Cinema & Migration - Agents of National Integration Across the Vindhyas

Oh, East is East. West is West & Never the Twain shall meet.                  Rudyard Kipling

 

The above line, borrowed from a Rudyard Kipling poem - alludes to the apparent lack of harmoniousness & agreeability between East & West. The success of South movies RRR & KGF in the Indian Northern belt & the unfortunate debate it has triggered, courtesy the Ajay Devgn – Sudeep twitter spat,  if Hindi is our “national language” indicate that “East” & “West” could very well have been replaced by “North” & “South” with the same outcome. The ever controversial Kangana Renault weighed in on the language debate by proposing Sanskrit as the national language – which, i am personally inclined to agree, because of the following reasons:

(a)While Hindi as a National language, in Devanagiri script, gives a disproportionate advantage to those whose mother tongue is “Hindi’, Sanskrit would have forced all the Indian citizens to learn a new language & script. In our constitutional debates, Nehru proposed Hindi in Roman script – as German is written too – as a compromise which was, however, torpedoed by people like PD Tandon, who insisted on the Devanagiri script, deepening the North-South fault-lines. By 1965, Hindi was supposed to replace the official languages as the national language, but consequent to the simmering angst, violent protests erupted & a non-Congress DMK government was sworn to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967.

(b)Sanskrit, a pronto Indo- European language, would, perhaps, help India into an Eurasian embrace – in line with our Global ambitions - as well as enhance research into our cultural past. Continuance of English shall help in sustaining our relationships with the large English speaking Western world, sustain our dominance in fields like IT & help enhance our labour force exports in fields like healthcare, education etc. – extremely important in a scenario where India is on its way to beat China & emerge as the most populous country in the world but with jobs growth not keeping pace with population growth.

Even if Sanskrit is accepted as the national language, there would be a debate in what script it should be taught. A logical, though unlikely compromise would be for people to learn it in their mother tongue; a Tamilian learns Sanskrit in the Tamil script while a North Indian can do so in Hindi, Gurumukhi, Sharda etc.

This brings us to the next question:

Shouldn’t PAN Indian movies spur greater National Integration?

There was a time when ignorance was bliss: North Indians clubbed all people South of the Vindhyas as “Madrasis” despite the presence of distinct identity & many spoken languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, etc.  just as South Indians clubbed all North Indians as “Hindi” speakers despite the presence of Punjabi, Bhogpuri, Maithili, Kashmiri etc., Doordarshan, since 1980’s, did a yeoman’s job of nudging a better cultural understanding via their national transmission of regional cinema, with subtitles, in the Sunday afternoon show; the dubbed versions, telecast via satellite channels, since the 2000’s has aided in better understanding & appreciation. Enhanced migration to the South, over the last 2 decades, because of the IT boom, appears to have accelerated the cycle.

Earlier, while south Indian heroines from Waheeda Rehman, Vyajantimala etc, in the 1950’s & 1960’s to Jayaprada, Sridevi, Rekha etc. in the 1970’s to 1990’s wooed the North Indian audiences, south Indian heroes’ rarely made a big impression beyond auteurs like Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth, Nagarjuna etc.; critics attributed the popularity of heroines to their training in choreography & the lack of heros’ acceptance to their plumper physiques & moustachioed countenances -unlike their north Indian counterparts. But over the last 3 decades North Indian heroines, like Kushboo, Tamanna Bhatia etc.  have become extremely popular in the south while South Indian heroes like Allu Arjun, Prabhas, Yash, Vijay etc. have become North Indian household names, largely attributed to the super success of South Indian Movies like RRR now, following in the footsteps of Pushpa, KGF or Bahubali earlier; covid & the subsequent OTT boom of channels like Amzaon Prime, Netflix etc. exposed Indian audiences to regional cinema enhancing understanding & appreciation.

Films are now being mounted in a grand scale & released at least in the 4 south Indian languages & Hindi, heralding the era of “Pan Indian” films, truly a harbinger of tighter national integration.

How we defeated the prediction of an Indian Disintegration

Many geopolitical tsars predicted the inevitable breakdown of the Indian republic, post-independence, considering the diversity of over 1652 languages, 8 religions & 3 races; India was akin to continental Europe with different nations they reasoned. From a culture, cuisine, language, dress code & way of life point of view Indian Punjab was similar to Pakistani Punjab, across the border, much like the similarity of Indian Bengal with neighbouring Bangladesh. While the “Aryan” region -extending from Punjab to Bengal - spoke the proto Indo – European languages, that accorded a distant familiarity, the “Dravidian’ South, spoke a different tongue, leading to the identification of a schism. Some historians pointed to South Indian dynasties like the Cholas, Cheras, Pallavas, Pandhyas etc. retaining their distinct identity, even during the days of the Pataliputra (current day Patna) centric Mauryan or Gupta empires or the Delhi based Mughal empires later to buttress their arguments. The anti-Hindi agitation & demands for a separate Dravidistan, by the DMK, post-independence, appeared temporarily to eerily fulfil their predictions.  But, India has not only survived but thrived & the naysayers had to eat humble; surprisingly, continental Europe too created the European Union (EU), accepting diversity & using inclusivity as a tool to maintain peace in a land, otherwise ravaged by the World wars. The Indian model appears to be gaining traction.

