I don’t claim to know or like Bollywood, but I do love languages and everything connected with them, whether it’s linguistics classes (so I may learn to pronounce the “u” in “Tu” properly, in french) or articles about the politics of what we speak, how we speak it, and when and where:
It was an innocent, throwaway remark but it was enough to throw India’s most famous acting family into a head-on collision with a right-wing group in the country’s movie-making capital.
Jaya Bachchan, the wife of the country’s best known movie star, Amitabh Bachchan, found herself at the centre of a nativist fury after she asked to speak in Hindi at a press conference in Mumbai, rather than Marathi, the local language. She said because the family was from northern India, it was easier for her to speak Hindi. [linkage]
Ouch. Ready the effigies!
A harmless enough remark perhaps. But her words were seized on by right-wing activists who demanded a boycott of all films by the Bachchan family – Abhishek Bachchan is Amitabh’s son and Aishwarya Rai is his daughter-in-law – and who began tearing down posters featuring the family and damaging a cinema showing one of their films. Such was the concern that the premiere of Mr Bachchan’s latest movie, The Last Lear, was postponed.[linkage]
The culprits (oh, how I love that word) may have belonged to or been inspired by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which splintered from Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena two years ago. The regionalist, right-wing MNS would prefer that Maharashtra be for Maharashtrians; predictably, they are rather protective of the Marathi language, as well. MNS insists that this isn’t the first time Bollywood’s finest family has dissed Bombay Mumbai (Mollywood?):
“She has purposely made such statements. Even when she said forgive me, she had a cunning smile, like she was taking potshots at Maharashtrians,” said the MNS party leader, Raj Thackeray.[linkage]
It’s a sign of how powerful this party is, that rather than roll their collective eyes, the Bachans responded by going in to apology mode. Big B even devoted an entire blog entry to his sorrow over the whole unfortunate affair, after passing a sleepless night. Highlights from that (I forgot he had a blog!), after the jump:
Arriving into London last night after a most satisfying trip on the Euro Star, from Paris, I am inundated with sms and text messages from the press on my mobile, on the happenings and controversies occurring in Mumbai, over remarks made by Jaya at the music release function of ‘Drona’, Abhishek’s film on release.
…I am by nature an individual that invariably, when confronted, addresses an issue by looking at the other person’s point of view first. This is my character. I was born with it and shall remain with it. I cannot change it now. Many friends and family look upon it as a malaise, which is defensive, wrong and incorrect. But, much to their dismay I have remained unchanged.
My first reaction therefore is, that in this matter, sentiments have been hurt.
I am not going into what has been said and under what circumstances. But rather that, even if one person is disturbed, then I would wish that that disturbance be addressed first. All else can come later…[BigBlog]
Well if she speaks to the HELP in Marathi…
Jaya has had her education in this State – in the Film Institute in Pune. Lived and graduated from that city. She speaks fluent Marathi. A major portion of our staff are all Maharashtrians. Jaya’s personal maids have been with us for almost 40 years and Jaya speaks to them in the house, only in Marathi.
Can we ever show disrespect to the local language? [BigBlog]
Uncle Amitabh (many of his commenters refer to him as such, as they express concern for his and Jaya-Auntie’s welfare) then goes on to painfully list the many, many ways he and his family have been involved with or contributed to their adopted home state.
Perhaps Shah Rukh Khan should do similar:
Other Indian movie stars have also fallen foul of the regionalist attacks. In its recent political magazine, the Shiv Sena attacked actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is originally from Delhi and who often talks fondly of the city. “If he loves Delhi, then why did he come to Mumbai?” it said. “These people come here, fill up their bellies and then burp in the name of their own states.” [linkage]
When Rediff asked AB about the Jaya Bachchan-MNS controversy, he had this to say:
It’s really unfortunate that this controversy started. We had no any intention of degrading any language. We have been living in this city for the past 40 years and whatever my family and me have earned is only because of this city. I am really proud of this city. Why will I degrade anything about this state and its language? We would love to live peacefully.
