When a friend posted about a rude and mean person yelling at her husband for not knowing the local language, and demanding they leave the state otherwise, it made me mad. Mad, because this mean and rude person dared announce himself as a representative of this state. He is not. Categorically, he NOT a representative of the soul and heart of Bangalore. Unfortunately, this cancer is spreading and more violent, mean and rude people are rising up in 'defense' of a culture they think they own.
They don't, because, as far I am concerned, they dont even understand it, to begin with.
When I first came to Bangalore, more than 3 decades ago, I too had had an encounter with someone who insisted I 'learn the language or leave'. Though he had frightened me, he hadn't inspired me. (I wonder if this present mean and rude person could have been his son? After all, meanness begats, meaness, and rude people cannot pass on a legacy of kindhearted tolerance.)
The people I met in my sojourn in this city - the Brahmin family I lived with for years, the others whom I met in different walks of life - however, did earn my respect and because of them, I wanted to learn their language, I wanted to share their experiences on levels that knowing only English would not. And while picking up phrases of speech, sharing jokes on mispronouncing and progressing to full sentences made me 'one of them'. And I am proud of it.
Call me a Bangalorean any day, parawagilla. Namma makkullu Bangalurudhu. My children also belong to Bangalore. I may not yet be very fluent (lol), but my heart is knitted with this city. She is soft, she is gentle. She is magnanimous and she has adopted children of many hues and colours, of different backgrounds and cultures. Her heart is large enough for all of them to take shelter under her wings...she is my Bangalore.
Coming back to the present - where did these Mean and Rude people come from? They are the tares among the wheat. The poisonous weeds that mimic the true crop to spoil the harvest. I think their loudness comes from being small inside, and to be noticed at all, they need to cause a fuss. Given a chance, I am sure they would take the next flight out to a 'white' country, only to come back with accents thicker than their heads, and with this new found identity, will lord it over others as a 'fo-ren return' to crib about the 'dirt, the roads, the sanitation, the hygiene', constantly comparing with their 'better experience' out-there-where-the-grass-is- greener.
Would they use their 'better experience' to help out? To make a difference that would make people want to be around them more? I think not. They would still be mean and rude in their new avatar.
Me thinks, they should be the first ones to leave Bangalore till they can truly reflect her quiet, elegant, glory.
They don't, because, as far I am concerned, they dont even understand it, to begin with.
When I first came to Bangalore, more than 3 decades ago, I too had had an encounter with someone who insisted I 'learn the language or leave'. Though he had frightened me, he hadn't inspired me. (I wonder if this present mean and rude person could have been his son? After all, meanness begats, meaness, and rude people cannot pass on a legacy of kindhearted tolerance.)
The people I met in my sojourn in this city - the Brahmin family I lived with for years, the others whom I met in different walks of life - however, did earn my respect and because of them, I wanted to learn their language, I wanted to share their experiences on levels that knowing only English would not. And while picking up phrases of speech, sharing jokes on mispronouncing and progressing to full sentences made me 'one of them'. And I am proud of it.
Call me a Bangalorean any day, parawagilla. Namma makkullu Bangalurudhu. My children also belong to Bangalore. I may not yet be very fluent (lol), but my heart is knitted with this city. She is soft, she is gentle. She is magnanimous and she has adopted children of many hues and colours, of different backgrounds and cultures. Her heart is large enough for all of them to take shelter under her wings...she is my Bangalore.
Coming back to the present - where did these Mean and Rude people come from? They are the tares among the wheat. The poisonous weeds that mimic the true crop to spoil the harvest. I think their loudness comes from being small inside, and to be noticed at all, they need to cause a fuss. Given a chance, I am sure they would take the next flight out to a 'white' country, only to come back with accents thicker than their heads, and with this new found identity, will lord it over others as a 'fo-ren return' to crib about the 'dirt, the roads, the sanitation, the hygiene', constantly comparing with their 'better experience' out-there-where-the-grass-is- greener.
Would they use their 'better experience' to help out? To make a difference that would make people want to be around them more? I think not. They would still be mean and rude in their new avatar.
Me thinks, they should be the first ones to leave Bangalore till they can truly reflect her quiet, elegant, glory.
