"Love" when not brutally murdered....can actually CONQUER all!!
The first thing I would like to say is....I loved reading this creation of Bhagat...I could'nt let it go...and so read it in one go...Man!! had a gala time experiencing this tale...The way he has described the story of his marriage...is so simple...yet so enthralling..and spicey..that one feels like reading on and on..
I personally found it very truthful....as Chetan has not only focused on his love story...but also the discriminations prevailing in our country...Though the epilogue is a piece of word-art ...to attempt the acceptance of this novel by tamilians....but the content of the book is as str8 fwd as it cud hav been...
To be frank.....when I read the description of Tamil Nadu and it's people....I was surprised at first.
The reason being the fact that the author had put down my notions and experiences in words...
I used to think that I was a bit prejudiced about tamil nadu and it's people...But after reading this one...I felt...that it's not just me who feels this way...It's the story of all Non-Tamilians...or to say in the language of south Indian's....The story of all North Indians...
The most disgusting fact which I came across....when I came down to Tamil Nadu was..that people here...had divisions...too many of them>>North & south Indian...Tamilian & Telugu..etc. etc. I had never experiencd such discrimination in the Northern states before....Yet sometimes I do find it a valuable argument..that it may be coz of minority of southern ppl in north....
Well...I am not writing this to express my dislikes about south india...I am here to express...what I feel...bhagat would have tryd to convey thru this book....and wat myt hav bn mistaken for mockery of any state...
I hav heard the review of this book from the ppl of the 2states,i.e. a punjabi & a tamilian...as wel as one from none of these...Me being the 3rd ...who does'nt belong to any of the 2 states...
What I found was that...the punjabi as well as I...enjoyd the book thoroughly.....without letting any grudge enter our hearts...but the tamilian...seemed to take it otherwise....To him it seemd that this book was an attack on their state....Why so??
I have failed to understand....that why is it so difficult for people here to accept their flaws and take healthy criticism as humour???And even if not that....why is it so difficult for ppl here to be INDIANS first and punjabis, gujratis or tamilians later??
I have been a true witness to this state and its procedures...I have seen elderly ppl talk of north indians as trash...and cherish orthodox thinking while their cinema is the most obsene display.These are minor...the biggest fact that hit me was these ppl are not ready to even accept HINDI as their national language....Even the Name Plates and Hoardings here are in Tamil...what about the guests who visit their state and have no clue of their language??
Practicin one's own language is very good...but does it imply forgetting their national language?
There seems to be a lack of patriotism towards nation...all that is left if State politics...
I cannot be totally biased towards either of the two regions....coz I know the hardships faced by both...I know that there are reasons as to why tamilians are a bit strong headed when it comes to their state...But dat doesnt give them the reason to propagate discrimination in the following generations...I feel that Bhagat has tryd to convey that...not only tamilians...but all the ppl in our country should rise above the tangles of discrimintn...be it state,cast,creed,wealth or sex...
I dunno about our elders...may be we cannot change their thinking...but can't we...as youngsters..inculcate...better and broader ways of thinking ....and percieving???It's contradicting though that even while I talk against Regionalism...I still am somewhere portraying bias against southern india...I never had that before...but as time went by and experiences came along...I drifted towards the wrong direction...I really hope that one day I get the tiny blob of regionalism out of my mind...and so it would be fair enough to preach others about the same...
Would'nt it be better that...books like the '2 States' actually make a differnc in the society of young...?When we are in need of any help...that time no one remebrs whether the helper is tamilian or NorthIndian Then why at any other occasion??Do we forget the person who helped us jus bcoz we strt noticin that he/she is from a difrnt state which we don't like much?..If aftr reading this book...e1 if few punjabi's & tamilians and not only them...maharashtrians,bengalis...etc....all take some time to retrospect themselves...,Bhagat would attain what he intended to do...as a writer...
I must say....the book is a fantabulous connotation of romance and real life problems...
If all of us read it with the eye of an "Indian"....we'll surely, feel an urge to make a differnc..if not that....we would atleast realize some fallacies....And not only we wud love the tragedy of comedies...but also...experience fragments of our life in the pages of this Spicey Red Book... :)
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