Now when off-the-cuff remarks are being distorted, people are protesting. Common people, who are innocent, have got nothing to do with this issue. So they should not suffer. Because of this we cancelled the premiere of The Last Lear. [rediff]
All’s well that…well, ends:
For the Bachchan clan, at least, it appears the current controversy has drawn to a close. After the Big B’s well publicised apology Mr Thackeray of the MNS said it was calling off its boycott. He said: “Amitabh Bachchan is the head of the family and he apologised yesterday, we accept that.” [linkage]
Nice. His apology was worth more than hers. That is to be expected, I guess. In other news, the majority of people whom I’ve met from Bombay are transplants from other states, as is the case here in DC or up North, in New York. Regionalism is a troubling movement; I can’t imagine a DC filled only with “natives”– I’ve only met three of those, in the past ten years.
Isn’t “Mollywood” already a term for Malayalam Cinema?
They don’t have power, only a lot of nuisance value. The MNS has enough thugs under its command to ensure that no cinema runs any Bachchan film till they decide to allow it.
Bachchan figured that an apology was far cheaper than all the lost business.
This moron thug who threatened them just did an interview saying he admires Hitler for his ‘organising ability’ or some idiotic stuff like that.
For those who havent been following the Mumbai politics closely, it is essentially a power struggle between the Son and Nephew of the leader of the Shiv Sena ( Literally Shivaji’s Army). The nephew, Raj is clearly emulating his Uncle who exploited the discontent amongst the Maharashtrian youth of Mumbai to rise to power. Back then Bal Thackeray called for throwing the south indians out of mumbai. Now Raj is using similar tactics against the North Indians. And though I am no fan of either the Uncle or the Nephew, they are no ” moron thugs” . Just your plain garden variety shrewd politicians.
Raj Thakre is just trying to flaunt his power to get support and entertain his gundas before he does something really bad. Hopefully his no good party will realize he’s even worse.
Is India really conservative though? With crap like this?
The same nativists recently tried to force all city business to be conducted in Marathi. Unfortunately for them, they were hoist by their own petard when one of them tried to make an important Powerpoint presentation in English. The opposition called him out on it, leading to some embarrassment.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=15&contentid=200807032008070302210636331e6058b&pageno=1
. . . . . . . . . .
A splinter group of Shiv Sena in winning a political fight against Bollywood? “I will crush you,” said Ivan Drago. I hope. (yes, I know how the movie ends).
In other news, poorly done, slow-moving industrialization continues to cause all kinds of problems…
According to TOI, The actress-MP, who attended a function on Saturday to promote her film Drona , had said, “Hum UP ke log hai, hume Hindi mein baat karni chahiye (we are from Uttar Pradesh and should speak in Hindi).”
Isn’t Jaya Bhaduri a Bengalee and Amitabh part punjabi? She was obviously talking metaphorically may be refering to her busbands native UP. Big deal. Now BJP, a national party (“Jaya Bachchan should not insult Marathi in Maharashtra,” BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde said while speaking at a Press conference”)joins the fray. What next?
ok ok, though Mumbai is a part of Maharasthra, its quite different from the rest. For many years it has status as the Industrial Capital of India, the Hollywood of India, one of the largest (or maybe the largest) sea port, the New York of India, and the list goes on. PLUS its central location (between North and South) has made it a hub for all kinds of ppl to go there and make something out of it. I have folks from Mumbai, and my folks are SOUTHIES. Yes there are many native marathi ppl there, but if they dont make it a habit of learning either Hindi or English there will be problems. plus how can they expect a Bengali Mother, a North Indian father, and a South Indian Daughter-in-law to speak in marahthi?
Love that bit: “burp in the name of their own states”!
To add to my fellow western G’s comment: This is a hostile takeover. The nephew is making a move on uncle and lame duck cousin. Don’t underestimate the man because his politics is iffy.
And what makes you think they can’t? Even street kids are bilingual. Something I’d like to see in other cities.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t “Thackeray” a British name? Why does Raj Thackeray have a name that sounds distinctly un-Indian and — dare I say it — colonialist? 😉
this is the same state that plans to erect a $4.5 mil statue of shivaji vs. take care of its masses.
this incident is just the tip of the iceberg.
(written as a maharashtrian raised on the legend of shivaji)
All that brouhaha and my favourite quote is:
“Amitabh Bachchan is the head of the family and he apologised yesterday, we accept that.â€
Task A – Priority 1 – Read out the riot act to Raj Thackeray and ask him and his goons to behave or else…
Task B- Call out special dispensations, chauvinism in India whereever you see it.
