The Bihar Election results reminded me of my Engineering college days. 50% of students in REC (now NIT) came from the outside states, including Bihar ( it was undivided, Jharkhand was part of it then). A few of my Bihari classmates were great guys nevertheless, but occasionally whisper around my ears ISKA JAAT KAA HAI (what's his caste) ?, curios to know about the caste of us Odias and then trying to connect it to their counter part in Bihar. For example, they linked our KARANA caste to KAYAST in Bihar. The caste Brahmin was self explanatory, though they struggled a lot, whether to align our KHANDAYAT caste to Rajputs or Bhumihars.
As a teenager, who had hardly travelled outside Odisha, I found it rather strange. Soon I noticed, a few of the upper caste folks from Bihar would avoid sitting on the Mess Dining Table with certain guys, whom they perceived as from lower caste or strata of the society. Odias might have tons of lacunae, but such rampant and naked casteism is not one of them. The thought of not sharing a meal with someone never came to our mind. I found their behavior as weird.
It also reminds me of an episode narrated to me by a friend, whose father retired as a senior bureaucrat in Delhi. He was in PMO when Indira Gandhi was at the helm of affairs. During Cabinet meetings, the ministers would break for lunch. Once, Indira Gandhi walked towards Kamalapati Tripathy, a Brahmin and Railway minister from UP and asked him "Tripathy JEE. BABU JAGJIVAN RAM (a minister from Scheduled Caste in her cabinet) KEHTE HAIN KI AAP UNKE SAATH NAHI KHAATE (Mr. Tripathy, Jagjivan Ram complains, you don't eat with him)". Kamalapati replied - MADAM, MEIN AAP KE SAATH BHI NAHI KHAATA, WOH TO CHAMAAR HAI (Madam, I don't even eat with you, he is from a low caste of shoe makers). Indira, though born a Brahmin, lost her caste after her marriage to Feroz Gandhi and was never allowed inside Lord Jaganntah Temple post marriage, because of that.
Down the time travelled road, nothing much seems have changed. Like the story of the monkey on a bamboo pole, if we climb 1 foot of development, we are brought down by couple of feet of casteism and communalism.
Watching last night's election coverage, I never saw predictions swinging such wildly before. During the first couple of hours, most channels predicted a BJP victory. Many BJP workers even started celebrating with fireworks. A few analysts even jump the gun too, starting discussing why BJP won, until tides started turning. They should be told the saying we have in Odia, NAI NA DEKHUNU LANGALA ( Taking the cloths off or becoming naked, before seeing the river). It stands for, jumping into conclusion too soon, too fast. It exactly was the case last night.
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