After coming to Chennai, one
thing that surprised me is the large number
of North Indians working in Chennai.
They are in the IT industry, medical profession, but majority are in the
low paying jobs. Like restaurant
workers, service apartment workers, sales girls/guys in retail shops, etc.
Several years ago, the traffic
movement was only one way. Educated and
uneducated laborers will migrate from South to Bombay
and Delhi Bombay , Delhi ,
and Agra
There was a general perception
that North Indians never considered the 4 Southern states as part of India South Indian leaders. Later, in New Delhi
I am not complaining. I am just giving the background and would
like to say the current situation works great for national integration. I know
a few Tamil families in New Delhi
In about 10 to 15 years, the same
thing will happen in Chennai and other Southern cities where North Indians will
settle comfortably. Majority of North
Indians in Chennai may be low paid laborers now. But very soon their kids will become doctors,
IT professionals, etc. and live here with family very happily. Lot of their
relatives will visit them here. (Couple
of guys in a restaurant told me they are from Bangladesh
I would call this true national
Integration. What do you say?
PS: If you are
going to work in a place, it is better to learn the local language and local
customs. I saw in Chennai many North
Indian workers speak Tamil or trying to speak Tamil sincerely. But a few of these workers insist on speaking
Hindi only. If this is their attitude
they will not survive for a long time.
People in New Delhi
First of all<i don agree with you that North Indians never considered Southern cities as a part of India.No.
ReplyDeleteIf at a point in time if there was a time there was a problem between N and S.That was there ONLY because of dirt spilled by politicians.
I have worked in TN for quite sometime and it was just fine.
Even today,I can converse in Tamil
Thanks for your comments Mr. Chowla. Since I have lived most of my life in USA, I do not have a personal knowledge. I said there is a perception. It is still there in South. It may be right or may be wrong.
ReplyDeleteMost of our security people are from Bihar and UP. All of them speak Tamil without much accent. They are here for the past 6-7 years, it seems.
ReplyDeleteMy husband says that Biharis are good manual workers. So his sites have mostly Bihari workers. They don't try to cheat, don't mind working on a Sunday too.
I know some North Indian families whose relatives hate to come here because we, South Indians are dark and dirty looking. But my friends from North who had settled down here because of work, loves here and converse in funny Tamil...but they try their best to learn our language.
I know many Marwaris and Sighs who are settled in Madras for a long time, and they all speak perfect Tamil. My niece's husband is from UP, and he and his parents have been living in Chennai for years, they all speak perfect Tamil. In fact nobody would believe he is from UP, he speaks so well. The actor Arya is also a marwari he speaks very good Tamil and his movies are always a big hit. Some people really become one with surroundings. My mother learnt her hindi just by talking to people, and after few months could speak like a local. In fact our mode of conversing at home was always Hindi, English and Tamil. That is the normal mode for all who have lived in various part of Northern India.
ReplyDeleteMajority of the North Indians can't be blamed for their lack of knowledge regarding Southern India , for they never had the need to live anywhere but in the North.
However, things have changed in the last few years, and we see a lot of them coming down south and even settling here. I had a Gujarathi friend who became quite fluent in Kannada within a few months of her moving here.
There was a time when they used to look down up us as we don't wear slippers while walking on the road, we eat with our hand, and we are all dark, and we speak a language that sounds " Ingli pingli". Remember the many stupid comedy by Mehamood.
My husband speaks very good Kannada, because he has to communicate with his workers, although he cannot read or write in Kannada.
Good thought provoking blog.
Bangalore is truly cosmopolitan. You can see people from all over India, abundantly. More than Chennai. People there speak 4-5 languages fluently!
ReplyDeleteComparatively, Chennai is monolingual and Tamil-focused. North Indians have to learn Tamil if they want to work/survive/enjoy here.
Destination Infinity
Thanks for your comments Sandhya. What I was trying to say is that more North Indians settling in South will lead for excellent national integration.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rama. I am glad you liked this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rajesh. You are correct. One has to know/learn local language if he/she wants to live in a place.
ReplyDeleteGood article and good observation SG...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Sindhu. I am glad you liked this post
ReplyDeleteCome to Bangalore SG. You will wonder if you are in South India. Most of them are from North and all others comfortably speak in Hindi ONLY. Kannada is long forgotten and it hurts me.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, in Tamil Nadu, there are several North Indians who have settled several years ago.
A nice post...
Thanks for your comments Satya. It is good people are settling all over India. But they should learn the local language, local customs and local culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment SG. At least in TN, people have to learn Tamil in order to survive. But in Bangalore, not even a single soul knows Kannada. These new localities look like they are part of North India. It is sad to see local culture getting lost. :(
ReplyDeleteI guess I am little different here... I have seen many north Indians know more about south Indians and the vice versa...esp. the movies play an important part as well. Right now, as immigrations grew, there had been lots of understanding between the two parts of India as per my personal experience :)
ReplyDeleteWhile the bi-directional flow of people between North and South India is a good step toward integration, for proper integration, each one of us needs to feel more Indian at heart than North/South. My view may be one-sided, but at least in Bangalore, most of the immigrant population makes little effort to gel in, they just want to paint everything in their preferred shade of arrogance and hardly show any regard for local sensibilities. My take, no matter where you are, before you demand your rights, perform your duties.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Ashu. It will change in about 10 to 15 years, me think.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Uma. You are correct. As the immigration grow, there will be true national integration.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Reshma. I agree with you. Better to mingle with the local crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe IT revolution integrated the nation i must say.I have lived in bangalore majorly and in hyderabad. mid- 90's onwards there is a major shift of Indians from north into south in both these places. I live in a condominium which is a mini india and has a floating population. here i see people of all kinds. Despite staying in hyderabad for 12 years some don't make efforts to learn the local language while the working class who have migrated form MP,Bihar and UP make efforts to learn the language. I think it is difficult to generalize regarding the adapting of local culture. Some of my north indian friend enjoy south indian food and culture while some crib, rant and complain that everything is nice back home. There is a mix of this and that.
ReplyDeleteTimes will change slowly...but they will.
ReplyDeleteI am in Kerala and yes I see the same national integration happening in the same manner :)
Interesting post...
ReplyDeletethanks sg
The same is the stage in this state also.Restaurants, real estates, road workers and all are from Bihar,Up,Orissa,Bangal and so on speaking colloquial Malayalam very well.
ReplyDeletehat you said is correct.This integration cum harmony.Nice topic.
Unemplyment is driving like osmosis - pulling and pushing people out of their comfort zone. I agree about local language, also with local behavior. They should adopt to local customs rather than stand out like a sore thumb.
ReplyDeleteA perfect opportunity to learn a new language, I say.
Most of the Metropolitan cities here have now seen people from all cultures coming up together, thanks to the MNC's established there, Being a Mumbaikar, this has been an all time experience for me. Best part of being here is you have friends from all parts of the country most of the time and you definitely know many languages in bits and pieces.
ReplyDeleteI have seen many south Indians fluently speaking Maraathi here, and many North Indians who love South Indian cusine. However , there have been the tough ones too, like you mentioned The ones who strictly adhere to their language inspite of adapting to the locality. I have heard people Teeling the non*hindi Speakers here that you have to learn Hindi because it is our National language.