Outsider, Marathi, Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar, English and India

Last month we have seen some incidents and media action/reactions where the issue was raised outsider and Maharashtrian. Even Sachin Tendulkar was questioned about he putting India ahead of Maharashtra.

I would like to see this in a different way. I am not recommending this way or that, but my fundamental question is, can we have that narrow mind? I have relocated myself to different countries, different states, where I have been given a warm welcome. I never felt that I am an outsider anywhere. Given this kind of experience it is hard to believe for me that someone asks for out-of-state people to go back or start talking in local language. I remember reading an article where Amitabh Bachchan was asked to talk in Marathi, the language which he can’t talk.

Can you force someone to use one particular language? Or imagine a situation where Bangalore asks all outsiders to leave the state if you are not local?

I really admire Sachin for his cricketing abilities, now I have started respecting him even more. Because of the fact that he respects India more and he is not shy about putting this across. This is the true Indian spirit and it would be a great motivation for all of us to really think beyond these state boundaries and start thinking like one united country.

I not denying the fact that local languages are important and we need to respect it. But, can a local language bring me enormous amount of opportunity English can bring? We are in a global economy now where India’s advantage has been English talking abilities, given this can we afford our kids to miss the global opportunity English brings up? Why don’t we allow our kids to explore the world through English? It’s vastness, it’s ability to bring good literature, it’s ability to bring best knowledge, it’s ability to provide you the communication channel with rest of the world?

As Chetan Bhagat puts it, local language is your mother and other (read English) is like your wife and it is possible to love both of them at the same time.
Time for all our leaders to understand this global mindset, this helps creating more jobs, not by asking reservation based on state.