tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post1807729666388165732..comments2024-03-24T15:11:59.233+05:30Comments on A simple desultory Philippic: Us and themJ. Alfred Prufrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16446127543417759542noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-53074199146771311782010-08-30T06:06:38.822+05:302010-08-30T06:06:38.822+05:30"and after all, we're only ordinary men&q..."and after all, we're only ordinary men"<br /><br />Excellent post.kmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16040339235134145847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-2707706765486516912010-08-29T18:20:55.997+05:302010-08-29T18:20:55.997+05:30Mita, if VS did say that, shows his acute observat...Mita, if VS did say that, shows his acute observation<br /><br />I, welcome. Hope you visit often.<br /><br />J.A.P.J. Alfred Prufrockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446127543417759542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-75674330905772698782010-08-29T16:29:03.391+05:302010-08-29T16:29:03.391+05:30Hale Queen Rose, the column should be in YOUR pape...Hale Queen Rose, the column should be in YOUR paper. Except that YOUR blog is much better.<br /><br />Eve's Lungs, and what were you before marriage?<br /><br />Soma, like I said, you're kind. And post about your experience of Bangaliyana<br /><br />Ani, identities of convenience?<br /><br />J.A.P.J. Alfred Prufrockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446127543417759542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-22078675127377269572010-08-29T16:04:36.068+05:302010-08-29T16:04:36.068+05:30Richie, muy obrigado
Tania, loved your verse
Pon...Richie, muy obrigado<br /><br />Tania, loved your verse<br /><br />Pondit Moshai, Sharmila could have been a <i>nyaka debi</i><br /><br />Anyesha, <i>Probashi</i> ? "Amon which number, good my lady, be ye one?<br /><br />Vivek, so right. Stereotypes are never about accuracy.<br /><br />PDot, you stand alone, out-topping knowledge<br /><br />Sue, you can call people by any name that fits. And some that don't.<br /><br />Rai Sorcar, "people are introduced by who their great-grandfather was' - that's a gem. But not limited to Bangalis.<br /><br />J.A.P.J. Alfred Prufrockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446127543417759542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-60288525577953900662010-08-27T15:17:50.376+05:302010-08-27T15:17:50.376+05:30More, more, more.
Where are all the cols you didn...More, more, more.<br /><br />Where are all the cols you didn't post?<br /><br />Anon E MouseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-78592852149773397302010-08-27T08:16:48.450+05:302010-08-27T08:16:48.450+05:30Didn't once Vir Sanghvi state that Bengalis ar...Didn't once Vir Sanghvi state that Bengalis are the only community who divide the world into -- Bengalis and non-bengalis? <br /><br />So true what you say in your post. I have this huge gripe against the Bongs. You fail to mention how the the Bengalis call the rest of the Indians as "hindustanis"..not realizing that they are one too. I am sure proud to be a hindustani.<br /><br />Good job!Mita Basunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-26586386047235523672010-08-26T23:05:33.371+05:302010-08-26T23:05:33.371+05:30Doesnt much affect me since I am a Kokatan by marr...Doesnt much affect me since I am a Kokatan by marriage but the husband lays great stock by all this - he's a true blue Bong very happy in his Bangaliyana and his Kolkata iana .Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14157665564024320442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-51526339847601925012010-08-26T19:17:58.692+05:302010-08-26T19:17:58.692+05:30Niiice!!! Summed up so succinctly.Niiice!!! Summed up so succinctly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-22309578242483514652010-08-26T15:26:39.576+05:302010-08-26T15:26:39.576+05:30Dear JAP,
I am a Calcuttan, who spent the first 1...Dear JAP, <br />I am a Calcuttan, who spent the first 15 years of her life amidst a chaotic 'Modhyo Kolkata para' nestled among Gujju Mota bhais who had taken over every corner of the blind alley other than the three/four hapless Bangali baris. I learnt how to speak Hindi like a 'hindustani' from Masterji, who lived in a single room with his brood of three sons and a wife who forever remained behind her 'pallu, in the same alley .. I still remember my 'bhushiwala' Bihari neighbours who had an autistic son and right outside the alley was the beginning of a Mussalmaan para. Yet every Durga Puja, two neighbouring alleys would compete with 'disco' light and 'art-er thakur' but being from such a 'jawgakhichuri para' what I did miss out on in my erstwhile alley were Bangla 'abritti protijogita''bose anko protijogita''Bijoya Sammaloni' and 'Rabindra Jayanti' . When we moved and kept moving I came across the fiercely parochial Bangalis, who you speak so highly of, in CR Park and in a city in the Middle East and all that I had missed out in the name of being a Bangali earlier. And I often wondered, was it okay to be such an aberration, to be Bangali and not be parochial? And then I stumbled upon your 'pimped' post ...Somahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02962119952831348565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-18117974965212604102010-08-26T14:21:24.908+05:302010-08-26T14:21:24.908+05:30I'm new to your blog, and I loved the first co...I'm new to your blog, and I loved the first couple of posts I read. I think I'm going to have to read up all the archives.Mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07206454739634162901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-71690092879985456562010-08-26T13:26:45.993+05:302010-08-26T13:26:45.993+05:30Agreed