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We Maharashtrians

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Specially written for the so called outsiders in Pune


Praise be to Allah.

I would like to begin with defining the word Maharashtrian. Maharashtrian according to me doesn't mean someone with a specific religious ideology, I define Maharashtrian like I define an Indian so Maharashtrian, I thus define as someone who is born & brought-up in Maharashtra.

 Once this is clear let us go ahead. I have been in Pune for almost a year now, and been a Maharashtrian as well as a practicing Muslim I feel it’s mandatory to clarify all the following allegations made against we Maharashtrians.


1. Maharashtrians don't speak any other language than Marathi

India is a vast country with diverse cultures, there are more than 100 languages spoken here. I am proud to be a citizen of India. Now being a vast country with so many languages spoken, for the purpose of efficient administration our states are divided on the basis of the language spoken in that particular region (Please note that this is not the only criteria); Maharashtra being no exception. Majority of people in Maharashtra thus speak Marathi, the native language of Maharashtra. 

 I have been here in Pune for almost a year now and have purposely being speaking Hindi most of the time specially when I talk to any of the local guy and have never got an answer in Marathi, no, never. They reply me in Hindi only the accent is Marathi. Like, you have the English accent when someone from the west tries to speak Hindi. So this allegation is completely false and incorrect.

 What I understand from the people when they say that Maharashtrians always speak Marathi and no other language is that when we communicate with people of Maharashtra i.e. amongst the people of Maharashtra we use Marathi which we are very comfortable with. And when people from other states are present there they feel to be left out. But come-on… you can’t expect people to use a language in there day to day life which they are not comfortable with… otherwise there wouldn't have been so many languages existing…!!!!


2. Maharashtrians hate Hindi or Hindi speaking people.

This allegation is mainly laid by people coming from the Hindi speaking belt. I tried to get to the root cause of this allegation by talking to few of my friends coming from the Hindi speaking belt and have found the root to be the Traffic Police. If I believe what they said to be correct, traffic police when catches these people violating ant of the traffic rules or sighting that non-MH number plate; they fine or charge more money to them than to any other Mahrashtrian counterpart violating the same rules. 

 The best answer I can give to such an allegation is ‘Not to violate traffic rules’. It’s so simple, you don’t violate traffic rules, you won’t be caught, and you won’t be fined. Coming to the second part of the allegation of unnecessarily catching them because of the Non-MH number plate; I got the answer when I, myself was caught by the traffic police randomly and on enquiry I got this satisfying answer… see try and understand, you have native people who can get the RTO work done efficiently (I mean ethically and not otherwise simple because they are the residents & it’s their homeland so it’s simple as compared to people from other places) or have all the required documents ready or know the native traffic rules (I mean one ways, Helmet, etc) much better than the people coming from other states. 

 Another important point to note is that the documents are most of the time misplaced during the transport of vehicle from one place to other and this gives a chance to the traffic police. 

 So all of you - so called outsiders, take that dirty thought of being cheated out of your mind…. Please do… because we love you all & we welcome you to this education capital of the country with open hands.

Comments

Sunita Mane said…
very well written quazi..nice!!
August 8, 2011 at 12:20 PM
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