Two articles in the paper, yesterday, today, and if not for the outcry it raised, might just have remained, tucked away somewhere in the middle pages.
For far too long, our nation seeks to avoid what essentially stares at us in the face all the time.
And what is that you may ask?
The how we treat others that are different.
And by different I do not mean how we look. By those standards I fail every single time. I look definitely non-Indian, if that is a term at all. My name definitely confuses people for sure. Judith Narayan Vaddi. The first name of course perhaps easier to read, not necessarily to pronounce. The last name, however, always gets them.
I can see it in the faces as they expect a Mrs. J. Narayan Vaddi to alight, minds set on a sari (perhaps Kanjeevaram) clad lady from the south, only to find a definitely South-east Asian looking woman in a pant suit.
Passport? they ask. Nope. Not needed. Am very much an Indian citizen.
Mrs. er Vaddi? they ask. Yup. That’s me all right.
When I speak Hindi or Bengali, in tone, without the accent of my people, it flummoxes them more. When I read the texts, it’s an even bigger surprise. Oh you can read? Like that’s hardly a grand achievement.
I cannot say that I do not derive a certain kind of pleasure in seeing the various emotions that pan across people’s faces as they digest this new found information and yes, sometimes it is delightful to see people squirm. But then again I am digressing.
How do we treat people then that are different?
Why do we and by we, I mean most Indians, always have to know what our last name is?
Why do we recoil (inadvertently or otherwise, subtly or not) when we realize what that last name is?
Personally, this whole identifying of what your caste is, is something that I never grew up with. Back home we are all one big family. We belong to different tribes but there has never been a higher or a lower tribe. We take our lineage from the tribe we belong to but that does not make us any better or superior or less of a human just because we are.
It is shocking though that for a large majority of this nation, what your last name is, is cause for derision and scorn and bigotry and shame. Bullying and shaming to the extreme step where one is compelled to take one's life rather than go through it all for one more day.
This single piece of news should be out in bold letters across every newspaper and every news outlet, but then again it is hardly surprising that matters like these tend to go largely unnoticed. Or if they are, then perhaps for a short cycle and all is forgotten, buried underneath the chaos of everyday politics.
A few weeks ago I had shared a quote – “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
And whether we want to admit it or not, these past few years, there has been this growing sense of unease that has been allowed to fester and pus. The US versus the THEM.
The THEM is the rising voice declaring that we are ALL human. Men and women. All equal. All one. Not one greater. No one lesser.
The US cannot understand the why and how the voices are gathering. And that is frightening.
So frightening that in the race to keep the US intact, the US must take whatever means necessary to preserve what is left of US.
For those accustomed to believing that someone can and always should be beneath you, equality suffocates. It threatens the established, the norm, the status quo of society.
“Chamar to chamar hi rahega..”
For those who have never had to fend off unwanted stares and premeditated judgements because your eyes were slanted and you were a tad too pale, equality horrifies.
“Kya kya khate ye log…”
For those who have never had to work endless hours daily in servitude, serving cups of chai and pani, whilst fading obscurely in the background, equality mortifies.
“Mera bag kaun uthayega....?”
The preamble to the constitution states, “WE the people of India…”
It does not define gender, or creed, or religion or caste. Just the WE.
And it promises ‘to secure to all its citizens’, the WE,
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation…
Today take a long hard look in the mirror.
What do you see? Do you see the WE?
Or is it just the US and THEM?
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. – Martin Niemoller
For far too long, our nation seeks to avoid what essentially stares at us in the face all the time.
And what is that you may ask?
The how we treat others that are different.
And by different I do not mean how we look. By those standards I fail every single time. I look definitely non-Indian, if that is a term at all. My name definitely confuses people for sure. Judith Narayan Vaddi. The first name of course perhaps easier to read, not necessarily to pronounce. The last name, however, always gets them.
I can see it in the faces as they expect a Mrs. J. Narayan Vaddi to alight, minds set on a sari (perhaps Kanjeevaram) clad lady from the south, only to find a definitely South-east Asian looking woman in a pant suit.
Passport? they ask. Nope. Not needed. Am very much an Indian citizen.
Mrs. er Vaddi? they ask. Yup. That’s me all right.
When I speak Hindi or Bengali, in tone, without the accent of my people, it flummoxes them more. When I read the texts, it’s an even bigger surprise. Oh you can read? Like that’s hardly a grand achievement.
I cannot say that I do not derive a certain kind of pleasure in seeing the various emotions that pan across people’s faces as they digest this new found information and yes, sometimes it is delightful to see people squirm. But then again I am digressing.
How do we treat people then that are different?
Why do we and by we, I mean most Indians, always have to know what our last name is?
Why do we recoil (inadvertently or otherwise, subtly or not) when we realize what that last name is?
Personally, this whole identifying of what your caste is, is something that I never grew up with. Back home we are all one big family. We belong to different tribes but there has never been a higher or a lower tribe. We take our lineage from the tribe we belong to but that does not make us any better or superior or less of a human just because we are.
It is shocking though that for a large majority of this nation, what your last name is, is cause for derision and scorn and bigotry and shame. Bullying and shaming to the extreme step where one is compelled to take one's life rather than go through it all for one more day.
This single piece of news should be out in bold letters across every newspaper and every news outlet, but then again it is hardly surprising that matters like these tend to go largely unnoticed. Or if they are, then perhaps for a short cycle and all is forgotten, buried underneath the chaos of everyday politics.
A few weeks ago I had shared a quote – “When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
And whether we want to admit it or not, these past few years, there has been this growing sense of unease that has been allowed to fester and pus. The US versus the THEM.
The THEM is the rising voice declaring that we are ALL human. Men and women. All equal. All one. Not one greater. No one lesser.
The US cannot understand the why and how the voices are gathering. And that is frightening.
So frightening that in the race to keep the US intact, the US must take whatever means necessary to preserve what is left of US.
For those accustomed to believing that someone can and always should be beneath you, equality suffocates. It threatens the established, the norm, the status quo of society.
“Chamar to chamar hi rahega..”
For those who have never had to fend off unwanted stares and premeditated judgements because your eyes were slanted and you were a tad too pale, equality horrifies.
“Kya kya khate ye log…”
For those who have never had to work endless hours daily in servitude, serving cups of chai and pani, whilst fading obscurely in the background, equality mortifies.
“Mera bag kaun uthayega....?”
The preamble to the constitution states, “WE the people of India…”
It does not define gender, or creed, or religion or caste. Just the WE.
And it promises ‘to secure to all its citizens’, the WE,
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation…
Today take a long hard look in the mirror.
What do you see? Do you see the WE?
Or is it just the US and THEM?
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. – Martin Niemoller
Do you see the we
When you look at me?
Or is it but a name
A parody?
Do we see the we
In the she?
Oh the horror
How can she?
Feel, be set free?
Do you see the we
In his brow?
Or must he always be
Subservient, compliant
How dare he?
Do we see the we?
Or should what will be will be?
Justice, liberty, equality?
Is it just for me?
Or for all of the we?
Not my cup of tea!
Rather you than me?
What will you see?
When you look at me…
~ Judith Vaddi
We are different. Each one of us. Our languages, our skin colour, the way we dress, how we speak. We cannot be the same, how can we? But we can and are equal.
DIFFERENT.
BUT EQUAL.
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