Are we educated enough?

“Hey, chinki!”The guys screamed at the two girls from North-east origin. The girls so used to the term did what they always did, simply ignore the lusty eyes. This was a regular scene some ten years back in the Delhi University area where a large population of the North-eastern came to get educationally-equipped.
The recent case in the capital where a young life was lost due to a racist brawl, tells a tale of stagnant times. When technology is changing lives, global education is expanding our horizons, middle class is gaining power- our awareness about our own country hasn’t increased. India is a land of diversities. How sad is that we Indians are so challenged in our knowledge about our own country? And this has been happening from times immemorial.
In Delhi, anybody from the North-east is termed as “chinki” courtesy to the similarities of their physical features with people from China. People from South are termed as “madrasi” because to the north, only Madras now Chennai, exists in the south. People from East are called “Bangladeshi” because of language similarities although “Bangladesh” is not even a part of sovereign India. And amazingly these are some of the popular perceptions of the educated lot in the capital.
The complete lack of knowledge about India persists in the corporate culture too. I was once shocked to hear a colleague confidently declaring that Gujarat is a part of Chennai. And when corrected, he seems too reluctant to acknowledge the blunder. If this is the state of general knowledge in the capital of the country, God bless those from the remotest areas.
Indians, world-wide are a huge number to reckon with. Many people of Indian origin are making it big in their respective careers (without being discriminated). At the same time, many lament about the racism they have to counter in their daily routines. Media brings those cases to highlight and we unite in discontentment. But what about the rapid racism our own people have to go through just because the larger lot is geographically-challenged? What about the complete lack of apathy towards people who have migrated from their place of birth to the big cities for better opportunities?
Maybe our education system needs to be re-structured to include a more basic knowledge about the country which is home to people of interesting diversities. Till the time we fail to know each other well, nothing can be attained. Till the time, our own people keep meeting such end, in their own country, future looks bleak.
Let’s atleast get to know each other better before we venture out to pick international accents, international cuisines, international careers. Because without knowing our own people well, we just can’t know the world, better.
Hope the eve-teasers stop teasing Northern-eastern women with a term they have no link to. Hope our knowledge of South grows beyond Madras (which has ceased to exist long time back). And pray, we don’t claim another country (Bangladesh) as ours because we have enough population of our own to adopt the people of a neighbouring nation.

Pic Courtesy: Google Images