Us & Them

Boy! We are all back again. Good to see Antya penning something after a long time. Trust me, though I am a part of Thinshark, I am a big fan of the way the other two guys in the group write. You guys should take a look at few of the comments these guys had posted on some annoying blogs and then you would know what the art of hitting-out is. And then there was this article by Antya about the irresponsible attitude of the Admin guys. And another one by Komodo (that got him into a bit of trouble actually) on one of the local events. Man, if you want to explore the definition of sarcasm, you should get hold of these write-ups. We can definitely put the former here, what say Antya?

Anyways, there seems to be a sudden change in my life. I was busy all these days and now I don’t seem to have any work at all. Guess it’s all a part of the IT industry. One refreshing change is that I can get to ride on roads here. Something which I had completely forgotten in the last two years or so. Well, my ride (sometimes drive) to the office is more or less become a way of reviving the past now. Not the best of the past though.

Well, people in Mumbai would be very well aware of the so called ‘Eunuch menace’. Yes, I am referring to the times when you halt your vehicle at the Andheri fly over and within a minute you are surrounded by ten of these guys. Well, looks like quite a good number has migrated to Bangalore.

I still remember the reactions of people when a eunuch approached them. Frankly, even I was one of those trying my best to avoid them, probably more because I was a kid then and their looks annoyed me. Well, that was past. The other day I had noticed one of the eunuchs talk to a truck driver and trust me, there is no difference. Alright, I do agree that they are not educated and they certainly lack the manners to talk, but then I am of the opinion that they definitely do not deserve the treatment they receive from the people who think they belong to a higher class. I have noticed on more than one occasion, the way they get along with the not-so-affluent class is just amazing and that’s when one is forced to think that if we had ever given them the respect that a normal person gets, we would not have had to face them everyday.

Frankly, what I am talking about can never happen in a place like India because everything is considered a taboo. I do agree that Mumbai is a little different from the rest of the country, probably more because of it’s nature to accept everyone the way s/he is, but there would always be that difference in the way one looks at a normal human and an ‘abnormal’ one. I am not sure if these people receive the same kind of treatment in the west too, but I am sure it would be a little better than the state in India.

I guess we never gave these characters a chance to improve. Mumbai has, and that’s the reason you find almost a quarter of the lot talking in English, leading quite sophisticated and fashionable lives. I know not many would agree to this, but then that is the truth. We have always been biased in our opinions. No wonder we are progressing so much, but still lagging behind somewhere. Mindset is what we need to change. Else, we shall spend the rest of our life cribbing for no reason.

-AHAK