Blindfolded.....
Yes. I couldn’t really realise what was right and what was wrong.
There is a fair chance of someone getting carried away by misconceptions about anything to which he/she is new.
I was new on campus and so initially even i like most other southies at bits, was very much into this feeling that we weren’t given the right representation in departments and clubs at bits.
But ....
I forgot something ..
Clubs do not really need to take in members looking at the statistics of the communities on the campus.
Anyone who really deserves to be in and appears to follow the code of conduct of the club is taken in.(at least in most of the cases).
Before finding fault at them we should think twice....
How can we expect clubs to take in someone who’s uncomfortable with English or resistant to socialising?
Hindi isn’t a global language and neither is Telugu. Both these languages are like north and south poles that are no way close or similar to each other. In such case English (the only global language acc to me) can be used extensively for all informal activities. It is a wonderful chance to exploit and use this beautiful language. Frankly speaking everyone knows that proficiency in English in general boosts up a person’s confidence level and also helps induce his career in this corporate world.
To my surprise I’ve encountered many people who not just decline this opportunity of exploiting this resource (English implementation in day to day life and socialising) but instead make a mockery of those who try to socialise. It is a matter of sadness to people like me because the former outnumber the latter among Bitsian Andhrites . And the few socialising Andhrites (including me hopefully) have to bear the grunt as people ( which includes Bitsian junta ) are ever ready to generalise anything. And this is the very reason why many deserving Bitsian Andhrites aren’t able to make it to most departments.
So unless and until we come out of those boundaries that we set for ourselves and embrace all, we cannot expect something better out of others... till then we will be the odd ones out....
.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Hyderabad to Pilani
Starting off with something that I’ve never done… Blogging…
I’m not that good at vocabulary but I’m pretty much hoping that I’ll be able to communicate well throughout my blogging time ahead.
Be it the green but totally polluted lanes of Hyderabad or dusty, semi arid but relatively less polluted lanes of Bits Pilani, the people that you come across are similar. BITS PILANI is indeed very much like Hyderabad-an ocean that is a blend of different and distinct cultural identities.
Last year when I was still confined to Hyderabad and didn’t even expect that fate would land me here, I spent my vacations debating on orkut forums and it was then, that I started loving my language& culture.
I left my hometown for Pilani with these feelings still being dormant somewhere inside. As the train left I started to feel as if I was going to a place from where I could never return back. I bought a telugu news paper and safely placed it in my bag as though it was the last remnant of some ancient sacred text. As the train moved north the sight of Borassus flabellifer L (palmyra palm /taati chettu) trees along the country side was replaced by neelgiri( a form of eucalyptus ). Tea was no more sold for “aidhu roopayalu” but was being sold for “paanch roopaye”.
My journey from Delhi to Pilani was very much similar to many other of my journeys except for the fact that the signboards were no more in Brahmi script and the numbers on milestones were now written in Hindi numerals which was impossible for me to decode. With a feeling of being dumped into a dense forest I entered the desert land of Pilani. The only sigh of relief to me was that the campus was as mixed as the city I lived in. So hoping that this place could make me feel homely I settled down and was ready at the first instance to accept Pilani as my home (at least for the next 3.5 years).
But to my shock or surprise this visible coexistence and mixed flavor didn’t seem to be a true solution but was evidently a colloidal one. things like the usage of slang words with offensive meanings hidden, to refer to a particular community or lingual group, selection of a person into certain departments being effected by his /her nativity made me apprehensive. I don’t really mean to certify it but I really feel even till today that I am personally a victim of such an unsought activity.
Some questions were frequently posed to me.
1) How do you know Hindi that well?
2) Don’t you guys really watch Bollywood films?
3) Don’t you guys really use Hindi in your day to day life?
4) Why is it that south Indians are relatively darker in complexion?
Initially I was ready to give answers to these seemingly simple questions but gradually after being posed the same question a hundred and one times any one is bound to get fed up.
So was I and I started feeling uncomfortable when such questions were being posed at me.I knew the condition of many students from my city might have been similar.By this I don’t mean that people from my city or state are being bullied or being ostracized but the world I see would be through my eyes ,and to me the world now appeared strange.
But was I right in terming a particular section hostile? Or is there really some fault within my community? I wasn’t sure but I was keen to know the source of these fissures. Only time knew if I were ever gonna succeed in finding it out.
I’m not that good at vocabulary but I’m pretty much hoping that I’ll be able to communicate well throughout my blogging time ahead.
Be it the green but totally polluted lanes of Hyderabad or dusty, semi arid but relatively less polluted lanes of Bits Pilani, the people that you come across are similar. BITS PILANI is indeed very much like Hyderabad-an ocean that is a blend of different and distinct cultural identities.
Last year when I was still confined to Hyderabad and didn’t even expect that fate would land me here, I spent my vacations debating on orkut forums and it was then, that I started loving my language& culture.
I left my hometown for Pilani with these feelings still being dormant somewhere inside. As the train left I started to feel as if I was going to a place from where I could never return back. I bought a telugu news paper and safely placed it in my bag as though it was the last remnant of some ancient sacred text. As the train moved north the sight of Borassus flabellifer L (palmyra palm /taati chettu) trees along the country side was replaced by neelgiri( a form of eucalyptus ). Tea was no more sold for “aidhu roopayalu” but was being sold for “paanch roopaye”.
My journey from Delhi to Pilani was very much similar to many other of my journeys except for the fact that the signboards were no more in Brahmi script and the numbers on milestones were now written in Hindi numerals which was impossible for me to decode. With a feeling of being dumped into a dense forest I entered the desert land of Pilani. The only sigh of relief to me was that the campus was as mixed as the city I lived in. So hoping that this place could make me feel homely I settled down and was ready at the first instance to accept Pilani as my home (at least for the next 3.5 years).
But to my shock or surprise this visible coexistence and mixed flavor didn’t seem to be a true solution but was evidently a colloidal one. things like the usage of slang words with offensive meanings hidden, to refer to a particular community or lingual group, selection of a person into certain departments being effected by his /her nativity made me apprehensive. I don’t really mean to certify it but I really feel even till today that I am personally a victim of such an unsought activity.
Some questions were frequently posed to me.
1) How do you know Hindi that well?
2) Don’t you guys really watch Bollywood films?
3) Don’t you guys really use Hindi in your day to day life?
4) Why is it that south Indians are relatively darker in complexion?
Initially I was ready to give answers to these seemingly simple questions but gradually after being posed the same question a hundred and one times any one is bound to get fed up.
So was I and I started feeling uncomfortable when such questions were being posed at me.I knew the condition of many students from my city might have been similar.By this I don’t mean that people from my city or state are being bullied or being ostracized but the world I see would be through my eyes ,and to me the world now appeared strange.
But was I right in terming a particular section hostile? Or is there really some fault within my community? I wasn’t sure but I was keen to know the source of these fissures. Only time knew if I were ever gonna succeed in finding it out.
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