discrimination against outsiders in indian cities - real or hyped?

[Tweedledee]

Has this been the experience of r2is if they did not return to their native cities?

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/The-outsiders/225462/



Pune, October 06 Ever felt like a victim of prejudice only because you were not born and brought up in Pune, Maharashtra?s cultural capital? Well, you are not the only one who has had contact with the hostile whiff. Many non-Puneites, who have just stepped into the city for work or education, have felt the bias creep into every sphere: from the mundane to the most significant. Brace yourselves, as a few from the receiving end endeavour to tell their tales of woe, and vent.


Bhoomika Kesaria,
Application Developer,
Gujarat
?I have seen this and faced it myself: Rickshaw drivers fooling outsiders and charging more fare than what the meter says. Moreover, we are considered to be a blotch on Pune?s culture but is that so? When the students (who are chiefly non-Puneites) are the ones responsible for Pune?s burgeoning economy. Often, we are considered a nuisance, invading the citizens? tranquillity with loud music and parties. While I?m not saying that playing loud music is worth applause, but not all the students from the other states do that. Why have all of us been fitted in a stereotypical slot? And is it ever thought what we go through when we try to study and the festivities here entail blasting ear-splitting music day and night??

Tamanna Sahni,
Student, Gujarat
?I am not making an accusation here, but stating what I have witnessed. Speaking in Marathi is eulogised, which I think is a very good thing. But is it fair to make fun of or ignore a person who does not speak the language? Time and again, I have taken flak from not only commoners but also the government authorities who just refuse to listen to you if you do not speak their tongue.?

Bawanpreet Kaur,
Chattered Accountant, Punjab
Seems like the language you speak influences responses greatly here, and Hindi is certainly not welcomed in most parts of the city. Wonder where the good old days have gone when speaking in Hindi brought you unprecedented respect from all quarters? I usually have the cops towing my bike because it has the Punjab number plate on it. Fair enough, but what gets to me is when other bikes (with Maharashtra?s number plate) standing beside mine, remain unscathed. When I go to release the bike, of course I?m charged exorbitantly unless I have a Marathi speaking person with me doing all the talking.?

Anjali Gupta,
Professional, Punjab
?My landlord does not give me the electricity bill, for a simple reason. If I do not have the bill, I certainly would pay her the amount she quotes. I feel duped every month but can I leave the house? No. The cell phone companies ask for address proof, while my landlord refuses to give me one. Also, if you are a non-Puneite, you obviously do not have a family here and so, bosses feel that they can make us work late till night for exactly that reason.?

Anil Kumar,
Student, Mumbai ?From the way I dress up to the way I speak, everything raises eyebrows here. When I give my bike for repair, the mechanics charge ridiculous prices and at the end of the day I realise that my bike still has the same problem. I have asked my friends who are Puneites and they do not complain of the same issue.?

[punjabi]

During my stay in Pune I found puneites to be most friendly people and made some best friends however it maybe a different matter if you have to deal with govt. offices, police and autorickshaw wallahs. But the same is true for most of the indian cities if you dont speak local language

[theMan]

Sure enough, replace Pune with Bangalore/Chennai/Hyderabad and everything will almost be the same. Although, I have not R2Ied, migration within India is almost harder in a way than migrating outside.
Bangalore, where I have seen enough, was somewhat good to outsiders till about 15 years ago. Soon, the native Bangaloreans were being pushed to the sidelines on the economic front ( I know this is a loaded statement).A minor number of the disgruntled but vociferous folks got together and on behalf of the silent majority,formed fly by night organizations in the name of language/culture preservation, and started openly causing trouble to outsiders, reserving harsher treatment to groups that showed higher resistance in assimilating with the local language/culture.

[nand]

the discrimination is there. Pune is seen as the last marathi stronghold so the sena types tend to boss around there. You see it in other places too. In Calcutta south indians are made fun of, in delhi it is worse - almost outright racism, in chennai it is there as well.

Fact is Indians are among the most racist and discriminatory people on earth yet in a twisted way also the most welcoming and open. A lot of the quotes in the post are more to do with crass make money at any cost and cheat anyone when you can attitude that is the hallmark of the new India. Everybody is out to get everyone else - you have to keep your guard and give back as good as you get - be thick skinned and think of ways to play hardball in your own way. If the landlord refuses to share the bill, refuse to or delay paying rent. they cannot go to court either. likewise if you are a owner you have to find ways to keep the tenant on the hook as well. this applies to most other relationships and transactions. In some cases personal and courteous relationships occur which smoothen things but those take time which probably explains why long timers seem to have it easier.

[CoolDude]

Though I studied and worked in Pune for about 5-6 years , I never heard my non-marathi friends complain about this bias. Most of the parts of the city are pretty cosmopolitan except the old part of the city where you do find such incidents happening.Since Pune has had so many students coming in from all over the country , I feel that most of the population is receptive towards outsiders.

I worked in Bangalore for about 7-8 months and even the bus conductor chided me for my inability to speak in Kannada.My colleagues talked about indifference from the local police,authorities and said they were all referred as "North Indians" :emcrook:

[DesBhakt]

My wife studied in Pune. Heard similar stories from her.