Exhibit 1 – In Tamizh Naadu there is no Hindi just as there aren’t any gays in Iran – and that means Hindi signboards can be defaced at will, Hindi itself can be called a language of invasion with no consequences. TN hass a long history of thuggish intolerance for Hindi and anything to do with it. That is why Hindi language schools (that can be found in every street corner of the state) have signboards in English and Tamizh but not Hindi!
Exhibit B – In Karnataka, Kannada chauvinists began to emulate their Tamizh counterparts about 30 years ago. It became serious enough to affect even the Catholic Church that became divided between Malayali laity, Malayali priests, Konkani priests, Konakani priests, and the much smaller Kannada laity, with a considerable number of Tamizh laity and Tamizh priests adding to the melee. Matters became v.v. serious in 1980 when the Archbishop’s car was commandeered by some extremist members of the Kannada laity, and the car burnt!! Matters have settled since then, but tension simmers. When I last visited Bangalore some years ago, I was alarmed to find that even the Kannada vs. rest animosity had spilled over to the CSI as well. Entire congregations had split by then over unresolved disputes over which sermon should be read out first – the Kannada or the Tamizh or the English!
Exhibit C – The Valley of Kashmir, where the stupid Art.370 of the Indian Constitution holds sway, preventing Indians from outside the Valley from as much as holding a temporary job, leave alone a plot of land (or what’s left after the jihadi scum have seized everything. Hard as it may be to imagine that there are people worse than Raj Thackeray, there are in the Kashmir Valley, the most loutish thugs. Asiya Andrabi?
if the Bollywood community has any balls, they would tell the Marathi thug politicians “hey you don’t want Hindi to coexist in Mumbai? Fine. We will set up shop elsewhere. Explain to your Marathi people all the lost jobs that go with the loss of industry”.
On that note, maybe the South Indians should have threatened to leave too. We will see what their land values will be like if Mumbai just becomes another regional city.
Huh.. What do you mean Hindi language schools?. I don’t think there is a single school that teaches Hindi medium in Tamilnadu.
I’m amused by the way how commenters trivialise the natives. I’m fully in support of Raj Thackeray. If you goto a city to make a living it is a courtesy to learn the language spoken there. Didn’t we all (implying the DBDs) learn to speak in English in the US?. I don’t think I can claim, since I’m from Tamilnadu, I’ll speak in Tamil in a public function in US. Generally, Hindians have this language imperialism and it is good that they are getting the right treatment from Marathis. I like this.
Ponniyin. your point has some validity. But would Bombay be what it was if it demanded that kind of Marathi first adherance? The reason it got to be so big is it became this big melting pot. And Bollywood is one of their biggest draws(which is a central point for the current controversy). It sure is not the Marathi film industry. If they want to enforce the Marathi thing outside Bombay in other Marathi cities, they would have a point. But Bombay got where it was because of the Hindi and South indian infusion.
For the record, I do think Hindi should not be forced on any state. I support Tamils right to resist Hindi, even if they went a little too extreme. BUt the Hindi proponents went too far.
The question is this. Will the Shiv Sena want to throw out Bollywood and let some Hindi friendly city host all those studios and hotels that cater to the Bollywood players? Will they be content with the Marathi film industry be the only game in town?
It is precisely because Hindi has a huge presence that many people feel comfortable moving to Bombay. You make it Marathi only and watch the growth slow down.
that’s a nice picture of jaya.
thakeray has only backed off because sonia gandhi intervened indirectly. it was made known that sonia has asked the CM of maharashtra to increase the bachchans’ security. this was a way for her to get her message across. she’s a very powerful woman and she wields this influence subtly but effectively. i wonder if she learnt this from indira or if it’s something she has naturally.
I’m not saying that I support nationalistic reactionary thugs, but I do understand people’s unease at the dilution of their regional and historical distinctions in the face of the encroaching vapid global monoculture (as represented by their children’s abandoning the rich idiom of their mother-tongues in favor of Hindi and English).
I mean, the curses and insults we have in Punjabi–their value to world culture is immeasurable! (And I’m being serious.)
120 · Ponniyin Selvan said
OK Hindi institute? I mean Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, where all the teachers are South Indian. It is one thing to insist that people learn Marathi in Bombay – why not Gujarati which isspoken by a v.high % of the population? – and another thing to go around trashing property and people. Violence is inexcusable. In the case of Hindi in TN, the DMK/DK thugs beat up people who learn or teach Hindi. That’s why I like Kerala, Calcutta and Hyderabad. No one is anxious about people not learning the local language – Malayalam, Telugu or Bangla. And these languages thrive.
