Bharat- India divide

It's just my personal opinion about the educated urban India and the rural India and the differences which exist between them. It is slightly analytical.

 

“Leave from here. You get money for coming here and interviewing us. We don’t even get 1 paisa. We are not mere antiques for you to come here and use us for your own needs.” Don’t panic because these are not my words but are the words of a simple, poor, meek peasant, dressed in a loincloth, with an axe in hand and anger but also helplessness in his eyes in the Korelwadi village near Panvel. This happened probably because he mistook us to be the insensitive journalists who flood these people with meaningless questions without being sensible. Just imagine our embarrassment and fear. It’s unexplainable. His thoughts struck me and the kind of image that is formed about urban society in the minds of the rural people was something that I discovered recently.

          Have we ever thought about the dreams, aspirations, ideas, and motivations of our rural counterparts? Certainly not. This is partly because the kind of technology and lifestyle we are exposed to doesn’t make us to sit and ponder on these larger issues away from our hometown. For us, their views and opinions are petty issues that never really matter to us. Korelwadi is one such village where one can find people in the interiors initiating and voicing their opinions.  They are the Adivasis living in the kaccha houses sustaining on mere agriculture and animal husbandry. Most of them have to travel far everyday just to earn a livelihood. Their children try hard to get primary education. Listening to all this, we, urban residents may sympathize with them. However, is it enough? We rarely think about the amenities and easy life we are bestowed with and never express our gratefulness. We never try to find solutions for these helpless souls. The government is trying to do its share of social work but we all know about its functioning. But is this the only rural India? Let’s see another example.

            As we approached this young gentleman, we saw a wave of thrill running through this boy. “I want to become a doctor as well as an engineer and even an actor”, says Mayur Patil when asked about his ambition. He even starts imitating Amitabh Bacchan by delivering his most celebrated dialogue, “Rishte me toh hum tumhare baap lagte he, lekin naam he shenshah”. All of us burst out in laughter and it was at this moment we uncovered a new phase of rural India. These children are currently receiving education and even in the future hope to continue studying and become well known personalities of the so-called urban league. This was in Tara village, a village that is gradually developing and providing its residents a chance to fulfill their dreams. Here I met another girl named Rajshree, whose thoughts when she explained in her own words amazed me and my perception about rural life completely turned over. Dressed in her regular school wear, with oiled plaits and a humble smile on her face, Rajshree was very open in her views and opinions about life, Mumbai and so on and so forth. She had a positive approach towards life and was highly ambitious. Infact, more than many of my city counterparts. She cannot be tagged a naive villager because, she has been exposed to Mumbai, cinema, television shows etc. Her answers were direct and brief but clearly communicated the existing paradoxes between city and rural life in a new light.

            At the end of this journey, the long held notions about rural India were entirely transformed. Bharat and India are today coming closer, keeping in mind the vast cultural differences between the two. However, elimination of Bharat will dissolve our cultural identity and to protect it, we have the collective duty of promoting its development simultaneously with preservation of its identity. Bharat and India both are important and the divide between them should be used by Indians as their unique strength.