People of Northeast India
Chinese, Chinki, Nepali... This is how we are addressed mockingly by a select group of uneducated and educated men of our society. A quick disclaimer to add is I
am not saying all men are same, especially in this context. My dear friends
from North East, my take on this is Take a chill pill. Ignore. Let the dogs
bark. Give one reaction for your own satisfaction... Who let the dogs
out? Be happy and proud that you are from North East. Trust me, people envy
you.
I have lived good number of years in South India. Now I am settled in North
India. One hard reality whether you like it or not which I have discovered is
people from South India are more sensible than North Indians. Even when I was
in South, people thought we were not Indians but from China or Nepal. But
we were not addressed mockingly, they saw respect to us. And respect is all
about You give respect, you have respect.
Be Happy
My fellow people, one thing I want to tell is there is nothing wrong when someone thinks we are not Indians. It is not their fault. We have oriental looks just like Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese etc. Even we cannot distinguish ourselves as Indians or not. I have my own sisters and friends who look like Korean actresses, pretty like dolls. It is wrong only when people try to bully you or make fun of you on the basis of your looks. That is when you need to put your foot down. You don't need to be disappointed. There are good sides of having non-Indian looks. When you go to South and South East Asian countries, you feel as if you are with your own people, you feel at home. Whenever I go to these countries I am always treated with love and warmth like a fellow member of their own country. I never feel out of place. The best part is seeing their reaction when I said I am from India.
Let's break the stereotype. Many people think North East girls are beauty with no brains. They are dumb and easily available. For this one, I cannot blame people. I myself have seen North East girls doing stupid things, inviting trouble, making fun of themselves. Good news is things are changing. Good news is there are many intelligent North East women who hold very good positions in Government and Private sectors. In many instances I have broken this stereotype into pieces. Let's do this together. Some years ago an ex-colleague of mine asked me I have not seen any North East in the corporate world or IT industry. You are the first one. Why so?. On this I politely replied Come out of Delhi, go to places like Bangalore and Chennai. You will realize that your question was inappropriate.
Thank God I am from North East
Thank God, I am from North East. Thank God, I am from a society who are not
hypocrites. Thank God I have grown up in a surrounding of love, honesty and
simplicity. Thank God, I have the North East genes. Trust me, people envy
your fashion sense, your beautiful hair, your never-aging beautiful skin, your
super-cool attitude. Sometime ago, a female friend from Delhi asked me How often do you go to beauty parlour?. I smiled and said I
don't go to beauty parlour, I don't need to. She was so surprised and
said Damn... You are born blessed. Yes, we are born blessed. So, next time, when you feel that you are being victim of Racism, don't be upset and cheer up, we are a blessed race. Continue to be
kind and nice to people, help others when they need help but don't ever let people take you for granted.
Beautiful read. Straight from the heart.
ReplyDeleteThe way you have experienced and witnessed racism, am sure most of us also have. I too have because of my colour. But then, if you're aware of your worth, such comments and mockery shouldn't really bother you. In fact sympathise with such poor souls for their stupidities.
Loved reading your post, especially this one. Truly inspiring.
Thanks dear for reading and appreciating this story. Yes, even I sympathize such people with corrupted souls. May God give them the right direction.
DeleteI love the pictures, especially the one where you are in it.(with gang of R.k's).Nontheless, a lovely article.Way to go Nirmala :-)
ReplyDeleteHe he he... thanks Reegkoo :) . Yes, RK gals are icing in the cake. And thanks for liking my article. Share it with your RK gals.
DeleteAwesome blog...really loved reading it. I don't know why many of us has forgotten to stay united instead loved to be divided and ruled by others...
ReplyDeleteThanks Jaya for reading and appreciating the story. I agree with you, life would have been much more beautiful if we all love to love each other.
DeleteNicely put Nirmala, though I have a take that as far as ignorance about NE is concerned most of the common people in India are to a large extent ignorant about the other parts. It's like every south Indian is a Madrasi, every North Indian is a Punjabi and so on...North people just are more vociferous then the southern counterparts, and that could be one the reasons of more visible reactions :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rohit for reading the post. Yes, you are right, ignorance is a bigger issue you get to see in almost every corner of India.
Deletebravo girl.. u r INDIAN n will always be an INDIAN.. love n respect from kolkata
ReplyDeleteThank you Dev for reading and liking my post. Very much appreciated. Yes, we are Indians and we will always be Indian.
Deletebravo girl.. u r INDIAN n will always be an INDIAN.. love n respect from kolkata
ReplyDeleteVery true & well said.But in d North east itself there are many communities who think they are more developed & civilized than others. These people may have never been outside Northeast or are very narrow minded. I being a Manipuri have felt this living in Assam.Many might hv felt the same at some point or the other.The Mizos, the Nagas , the Manipuris, the Arunachalis , the Khasis or the Tripurus are treated inferior or the Bodos, the Karbis, the Misings or the Dimasas live a life of complexity even though they have lived in this land of Assam from time immemorial.This mindset needs to change. Please correct me if I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteHi Amarjeet,
DeleteThank you for reading and liking my post. Very much appreciated.
I can understand what you have gone through. Such problems are everywhere in our society. The trick is how do we face and overcome such minor issues of life. We need to open our eyes and see there are better things happening in the world. Have a great day!!!
Powerful words. Takes courage to inspire people to be proud of themselves, their ethnicity, their culture. Good on ya! Go viral!
ReplyDeleteThanks Aspi for reading and appreciating my post :) .
DeleteWell said the truth.... sis... i understood the same thoughts before i met this golden lines.. but i just realised at this moment that i ve to feel proud for being a member of NE ,with no doubt... n i feel proud to be a youngster of one of ur kind Great Sis.. ��
ReplyDeleteHey... thank you so much for dropping a very nice comment. Sorry, I just come across it now. Thank you once again :)
DeleteReally your thinking is so high level.
ReplyDeleteBrave girl, I like your article.
This is a inspiration massage for other people...