That’s a thug for you, nothing like the law to put fear into a thug. Law enforced impartially and ruthlessly works very well.
There is a lot of nativist sentiment in Mumbai, and the MNS are just a bunch of goons looking to become politicians by exploiting and stoking that sentiment.
But that said, the actual ‘linguistic distance’ between Marathi and Hindi is not large. The Sanskritized Hindi in particular shares a substantial part of its vocabulary with Marathi, and not entirely by accident. The two languages also share a script – Devanagari – except for one or two consonants that Marathi has that Hindi does not – such as a different ‘L’.
As someone who is conversant with both languages, I can say that it is fully possible, with very little conscious effort, for a speaker of either language to become fully conversational in the other in a fairly short amount of time. This is not the case, for example, with French and English, two other languages I also know. It is even less the case between, say, Tamil and Marathi, though even there, since there is a ‘Tanjore Marathi’, some overlap could exist.
A large part of Central India – outside today’s Maharashtra state – was ruled by the Maratha Confederacy during the 1700s to mid-1900s, and as a consequence, many Marathi speakers settled in parts of the country where the majority of the local population do not speak Marathi. These Marathi-speakers and their descendants have learnt Hindi, evolved ‘Marathified Hindi’, contributed to Sanskritized Hindi, and also made the local population of the area familiar with traditional Marathi. So the whole issue is a bit more complex than it looks just from Mumbai.
As it happens, Jaya Bhaduri herself was brought up in Nagpur and went to college in Pune – there’s no way she couldn’t be conversant in Marathi, and indeed she is, as AB mentions – though he needn’t have added the silliness that all his maids were Maharashtrian and etc. If I am not wrong, Jaya has also acted in Marathi movies.
I saw the clip in which she makes a little joke about speaking in Hindi, and there was a slight dig against the MNS goons. Maybe it was not completely innocuous, but the MNS goons are hardly innocuous language rights activists themselves. She is also a Rajya Sabha MP from UP. Since her father-in-law’s family is from Eastern UP, and her own ancestry is Bengali (two areas where the Maratha Confederacy did not quite penetrate), and her family is also close to the Nehru-Gandhis – it might be assumed that she was playing some politics. There are indeed a very large number of migrants into Bombay from Eastern UP and Bihar who are subject to considerable harrassment from MNS-type goons. But as far as I can tell, from the context, there is no explicit political angle in what she said. It was just a joke.
Lighten up, is what I say.
Nicely done Anna. In Maximum City, Suketu Mehta moans about ghatis, whom he vaguely remembers as servants and maids, running things. He’s kidding, but not really. We don’t dirty our mouths with the language of worker class dear. Shiv Sena was quite successful in exploiting this feeling of resentment. Raj Thackeray’s Sena 2.0 is merely updating old tricks.
Doesn’t Jaya B. know the HIndi Kahawat “Aa bail muze maar ” ?? I think that remark was totally unnecessary. She was just asking for trouble and some extra controversy for her son’s movie.
There are no Hindi institutes in every street corner of Tamilnadu. Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar sabha is in T.Nagar, and around a few thousand (out of tens of lakhs) students study Hindi as an extra curricular activity out of school.
When did the beatings of DMK/DK thugs happen ?. Looks like I missed it. Anyways, a few years back when I was saying the same things, some one replied on similar lines, “That’s why I like Bombay, Kerala, Calcutta and Hyderabad”. Mumbai is not on the list anymore. 🙂
24 · Harbeer said
Harbeer, didn’t know you were sympathetic to the anti–mexican crowd.
30 · marque dos said
Don’t put words in my mouth. My comment started with a caveat: I’m not saying that I support nationalistic reactionary thugs, but…
I sympathize with their point-of-departure–we all do indeed live in a time of social upheaval. (Though I don’t think that’s particularly unique to our time–things are always changing.) Here’s Annie Dillard:
So I can sympathize with their anxiety while simultaneously disagreeing with their analysis and proposed “solutions.” The world (and Harbeer) is more complex than you’re insinuating, but nice try.
20 · Ponniyin Selvan said
Yes, I think Maharashtra should require people to get a visa for non-natives to entry. I like this too.
