Hey Mainland Indians - Learn to Live With My Kind

Hey Mainland Indians - Learn to Live With My Kind

While passing by people, often I overhear "ching chang chu"… Offended, I try to retaliate but the offender is just a boy on his field trip. Few days later I am entering a restaurant, a guy in his 30's looks at me, "ching chang chu", he passes by. Since we are not known to keep our cool in such situations, I confront him. Smelling of spirits, he shows me his id card unwary of his surroundings. He calls himself a local, is that supposed to intimidate me?

It’s a cold winter evening with empty cups of coffee on their table remain a group of unpleasant people. The restaurant is crowded, we order some food and ask them if they could kindly switch seats with us since we needed a table to eat. The reply "arey usko chinese may bata hindi samaj mae nahi ahyega" we walk away.

First of all to those who think the people of China speak in Chinese, let me put it on your face."You my friend are blatantly uninformed or perhaps ignorant. Chinese people mostly speak in two major languages and they are Mandarin and Cantonese. The people in India don’t speak in Indian, do they? Yes, to you idiots out there let this sink in. It may be too much for your pea sized brains to comprehend, but give it sometime, have a pill if you'd like, it may help you with some reasoning.

Perhaps the most ignorant phrase a North Eastern can hear in modern India is the plight of being called a Chinese, perhaps there are even more hurdles we must face, but the most common one I face after 70 years of independence is this - being called a nation less person. For decades, I thought I belonged in India, until the day, the rest of India labeled me.

When faced with such a difference, there are feelings of embarrassment, anger, and rage, at times we may ignore the taunts, but at others it may even lead to our fist brawl.

We are a democratic country with a defined constitution, and laws to protect us, that is what I read all my life. It was only after growing up and moving to a bigger city, did I realize that these laws do little for an alien face in an alien state. Either you live with it or leave with it!

I see people passionately talk about culture. Indian cultural diversity. Sadly, the true face of India is not in its culture, actually it lies with the people and I don’t think being a racist is our culture. Usually we blame the culture or the family upbringing after an incident occurs, but don’t blame the caste or the creed or the sex, BLAME YOURSELF!

I feel it’s time for us to stand up and say no to social evils happening around us. If you took time to read this, I believe you are capable enough to take a stand. Next time if your friend is being a racist stop him, nudge him, or yet kick him.

I am from the north east and I am as Indian as it gets, learn to live with people like me and faces like mine… and the next time you see something wrong happening around you raise a voice, don’t just be a spectator, and perhaps in the years to come we will see the actual development which is required… The development of one’s minds and of one’s thoughts.

[The writer wants to remain anonymous]