Japda.I have two strange bits to add to you...Agreed Japda.I have two strange bits to add to your well written piece:- One of the members of the 'obangali' family but having old roots in Bengal from the pre-partition days mentioned by you (I think I can guess their identity)casually mentioned to me that doing business with the Bangali is preferred in his line of business, as they are better paymasters than the obangalis:)<br /><br />The other is about my cousin brother who was born in Jharkhand (Bihar) and studied and works in Mumbai. We were watching a cricket match together where Sourav was having a torrid time. After some time my brother said 'Shala Bangali dubaa diyaa!":)Imagine the reaction of my staunchly Bengali Family :)))))Lazyanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04515533973086213840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-14834092194990197732010-08-26T13:08:27.119+05:302010-08-26T13:08:27.119+05:30and the Mussulman aspect ofcourse is a whole new c...and the Mussulman aspect ofcourse is a whole new can of worms :-)Ricercarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12561382861235675879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-42142837127964267372010-08-26T13:07:03.468+05:302010-08-26T13:07:03.468+05:30nice post. i more than agree with you. however the...nice post. i more than agree with you. however there are a few exceptions to the rule too. for example a family who are friends of my parents, i think you might know them too that i grew up thinking of as very bangali, i found out later were actually from punjab settled in bengal for many generations. i thought at one time that the degree of resentment depended on the success of the community. bengalis hated the maru because who are they to come along and work their butts off and be succesful. but they still hate bihari's taxi drivers and bangladeshi's refugee types and generally everyone whos not a bengali. after so many generations here, i still am told my many personal foibles can be attributed to my being bangal (though they are happy to claim the more illustrous imports from dhaka and their saree's). countless families in calcutta who are more bengali than many bengalis i know are still marked as being a-bangali. infact as someone once pointed out to me, bengalis are the only people who have a specific word for it: a-bangali. throughout school and when i worked in calcutta i heard comments on the fact that i chose to hang out with people who werent bengali. my family is mixed: dhaka, bihar, westbengal. we're not counted as proper bengali either. so the criteria for being included is pretty strict :-)<br /><br />incidentally, i too thought thakur meant they he was a god. caused a lot of confusion when i met real people and was was told they were related to him (because ofcourse people are introduced my who their great grandfather was)Ricercarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12561382861235675879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-39426315520300732992010-08-26T12:27:44.053+05:302010-08-26T12:27:44.053+05:30By and large this stuff doesn't bother me but ...By and large this stuff doesn't bother me but the husband is a product of such an upbringing and calls people Mero and Khotta despite being a Bihari himself!Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10819608939555247317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-89782948267981284522010-08-26T11:52:12.425+05:302010-08-26T11:52:12.425+05:30Alfred,
I have always defined myself as a Calcutta...Alfred,<br />I have always defined myself as a Calcuttan. Not Bangali.<br />ParthoAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12051601689682346241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-19749876434109406782010-08-26T11:05:05.473+05:302010-08-26T11:05:05.473+05:30And most of the "maarus" do not even hav...And most of the "maarus" do not even have their roots in "marwar"! But then, stereotypes are never about accuracy anyway.Vivek Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-3164860397515753942010-08-26T10:18:45.137+05:302010-08-26T10:18:45.137+05:30And then there are those Probasi Bangalis!And then there are those Probasi Bangalis!Anyeshahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12828631537050815636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-75457481400421750492010-08-26T09:10:08.060+05:302010-08-26T09:10:08.060+05:30Enjoyed this thoroughly. Nicely captures the how w...Enjoyed this thoroughly. Nicely captures the how we are often parochial, without really being so. <br /><br />Interestingly, I've had Bengali friends living in Delhi all their lives (CR Park, where else) laying greater claim to 'Bangali-yana' with same argument of me being a Kolkata-an rather than a Bangali. <br /><br /><br />[Btw, I too used to believe in the literal divinity of the "Thakur" title, till I learned that Sharmila was also Tagore/Thakur, and she obviously wasn't godly.bongopondithttp://palscape.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-71184409300565119782010-08-25T21:18:38.234+05:302010-08-25T21:18:38.234+05:30Loved it. Here's what I had written a while ba...Loved it. Here's what I had written a while back.Posted it today inspired by your post.http://thetryingpoetinme.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-breaking-stereotypes.htmlTaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04675390504952528994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11411104.post-2598502807202544602010-08-25T00:24:20.618+05:302010-08-25T00:24:20.618+05:30I have enjoyed the last few pieces you put up, but...I have enjoyed the last few pieces you put up, but this one really resonated with me. Good show JAP.<br /><br />-- RichieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com