Dear All, After a long time, I saw a write-up, with which I could identify myself as well. I was born in Ranchi to my Bengali parents, hailing from Ranchi and Agra (in Uttar Pradesh) respectively. I had my schooling and early college life at Ranchi (St. John's School and St. Xavier's College). I followed up this with an engineering degree from IIT, Kharagpur (in West Bengal) and post graduation from IIT, Kanpur (in Uttar Pradesh). I started my career in Ahmedabad (in Gujarat), where my daughter was born. I went to Nazira (in Assam) and Dehradun (in Uttarakhand - where my son was born) before being posted in Mumbai (in Maharashtra). I have a flat in Mumbai and in Sodepur (in West Bengal) and had inheritted some immovable property in Ranchi. I speak Bangla at home, though I wrote my Matriculation examinations in Hindi. I can communicate more or less fluently in English, Hindi, Bangla and Gujarati. My children, brought up in Dehradun/ Mumbaiare not conversant with Bangla but have cleared Hindi/ Marathi at the SSC level. I strongly share the dilemaa of Mr. Saurav Mishra. I recall my father grieving that Bihar (where Ranchi was place pre Jharkhand days) did not offer him proper opportunities because he was a Bengali and Bengal did not, because he was a Bihari. The identity crisis has followed through generations and for people like us, who are required to serve in different places, identification with one particular place is always difficult. The federal structure of our country has significantly added to the prevailing confusion. The "Son of the Soil" concept has resulted in clashes of interest, leading to physical abuse of outsiders in states of Assam, J&K, Maharashtra etc. too recently to be forgotten. Do we really have a way out? I do not know. In the meantime, I continue to be proud to be a Jharkhandi, Bengali, Bihari..... and, above all, an Indian. Sujit Kumar Sanyal, Mumbai On 12/3/07, Jharkhand Forum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > *Right from my childhood, i have been frequently been irritated by a few > questions of a similar kind asked by others, that is -'From where do you > belong in India?? What's your caste?? Being a Mishra, how come your > parents > are Bengali?? If your parents are Bengali,obviously you are one too?? You > don't speak like a Bengali, neither can you be called a Bihari??'and the > biggest one-"MISHRA,doesnt seem to be a bengali title?"* > * > Too many questions...and too limited patience for me to answer them.Let me > tell you this that these have been asked by almost everybody-my > teachers,friends,etc. I just give them a smile, and tell them that even I > am > not too sure myself to satisfy their doubts.(cant just bluntly tell them > to > mind their own business) > > Right from my childhood, I have never been a very social person, although > I > like being with my friends always. Never having mixed with the world too > much, I never asked certain questions to my parents ,answers to which even > Indian kids know. Foremost question-'Who am I?' Sounds like some stupid > spiderman stuff but in our country, this question assumes a lot of > significance. Answer to this question describes your identity.i.e. your > caste,your ancestral background,and by what you will call yourself-a > Bihari,Marathi,Bengali...Because,to be frank, nobody calls themselves as > an > Indian, unless and until they have watched a patriotic movie that > day.Youare ,what you describe yourself as, and you are instantly > assigned to a > community in the mind of the opposite person. > > Coming back on track,i would say that my parents were of the kind who > believed that their children need not attach much importance to their > caste,ancestors and such stupid stuff. They just believed that I should be > mindful of my own business and do it. All this was dissatisfying at the > time > when i was constantly badgered with such questions. > > My parents can be called as Bengali as anybody else as they were born and > brought up there. But the absurdity of my situation threw me in a tight > spot. For my relatives and close ones,I was a Bengali , but being born and > brought up in Bokaro steel City,Jharkhand, i had the usual local Hindi > accent,and didn't have that strange characteristic Bengali accent . Thus, > my > Bengali also suffered.Thus, till date i try valiantly to hide my Bengali > parental roots from any outsider in case i am dubbed as the same. Being > born > and brought up in Jharkhand,I have the characteristic of the usual guy you > will find there. That place is in my blood. I am fiercely in love with > that > place..its calmness,its poetic landscape...the fresh scent of earth after > the rains there is the best aroma that i know and long to breathe > always.... > > In short,please dont call me a Bengali.....my parents are > Bengali....Personally, i have a distinctive dislike towards > maccher-jhol-bhaat and rasogullas. Don't ask me my caste:I don't consider > myself as a Brahmin-i love chicken and I am an agnostic. The only > attachment > that i have with the bengali community is that language with which i > interact with the most important persons in my life.I am a Jharkhandi, a > Steel City guy, and am proud to be one. > > Thank you. > > Saurav Mishra > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <nitk.saurav%40gmail.com> * > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