On the one hand, these asses talk about a pan-Indian (Hindu) identity, and on the other hand, they have these massive separatist and nativist tendencies. Maharashtra can require whatever kind of curriculum and language requirements in its schools and educational institutions and for obtaining government jobs (as long as it conforms with the Indian Constitution; just as the US can impose language requirements in return for providing citizenship or residency privileges). Because Maharashtra is a state in the Union of India, it cannot restrict entry and exit on grounds of language. Forcing people to speak in particular languages in private (non-government) settings is violates the freedom of speech rights articulated in the Indian Constitution. Mrs. Bachchan’s statement was poorly worded, and the apology about her using Marathi with the help was absolutely condescending. She could have been more careful in her remarks. This cannot, however, justify the senselessness of these goons’ positions. This is just machismo and inflammatory politics, and these guys should at least bother developing a cohesive ideology. As such it lacks any moral legitimacy whatsoever. I cannot see how anyone can endorse this goonda raj, but those with chips on their shoulders about ‘imperial north indians’ (usually poor migrant workers in the streets of Mumbai) will likely agree with this pernicious POV.
30 · marque dos said
Sorry I’m severely distracted by people imposing hurricane hysteria on me at the moment so I’ll probably need to clarify later but your response neglects to factor in the monocultural capitalist juggernauts that are Bollywood and Hollywood, so the comparison to “the invading Mexican hordes” is really a stretch.
29 · Ponniyin Selvan said
People studdy Hindi in TN to get ahead in life, by getting out of the state. This is very common outside Chennai, and not so common within Chennai. Even in TN based businesses knowledge of Hindi is almost a must. take all the business groups of Chennai, TVS, TI, SPIC etc., They all have national operations and prize job candidates who know Hindi.
The MNS/RSS are Hindu fanatics, and I don’t appreciate this one bit. However, on the issue of Marathi culture and language, I do agree with them. Assimilating or segregating of an ethnic group towards another ethnic group acknowledges acceptance (when the immigrant feels that the host ethnicity is at least on par or even “better”) or rejection (when the immigrant ethnic group feels that the host is inferior). This is the case most of the time, and South Asians are very notorious for this. As you may all know, the Indian living in Africa don’t speak a word of the native African language, never intermarry with them, and are only using that landmass as a place to earn money. On the first opportunity, they leave that area, unlike the native Africans who have a deep respect for their place at many levels.
Same way, SRK, AB, and Ash R-B all have a superficial love for Mumbai, which is only contingent on them being insiders in Bollywood. I personally know of Sindhis, Punjabis, and Gujaratis who are very proud that their family is from Mumbai and/or Pune, but they’re also not ashamed of the fact that they don’t speak a word of Marathi, except to communicate with their servants. In South India (i.e. South of Maharashtra and Orissa), the natives feel the exact same way, and the Northerners who have great jobs there also show disrespect, arrogance, and contempt for the local customs of the local people. They’re also proud that their knowledge of Malayalam doesn’t go beyond simple orders to the chef/drivers. NOTE: I’m not singling out Northern Indians. Even the other non-Kannidiga communities of Bangalore are doing this as well. For example, I’m familiar with the fact that many Tamils in Bangalore do not speak Kannadiga, and they have even imposed their Tamil culture there.
So for sure, I believe that anyone who lives in Mumbai, Bangalore, or Delhi, should be very well-versed in the languages of Marathi, Kannada, and Hindi, respectively. Moreover, they should be very culturally sensitive.
One thing ironic and hypocritical of all this is Jaya Badhuri. She was actually born into a Bengali family (according to Wiki), and her and AB had a “traditional Bengali wedding ceremony.” Now, we all know that in the name of linguistic-pride, over 1,000,000 Bengalis were killed and many ladies were raped in Eastern Bengal (i.e. East Pakistan/Bangladesh) in ’71, and one of the big issues that started this was the imposition of Urdu (i.e. Islamicized Hindi) onto the Bengalis there. So Jaya Badhuri, who is a Bengali, hasn’t even learned the significance of respecting other’s language and culture. I have a feeling that even Ashwarya is also very shy that her mother-tongue is Tulu.
