We the Maharashtrians!

Anyone who knows a Maharashtrian would vouch for this (And if you can’t, you really don’t know us!) We, the Marathi people are nothing but perfect-or at least we love to think so. So be it the perfect culture, perfect frugal lifestyle, perfect education, perfect ‘sanskars,’ perfect dialect, perfect manners or perfect state; Maharashtrians are the blessed ones that belong to a perfect world.

I pondered upon this over the past week when my mother was over at my place. I had a quick brush up on the Marathi way of life with something even as inane as driving a car. And just in case you are wondering, well Maharashtrians are the only ones in Mumbai that abide by the lane system. The Gujaratis, Sindhis, Bhaiyyas, Bhopalis, Oriyas, Manipuri, Rajasthani……(think of all the other states) are the ones that break traffic rules, and we law abiding Maharashtrians pay for their blunders. Phew. Ok so we proceed…

I wasn’t too sure if I were thinking right, so tried confirming this with my left side neighbour at work- a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (From Konkan Mahaashtra, if you must know.)

“Tell me something, does it happen with your family too? Do you guys ever feel that Maharashtrians are the best people on the planet?” I ask.

“Aren’t we?” she asks back.

So I get my answer in her question.
Over the last weekend, I have many small tiffs with my mother who thinks I had swayed into a different culture that doesn’t think of the Marathi manus as the pride of the nation. But I only have one question to ask my mother: “What is with the regional chauvinism?”
Her rhetoric answer would be (which by the way is her answer to most of my questions,) “As an Air Force officer’s wife, I have travelled all over the country and seen all cultures. Only after seeing it all, do I realise that Maharashtrians are the ‘right’ people.”

There was no way I was getting past that argument, so I let the matter rest. But I have been thinking about how regional prejudices have swept through most of us. So be it Amitabh Bachchan endorsing Uttar Pradesh as the safest city to be in (yeah, laugh your guts out) or Narendra Modi issuing pamphlets on Gujarat’s magnanimity towards different cultures, we all have become regional fanatics.

The one-upmanship of one state over the other, one culture or region over the other has trickled down to the smallest denominator. No wonder my little cousin in Belgaum (disputed district between Karnataka and Maharashtra) screeches “Jai Maharashtra” each time I speak to him, while his parents wouldn’t want anything to do with Maharashtra.

As for me, I’d come back to my mother’s argument of travelling across the entire country. But I have a different take on it. With every new place, I’ve only made new friends….Bengalis, Punjabis, Marwaris, Gujarathis, Tamils, Mallus ….all of them. I only consider myself fortunate to have seen them all. Not because now I've been told that Maharashtrians are the best, but because now I know that had these regional identities not been there, I wouldn’t even be called a Maharashtrian.

730 not out…

…..And since cricket is the flavour of the month and also that I want to talk about something cheerful, I need to confess that my relationship has crossed the 730 runs and is still going strong.

We celebrated it just the way we first began…..drinks at Alfredos, a walk on the silver beach and lots of talking…..err well the aberration this year was the dinner at Marriott, which back then we couldn’t afford, but now can (well at least once in a year!!)

I realised yesterday that you are the most wonderful expression of my life. It scares me at time the way I am dependant upon you, but I know you will always be there for me and with me. Just as cheesy as it sounds, I can’t even begin to fathom a life without you.

Let religions be, let warring parents (if at all) be, let society and relatives be, let our antagonist attitudes be, let our distinct personalities be and let just everything else in the whole world be. For me and you, the BE is to be together and to have a lifetime of unlimited fun and love.

Just as you say baby….the 98 more wonderful years are still left!! Love you.

Miss you...

I still remember her barking her guts out each time we tried to step outside her house. She knew the exact difference between slippers (worn inside the house) and chappals that were worn while going out. A step closer to our chappals would have her mad with fury. She would go barking all over the house, pull mummy’s salwar and not let her move forward and then finally go round and round trying to catch her own tail. She didn’t know how else to control her temper at being left alone in the house.
But then as if like a bubble, her anger would vanish when we returned home. Again she would bark and run around the house like a maniac. She didn’t know how else to control her elation at being back with the family. .

It’s been exactly one year today, since I last heard her bark. I still remember walking into that house and not having her jump on me and lick me wet. I had stood still and could feel the numbness in my body when I opened the door and I couldn’t feel her presence. I had decided to make a short trip to Delhi over the weekend after her demise. I wanted to go smell the house before it is wiped off her odour.

I know she will never return. As a family, we have tried to get over the grief. We are all at different cities across the world, but this one day, we got SMSes from each other remembering our dearest ‘Kishme.’ As the day unfolds each one of us is remembering her in small ways…..her little black nose sticking out of the huge quilt in Delhi winters, her beautiful eyes that made even the vet remark, “what a beautiful dog,” her jealousy against anything that remotely resembled an animal (stuffed toys included,) her watering tongue each time she heard a plastic bag being opened (thinking its something to eat)……the list is endless.

We love her so much. Just wish she was here and I could have spent more time with her. Just wish that instead of partying in Goa, I could have been there holding her when she breathed her last.

I’m sure god is taking good care of you. Don’t you trouble him too much. Be a nice girl, just as you have always been. When I come up there, I will see to it that you get all your sweets and biscuits without anyone screaming at you.

I miss you sweetheart.