Suppression of Marathi culture

Why does this happen ? Why does the Marathi manoos get so violent ? Why is it that the Marathi manoos is so chauvinistic ? The answer is very simple. The Marathi manoos is outraged at the suppression of his culture. This is not a sudden act. This suppression has been going on for quite a while now. It is a cool calculated process perpetrated by the both the mighty and the lowly. Here there is no divide between the rich and the poor. The non-Marathis, rich and poor alike want to make this their own domain. And we are talking facts here, no theories. I will tell you how.....

If you go back to the earliest, this town called Mumbai was civilized by fishermen. These fishermen were Kolis, Marathi to the core. Gradually the island came under Portuguese and of course, some fishermen got converted into Christianity but they never left their Marathi language. This Mumbai is actually theirs. The Kolis and the East Indians who toiled hard to give this city the shape, the culture, the ethos. Today, I am a Mumbaikar because of these people. These are my brethren. And that's the reason why this is Marathi. But now slowly, these gaothans are becoming history. Girgaum and other parts of South Mumbai which were once part of the flourishing Marathi ethos, are now becoming Jain vegetarian zones. The same Kolis who actually made this island habitable are now outlawed in those zones. Marathi manoos is not allowed to buy flats in these apartments because he eats non-vegetarian food. In our own state we are not allowed to take flats and these liberals tell us that India is a free country and everyone is free to move anywhere in the country. Now, where is your freedom to move anywhere ? Hypocrites all !

To give you another example, take the Raghuleela mall in Borivali, a suburb in Mumbai. The mall has banned all non-vegetarian food in their premises, only to appease the Gujarati crowd. Instruction signs and advertisements in the multiplex are in Gujarati. This is an amazing example of the invasion of foriegn culture on us. Where the hell is the liberalist's and rationalist's freedom now ? or is there no freedom for eating in this country ?

Such blatant examples are there all over the city. Coming to the city in search for your bread or recognition, fame, success and glory is different from coming to this city in order to change the culture by destroying the local culture and putting forth your own. And that's what we're against. We will fight, and as Motley Crue wrote, in one of their songs, Fight for your right, we'll fight till the end !

'Raj'niti - Correct or Wrong ?

Ever since Raj Thackeray has uttered those famous words, it has become a compulsory practice of Raj-bashing by every other leader, newspaper, magazine and TV. Is this criticism warranted ? I don't think so. First of all, whatever Raj said was highly misinterpreted. What the MNS chief said in Marathi was totally twisted and played out as some people wanted. So, what exactly did Raj say ? Raj just said that if Big B can have such love for his motherland why cant this small man, Raj have the same ? But the words were taken out of context, they were twisted and given a whole new meaning. It was made out that Thackeray attacked Bachchan when that was never the case. Similarly, when he said that, when migrants come into this great Nation, they should respect the culture and not do dadagiri, the media took it totally out of context and then of course, the rioting started. The worst case of irresponsible reporting was to be seen on the bouquet of Hindi news channels [Bhaiyya channels] . I will come to that later, in a forthcoming article. But, there is no doubt that Raj's words were misinterpreted and misrepresented.

Coming to the second point, whatever Raj said was in the minds of Marathi people for quite a long time. It was this simmering discontent {to qoute a reader's words} which boiled on to the streets. The bhaiyyas long seen as innocuous are not so at all. They have come in hordes to Mumbai and they group themselves up and then do dadagiri. I have experienced this so many times. In Mumbai trains, they make groups of taporis, mavalis and then torture the law abiding Marathi citizens. Another facet of their one-upmanship can be seen in the fact that they refuse to speak in Marathi and in our own state we have to speak in Hindi and not in our mother-tongue. I know what some people will say, that Hindi is the rashtra-bhasha and so on.....Well, my answer to that is, "if Hindi is your rashtra-bhasha then Marathi is my Maha rashtra-bhasha !"

But what is happening is quite bad. North Indians are coming in hordes to this state and changing the demographics of this land. And they have a purpose to do that. They want to make this a mini-North India. But until there is a Marathi manus alive, this won't happen !

Rise Maharashtra !

I know, the question on your mind would be 'why Rise Maharashtra' ? Well, because, it's high time Maharashtra wakes up and rises to face the threat from opportunists, invaders[posing as migrants] and traitors. For a long time, we have kept quiet, facing all the insults and humiliations from the outsiders.
You know, Maharashtra is special. It is different from all other states of India. To qoute Sudheendra Kulkarni, every Indian state, except one, is nomenclatured according to the historical/regional name [eg. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, etc.] , ethnicity [eg. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bengal] or geographical references [eg. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh] but only Maharashtra is the state which doesn't adhere to this nomenclature. Everything is in the name, Maharashtra is a greater nation, it has always been a nation, unlike other states which have been regional entities. Maharashtra is the only nation which is neither a part of northern culture nor a part of southern culture. You may argue about Gujarat and Bengal, but both these states have heavy north Indian influence, which is not the case with Maharashtra. Indeed, historically too, Maharashtra and the Marathi populace has been different from the rest of South Asia. We'll come to that later in another article.
Maharashtra is the only state which was created after protests and agitation in which 105 people attained martyrdom. And these people were killed by the Indian state under the order of the Gujju, Morarji Desai, who didn't want to part away from the golden cow, Mumbai. Still, his hordes have remained in this beautiful city of ours, thinking it is their own. Why does the Marathi populace have more ownership on Mumbai ? Why are Maharashtrians different from others ? Why has the Marathi culture been suppresed in Mumbai and what is the way out of it ? We will come to these disturbing questions, for sure. Everyone's comments, oppositions and suggestions are welcome......

About Myself

Thanks, for visiting my blog. I am Shahaji Kulkarni, a Marathi Gaud Saraswat Brahmin [GSB] residing in Mumbai. I am originally from Goa, however my father came to Aamchi Mumbai. My ajoba and aaji are still in the village. I am a computer engineer, working in the IT sector for a MNC. I like gaming and music. I love outdoor activities like trekking and paragliding. I am a proud Maharashtrian and I am not afraid to admit it. I feel pained to see my brethren being ridiculed and looked down by outsiders. I am a staunch Marathi nationalist. I love Marathi theatre. I have also acted in a few ekankikas.