Unity in Diversity??????????

You know what is a bizarre coincidence? I had a horrible day today mainly because of the Delhi idiosyncrasies I had to put up with and I come home and read this http://raagshahana.blogspot.com/2011/09/open-letter-to-delhi-boy.html?spref=fb

I LMAO-ed (really. Not the kind we just type out in chat) a lot, and once I managed to control myself, I decided that I wanted to vouch her views and add to it too.

I came to Delhi after doing my schooling in Kerala, Bengaluru and Chennai. Leaving Chennai was reallllllly difficult for me, but I took it in my stride. I told myself that Delhi couldn’t be all that bad, and anyway, I was quite used to change.

Boy was I wrong!

When I came for the interview in my college in Delhi, one question the interviewers stressed upon was if I would be able to adjust to the new language and place. Mentally thanking my English teachers and all the libraries in above mentioned cities, I said of course.  Enakku appove MILD-A oru doubt vandhirukkanum. Sigh.

When I came here, I found why they asked that. English got me nowhere. Tamil, I think helped more. It helped in swearing at people without them chasing me with the Northie equivalent of arruval. I was stuck with people who thought I was from 'South' and didn’t bother about which state. Of course, that is assuming they know there are states in South and it is not just a cluster of land. Brainy questions like “Is ‘Taamilnadoo’ the capital of Kerala?’ and “You are from Taamilnadoo?, You speak ‘Telgoo’?” where frequently thrown at me and statements like ‘Taamil, Telgoo, all the same’ was the reply I got when I corrected them. Somewhere along the way, I learnt to become immune to these.

In my awesomely huge and overly advertised University, the office staff can’t speak English. And when you speak English (and are dark-skinned and curly-frizzy haired) they automatically program themselves to be unhelpful. Kizhinjudhu. Teachers in class go on in Hindi and class discussions also are in Hindi. I, with my awesome debating point, have to first translate the earlier point to English in my head before speaking, and invariably, it is met with a Hindi response. Once in class, English class, to be precise, a boy said that he would speak in Hindi only as communication can be via any language. And it wasn’t till I threatened to speak only in Tamil that Ma’am even made him shut up and sit. The worst part is, the moment they realize that you can’t speak the national language as well as they can and that you aren’t one of them, there your isolation begins. And not just the kind that is prevalent in most Indian states.

I have heard of rose-tinted glasses, but the glasses through which these people see themselves must be downright magical. A guy on whom the word ‘muscles’ is completely lost walks around like he has Rock’s body. He saunters around like his bulk blocks the whole corridor.  Fashion sense is brilliant too. Red T-shirt and yellow Converse and the guys here firmly believe in pink (the bright, valentines day shade) being the new black. You know, it really sucks when you and your guy classmate are dressed alike. The girls, they live in the assumption that straight hair and fair skin is the key to all of life’s problems, and when they have that, they are Venus herself. The amount of beauty parlor ladies that looked at my curly hair and shook their heads in sorrow before suggesting straightening! And these Fair and Lovely ads, they keep deteriorating by the day. I am a normal young girl but I have WAYYYYYY more concerns in my life than “OH NO! Rohan will never look at me”. Seriously.

So basically, what I am trying to say is that, you guys are not super awesome and all. You are as awesome as we are (which is actually a ginormous credit that I am giving). Forget black and white, life itself is a shade of grey. And maybe I blink when you say numbers in Hindi, but I am quite aware of Indian states and their capitals. Unlike you.

 
Most importantly, SRK looks like a grandpa when our Superstar is still full of STYLE.