Last time I checked, the number of folks who said they know Hindi (whose first language was Tamil) was a staggering 0.87% (1991 census reports). Either 99% of them are not planning to get ahead in life or maybe Hindi is not really a must as it is made out to be. I’d think it is the latter. 🙂
Ponniyin Selvan So 99% of Tamilians will gladly speak/learn Yingleesh but not Hindi- a national language?
Another thing that seems to bind the Tamil pride is Super star Rajni, who was born a Marathi and speaks fluent Hindi.
We have a Tamizh at work who has this ‘lost’ expression when the DBDs start talking in Hindi at get-togethers. Every once in a while the other desis will notice this and revert to English. poor chap reminds me of a Hindi phrase ‘kuve’ ka mendhak’…
Ponniyin Selvan,
That’s not a bad number at 20 years ago – 0.5 million people based on today’s population. Hindi of course is the passport out of TN to Delhi. Not everybody can afford to fly out to the US as some know-nothings on SUN-TV would suggest. Any small trader will tell you that.
There is a KV CLRI near IIT Madras that is a Hindi medium school. A couple of my friends studied there.
37 · S sode said
To answer your question : yes.
Tamil is also an official language of India.
37 · S sode said
Why not? English is a national language in India too. Why should Tamilians waste their time learning Hindi? As much as I defended the use of hindi in metropolitan Mumbai, I have no problem with states resisting Hindi on a general basis. But forcing Marathi on everyone in Mumbai makes even less sense than if the Andhra Pradesh government were to force Telugu on every resident of Hyderabad.
This is the simple test. If the zealots want to advocate for Marathi at the expense of everything else, they should be ready to live without Hindi based industries. They cannot reap the benefits of a Hindi based industry and then proceed to get pissed off if some people choose to speak in Hindi.
I don’t think this is true. Hindi medium implies the medium of instruction is Hindi. Kendriya Vidyalayas being centrally funded have a bias towards Hindi. Even they I believe esp. KV, CLRI, do not have the medium of instruction as Hindi. (i,e they don’t teach mathematics using Hindi text)
As if Delhi or the Northern regions generates all the jobs (!!). If you see the trends over the last decade most of the job generation is done in the South with the economies of the southern states growing higher than the national average.
42 · Ponniyin Selvan said
I think it’s mixed. From what I remember, they said most subjects were taught in Hindi, and others (like you said – Mathematics) in English.
I don’t think 99% of the Tamils know English. I don’t have the statistics.
nice to know your views. 🙂
When we call some schools as English medium schools, it implies all the subjects are taught (other than non-English languages) using English. Similarly Hindi medium schools / Tamil medium schools teach all the subjects (other than non-Hindi or non-Tamil languages) using Hindi / Tamil. Kendriya vidyalayas being centrally funded are biased towards Hindi. Even there, I believe important subjects like Science, mathematics are taught using English text. Technically, they can’t be called as Hindi medium schools.
that’s right.
46 · Ponniyin Selvan said
Fair enough. I can agree with that.
37 · S sode said
Such a typical comment i hear all the time from North Indians. I think the Entire India should learn to speak English(gets you ready to complete worldwide and not just national level)-you should learn to spell it right.(Of course i know you were trying to be a smart ass..but you should be qualified as smart to be a smart ass) Comment about Rajini is so unwanted..(Sorry Thalai forgive his ignorance.).Save your prejudice for a more apt post or go to rediff.com and go crazy on their comment section on Rajini articles Tamizh is a language,Tamil or Tamizhan is a person and thats a universal look anybody would have when a bunch of inconsiderate people talk in a language knowing well enough there is a person in the company who does not understand it. its nice how you feel sorry for him..thou great soul should actually offer hindi classes so dbd’s in US can be part of your cool kid’s gang and can come out of the kuva.puhleez
Serious note..i think tamils should learn hindi for one sole reason..be on top of the game.i am a tamil and i know hindi but speak it only when its needed..like if the person doesnt speak english or tamil.thats respect.
The Shiv Sena is a particularly shameful element of Maharashtrian culture with far too much tacit support among middle-class Maharashtrian Hindus (e.g. my extended family) for my comfort. It disturbs me and saddens me. I find the Shiv Sena to be a crude but inevitable result of the broader corrupt patronage politics in India as well as the particular traditions of Hindutva and bigoted pseudo-populism that seem to have sprung up out of Maharashtra. Even in Savarkar’s time I think that the way these things played out were far more complex. It was bad then, but it’s really turned into a monstrosity today.