Racism and Indians

So, everything is hot about the R-word these days. News which arouses our sentiments, political statements and a lot of stir in the upper and upper middle class families who want their ladlas and ladlis to go to OZ to pursue some course or the other. A question which confuses me is “What happened to the Australians all of a sudden? How can a country with such lovely people and demographic variation turn hostile to a particular race all of a sudden?”
The more I think of it, the more I suspect the media and the people who want to aggravate the situation rather than let it cool down. After all, what is the need of attack on every Indian being reported with much attention and hullabaloo? Are not there any attacks by miscreants on the natives or people from other countries in Australia? So, if they can be attacked (for money or whatever), why can’t the Indians? And are not Indians looted everyday in their own country?
A point which must be kept in mind here is that the Australian police is helping the Indians in all the possible ways to ensure their safety which is a distant dream in India. And coming to the ground realities, there is no reduction in number of potential Australia goers as told by Vandana, a Hyderabad consultant who sends students to different countries for higher studies every year. Now, I must say ‘Jai Ho’ to our media and news channels.
And talking about racism, aren’t humans, let alone the Australians, racists at the core of our hearts? Where does racism and separatism not present in this world? Are we ourselves free of it? I can recall a friend of mine using the word ‘Mamba’ for an African student in our college when he passed by. And it certainly was a comment on the colour of his skin. And why talk our response towards people from Africa, China, Korea or Japan? Just having a look at the perspective which people hold towards people of different regions will tell the complete story about the belief of an Indian in ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam’.
Studying at a college which has students from all over the country gives a fair and interesting insight about our mindset towards people of various regions and states. There is always an arm’s distance between the North and the South Indians. Among the North Indians too, people differentiate themselves on whether they come from Punjab, Rajasthan, UP etc. And never to forget the use of ‘chinkis’ for those who come from the North-East.
Coming from Bihar, I had to face several stereotypes and comments among my classmates too. And I do so even today after living three years in my college. Though many a times, the comments made about me, because I am a Bihari, are for fun and are taken as jokes but sometimes, they mean serious stuff too.
I still recall an incident during my high school in Bokaro. Once while talking to girl, I used the word “deaf” with the wrong pronunciation. Naturally, she couldn’t understand and asked me what the word meant. And when she realized that I had pronounced the word incorrectly, the comment was something like “Of course, how can you use speak correct English? After all, you are a Bihari”. Now, who will make her understand that she too was a part of Bihar for about 12 years of her life when Bokaro was in Bihar? And how is wrong pronunciation of a word related to a person coming from Bihar or anywhere else?!
So, is not treating people from different regions or races differently imbibed in our blood from the very beginning? And at the end of everything, even our government couldn’t do much when the North Indians were beaten out of Maharashtra. And what is casteism? If not exactly racism, it’s also a form of segregation followed in our country since long.
And finally coming back to the hot and sizzling topic of Indians in Australia, according to a few native Australians, the Indians living there want to avail the benefits of living in the country without mingling with the local population and their culture. So, is not the first step towards racial differentiation being taken by the Indians?
We just have to accuse others (the goras here) of something and we do that without thinking much.