Thursday, December 17, 2009

Telangana ...


I'm an outsider to this debate, and I'm also not up to speed on the key issues involved here. Here are a couple of people I admire from the pro-Telangana side:

First, Manoj Mitta of ToI: Don't need to feel inferior any more:

The breakthrough just made on the statehood therefore seems to give an opportunity to Telanganites to come out of the cultural closet. The prospect of having our own state is exciting as it will let us find our voice, speak freely and unabashedly in our own dialect, without looking over the shoulder to see if any "refined" Telugu speaker from coastal Andhra is sniggering at us.

Egalitarian and earthy as the Telangana dialect is, there is an Anjaiah lurking in each of us, however much we may be educated or sophisticated. The revival of the old Hyderabad state will help us rediscover, among other cultural treasures, our Telangana cuisine which is so distinct from the notoriously hot Andhra counterpart.

The other is Sujai Karampuri, who has written a multi-part series (the latest is the eighteenth!). Here's an excerpt from the 17th post:

A and B in relationship

B wants to separate. A says, no, I won’t let you go.

B says, sorry, we tried for 50 years to make this work. I want to go my own way. A says, no, I won’t let you go.

B says, you are not getting it. I feel suffocated in this relationship. You have not been very accommodating. You have never respected me. You exploited me all through the relationship. A says, no, I won’t let you go.

B says, don’t you think you should say few things like, ‘Let’s give it another chance. Let me address your issues’ if you want me to stay with you. A says, I would die, but I won’t let you go.

B says, this is turning ridiculous. I am telling you I want to move out because you didn’t treat me good. Instead of trying to make it work you are just forcing yourself onto me. Aren’t you being little selfish? A says, we should be together because we both speak the same language.

B says, screw the language. I am not going to sacrifice another minute to keep this farcical relationship going on. I am moving out. A says, I will die but I won’t let you go. I will protest and tell our parents.

B says, screw the parents. I am done. You can’t keep blackmailing me like this. You have always exploited me. A says, I will protest harder. I will burn things down. I will riot. But I will keep you with me.

B says, don’t you think this is the right time for you to say, ‘Sorry, I will make amends. I will change. I will protect your interests. Please stay’. A says, you are taking away the mansion you brought in the dowry. I took care of it all this while. I won’t let you have it.

B says, Aha, so this is all about the dowry I brought into the marriage. A says, I invested in painting it.

B says, screw the paint. The entire mansion belongs to me. The last sixty years have been a hell for me. That paint you put on doesn’t even compensate for the pain I have gone through. A says, if I can’t have it, I won’t let you have it.

B says, Get lost, you freak. I cannot believe I lived with you for all these sixty years. I am moving out. Bye, Bye. A says, let’s stay together. We both speak the same language. What will other people think if we break up like this?

B says. Bye. Now, I don’t even know how we stayed together all these years. A says, I will not give you divorce. Let’s see what you will do.

5 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    Interesting..A B equation..

    Nothing wrong, A and B have complete freedom to decide on what they want..

    But there is a small twist in the story..
    A and B have been living together for so long, so they now have a child H..

    B the mother claims that just because the child has come out of me, it is part of me, so I own H completely.

    A the father says without me, How is H possible in the first place..

    B now says, I have been at home and taking care of H all the time, giving H all the motherly love.

    A now says, I have been taking care of H's Education, Food, and all that H has been asking for all these days..

    A and B keep fighting for a long time and loose all the energy they have.

    All the while H tries to calm A and B and keep the family together. But to H's dismay A and B still fight.

    A and B have given H the education and H is now ready to go on his own.. H gets a plush job in an IT company and no longer needs A and B's support.

    One final day H realises that A and B cannot stop fighting and decides to call it a day. H decides to Quit the family.

    H can live on its own..
    But what about A and B ?

    ~We

  2. Nuteshan said...

    A for Abi in that story??

  3. Anonymous said...

    Good one from Anonymous!

    There is another twist to this story now - after one final day H realises that A and B cannot stop fighting..

    H can neither sacrifice his mother nor father.

    He asks them both to share his love.

    A & B live separately and share H's love.

    After some time A & B realize their mistakes (Shoorpanakhas and Shakunis would have been exposed by that time) and decide to come together again.

    Happy ending :)

  4. gaddeswarup said...

    Tarunabh Khaitan in Subsidiarity and State Formation links to several interesting articles related to the current discussions on Telangana. It seems to me further subdivision of states like A.P. and U.P. is desirable and should be decided for India as whole by some commission of experts. Even Telangana seems too big with different levels of development in different regions.

  5. Anonymous said...

    Some people say, H was born before the marriage of A & B, so the new chapter

    A-B-H : Chapter 3 - A, the Step father

    B the divorcee alrady had a son H.
    Now B was forcibly married to A, who is also a divorcee.

    The rest of the story remains the same..
    A supports H financially and B gives all the motherly love..

    But still because of the differences between A & B, H isn't happy.

    H is independent, has a job and can sustain himself/herself..

    So, H decides to call it Quits..

    And what happened to A & B ?

    How will H know.. Ask A & B ..

    ~We