I read the article and it simply talks about South India's positives. There was nothing in it that was anti-north but the hue and cry raised by lot of people in their post, suggests intolerance for even mentioning positives about south. No wonder we are such a divided nation. I am a proud Indian, i love my country, state, city in that respective order. India is not India without my State and my language and Iam as Indian as anybody from north. Let all those northerners who seem to be so disturbed even about discussing positively about south understand that their stake in India is only as much as mine, no more or no less and together without prejudice or hatred we can build this country.
Looks like South Indians are feeling the pinch of some imaginary identity cricis. Rajeev's sentiment not only reflects that,but also seeks to orchestrate that South India is different.
Sure it is different and has a large cultural difference with Rest of India. The 50 years of Karnataka formation equally shared and celebrated by the other Southerners seem to desperately reflect the recognition factor and also further the chasm .
As a person having lived in every part of India ,staying in South has been most difficult for adjustment. Advise to fellow "Rest Indians"(other than South) do not try to relocate into South. You would be better of in Timbuktu.
RE:Crazy South
by Indian on Nov 14, 2006 12:41 PM
Dear Mr. Bhattacharjee, Assuming that you are from bengal, and a lot of bengalis say they are poets , writers etc, So let me thank you for the National Anthem that our fellow Indian Tagore or your fellow bengali wrote praising King George of England during his visit to India, I believe in 1919!
I think you should move to London:) you might find it very accomodating:) I'm sure you still find the queen "Adhinayaka":)
A Kite has 4 directions , north , south , east and west and so does India. So India should only be subclassified on thease 4 zones and not merely on basis of North and South. We in Western India comprising Maharashtra , Gujrath and Goa cannot be classified as South Indians as we are not Dravidians, and our script of writing is Devnagri. Adding to that North Indians also do not include the people from Maharashtra , Gujrath and Goa as North Indians, the direction WEST should be respected as Western India and not part of South India. Its same to a Bengali or a Assami or a person from Eastern India cannot be classified as North or South Indian.Hence the 4 directional zones in India North , South ,East and West should be aptly considered and respected.
Mr. Rajeev Srinivasan has rightly pointed out that Maharashtra and Orissa shud also b considered as southern states. This shud also include Goa. I come from Kolhapur and this place is more 'south' geographically than the southern city of Hyderabad where i work !!! Infact, I have always felt at home in the southern states than in the northern ones.
Positive thinkers please ignore my comment.For rest...
Please do not generalize things. Though many comments do make sense in some situations, but lets not generalize. Think what you can do to improve things than putting effort on how to criticize.
I want to know why north indians have inferiority complex. Rajiv just glorified four states. He did not say bad about other states. Also tell what is the achievement of north indian kings. One achievement I can think of is getting defeated repeatedly at the hands of Moghuls.
I have north indian as well as south indian friends. and I have noticed that north indians have a inferiority complex. It becomes evident when we talk about the amazing progress of Bangalore, chennai and hyderabad. History is a proof that south indians are always superior to north indians.
Rajeev, I like most of your articles, this is certainly not one of them. There is nothing wrong per se with your aricle...except the title itself. It smells of arrogance and a little bit of haughtiness. To begin with let me tell you, I am a north indian and I love the indians living in south india, there food, there culture, everything(I don't want to use the term south indians).
Why write an aritcle that can incite such responses? But again your articles have a tendency to be provocative, may be that's the way journalism is now a days.
But there are a few things, I believe you could have mentioned that contribute to the rise of your "south India". -The nuclear testing is done in Rajasthan, it puts the people in Rajasthan at a higher of risk of being exposed to radiation, but it makes entire india safer...including your "south India"
-North Indian states are the first line of defense in case of an attack from hostile neighbours...which makes your "south india" safer and prosperous.
I personally don't think you meant to be offensive to the north indians, I guess its the readers who have taken it too far.
