Author: Times News Network,
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 8, 2004
From the hills of Darjeeling to
the hustle of Dadar. Sweta Prasad was in for a rude culture shock.
While they were tucking into pav
bhaji at a small Dadar joint. Sweta and her Assamese friend Pretina Nunisa
were mistaken for women from the red light district. Businessman Sanjay
In-amdar. the teenagers' host in Mumbai realized with dismay just how ignorant
Mumbai is about north-easterners.
"Because of their Mongoloid looks,
men made lewd remarks and even made passes at them. I was so pained that
I immediately sent the girls out of the restaurant and gave the men a earful,"
Mr. Inamdar said.
The Inamdars were one of the 20
families in Mumbai which took in 80 students from the north-eastern regions.
The arrangement was part of a national integration project 'Students Experience
in Interstate Living' organised by the BJP's student wing Akhil Bharatiya
Vidyarthi Parishad.
For the teenagers too it was a learning
experience. All that Pretina and Sweta knew about Maharashtrians was that
they were worshippers of Lord Ganesh. But they had some culinary concerns.
"When we were in Ahmedabad. everything we ate including dal and vegetable
was sweet," Pretina said in her Assamese lilt. But a mouthful of Mrs Inam-dar's
batata vada allayed their fears. At a function at the Y.B. Chavan centre,
while Geetanjali Goswami performed the Assamese Bihu dance, Sukranj Gurung
and Anish Rai from Sikkim eulogized India in Nepali. Ma-nipuri and Naga
girls dressed in elaborate traditional dress also gave dance performances.
Speaking to media persons Anish
expressed the need for a separate university in Sikkim. "Even after 50
years of independence, students from Sikkim depend on neighboring states
to complete their education." he said.
Mumbaikar Praveen Ghuge of the ABVP
said that the interstate programme was organized to create awareness of
the north-eastern region among the other states of India. "Not many people
know how beautiful the seven sisters are. There is so much misconception
about these states which are infamous for insurgency. But these regions
have produced national heroes who fought for India's freedom. Their 5000-year-old
history has not been depicted to us effectively." he said.
The programme, therefore, was an
eye-opener not only to students but to their Maharashtrian hosts as well.
Dilip Lagu's family had prepared an elaborate dinner for Lalnuntluanga
Fanai (who has shortened his name to 'Mr F' for obvious reasons) from Mizoram
and Ba mang Siniong from Arunachal Pradesh. They soon realized that the
boys didn't really care for chapattis at all. "Whatever they ate, whether
idli or bhelpuri. unless they had eaten rice, they were not satisfied,"
Mr Lagu said.
Small-scale exporter Shyamchandra
Giri who opened his Chembur home to two boys from Sikkim and Assam said
that his son Chinmay, an engineering student, learnt a lot about the politics
and culture of this scenic but little-known part of the country.
