned. Indians are loud individuals, I agree. They are stingy, nosy and hypocrite to certain extent, I agree. But so are our Nepalese brothers from Dailekh, Darchula and Taplejung. We only compare lower middle class Indians with us rich Kathmanduites, We do not compare affluent Indians with ourselves.
- Indians seemingly believe that having similar cultures makes us Nepalese more or less like them which we decry. I find it offensive too. But believe me, most Indians do not know as much about Nepal as we do about India. Couldn’t that just be a little ignorance on their part than arrogance?
- As Nepalese, we should be ambassadors to peace and harmony, goodwill and magnanimity. I know that in such common platforms many of us chip in our ideas and perhaps play with one another’s sentiment. But still, the fool in me believes that we are mature and humane enough to discern what is right and what is wrong.
Again, I reiterate I am an equally proud Nepali like most of us (even though most of you would not believe me). Haha!
Peace!