While the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962, triggered a “nationalism” induced integration, the recent genetic studies have helped in reducing the “Aryan” & “Dravidian” divide as both emerged from the common pool of “South Asian Hunter gathers” (SAHG) – the original inhabitants of India; SAHG mixed with Iranian agriculturalists to form the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). IVC natives mixed with the invading Aryans to form the ANI (Ancestral North Indians” while the retreating IVC inmates mixed with the SAHG to form the ASI (Ancestral South Indians)

Post-independence, better physical infrastructure, communication & urbanization triggered mobility, among the populace, in pursuance of aspirational education & job opportunities. The shift appears to have happened in the following phases:

(a)Migration of people working for the central government & In PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings); private sector in Gujarat & Maharashtra attracted workers into manufacturing

(b)Focus of the 2^nd Five year plan (1956-61) on heavy industry & the creation of Steel plants & cosmopolitan townships in Rourkela, Durgapur, Bhilai, Bokaro etc.

(C)Bank nationalization in 1969 & mobility of the national cadre

(d)IT boom in the 1990s & migration towards the Southern cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad & Chennai.

South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, AP & TN account for 30% of Indian GDP, but only 20.7% of Indian population, while & the corresponding figs. for West (MP, Goa & Gujarat) being 22%  & 15.5% respectively. Thus the South & West account for 52% of Indian GDP, 64% of Manufacturing but host only 36% of population. Not surprisingly, as per the 2011 census, of the Indian population of 121 crores, 45 crores are internal migrants – including people who have moved within a state’s geography; 4% (5.4 cr.) are inter- state migrants. Chinmay Tumbe, IIM Ahmedabad, in a Mint article avers that traditionally, while Delhi & Mumbai were migrant magnets, especially from UP-Bihar-Bengal belt, the 2011 census has shown the Southern states to be the new magnet; migrants as a % of Urban workforce are 24% in Mumbai but below 15% in Bangalore, Chennai & Hyderabad but the 2021 census could throw up a higher fig..

Migration led to better appreciation of language & cuisine; Idly, dosa, vada, Sambhar, Hyderabadi biryani etc. from the south were exported to the north while Punjabi tandoori cuisine rushed south; North Indians now try out Kerala appam or TN’s Chettinad foods, Karnataka’s Besibelli bath or Andhra’s chutneys like aavakaya (mango pickle) or Gongura mixes; food at AP Bhavan is a big draw in Delhi. That people are debating the taste of the Hyderabadi, Avadhi & the Bengal versions of Biryani aids the cause of national integration. South Indian coffee has travelled North via chains like Café Coffee Day, Barista etc. while Hot Tea shops, primarily a North Indian retail landscape phenomenon, have travelled south. 

Rasagollos rushed from the East to flood the country’s taste buds just as Maharashtra’s Vada Pav is found in various forms across the country, coexisting with the imported Burger version - popularized by the likes of McDonalds.  Dhabas adjacent to highways, serving as motels for truck drivers, have played a major role in cuisine appreciation. Bollywood carried the North Indian culture down South; interestingly, some South Indian marriages have now incorporated the North Indian Mehndi & Sangeet ceremonies. Inter- regional marriages & destination weddings could also have triggered the trend.

Integration is not restricted to food alone. The North India salwar kameez, has travelled South & replaced the half sari – very popular in the earlier generation where girls wore it on achieving puberty. The popularity of the pyjama, apparently is because it avoids chafing of the thighs & provides ease while travelling a 2 wheeler while the kurta avoids baring the midriff unlike the sari, according more safety & agility to sprint in the event of any danger; worry of pleats, pins etc. while draping a sari are also avoided.  The traditional Indian sari is not dead though; the south Indian Kanjeevaram (TN) Mysore silks(Karnataka), Pochampally & Gadwal(Telangana), Uppada, Mangalagiri, Venkatagiri AP) sarees etc. have travelled North, just as the North Indian Banarasi & Chikan(UP), Kota & Bandhani (Rajasthan) Chanderi (MP), Sambalpuri & Bomkai(Odsha), Baluchari & Jamdani(Bengal), Ashavali & Patola(Gujarat) Paithani(Maharashtra) etc. have travelled across. 

Migration of Punjabis to Canada or the transition of Keralites to the Middle East for work, induced labour shortages, prompted labour migration from states like Jharkhand, Bihar, UP etc. to fulfil the demand gap. The adverse gender ratio, in states like Haryana, had earlier triggered the movement of brides from the eastern states via marriages. Migrant labour, exposed to better public education & healthcare facilities in states like Kerala on returning to their home states have started demanding similar facilities leading to a slow but steady social change.

“No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”                Victor Hugo. 

The Pitfalls:

Migration to economically advanced states offers local political parties an opportunity to ride the nativism wave, exploiting the local angst of job deprivation or slowing down of wage growth. As an example, the Shiv Sena was formed in 1966, with the “Marathi Manoos” demand - preferential treatment of Marathi people over migrants.  It trained its guns, initially, against the South Indians, who dominated the white collar jobs in Mumbai & later ran an anti-North Indian campaign. Likewise, migrant influx into Goa, lured by the trio of the sun, sea & sand, has attracted the ire of the locals – a sentiment milked by the Goa Revolutionary party, which secured an impressive 10% vote share, albeit winning only a single seat, in the 40 member assembly, in the recently held assembly elections. That it won the 3^rd highest vote share, just behind the BJP & the Congress, is indicative of the traction of such calls.  In July 2019, AP reserved 75% of private sector jobs to locals in industrial units, factories, JVs & PPP (Public Private Partnerships) with MP, Haryana, Jharkhand & Karnataka following suit soon after. Unfortunately, political leadership revels in short cuts, instead of working harder on attracting investments & job creation, supported by better education & skill enhancement infrastructure, to handle the unemployment problem.

Conclusion:

Cinema & migration are contributing towards accelerating National integration & political parties & citizens should aid the drive; else there are many inimical forces, across the world, gleefully waiting to exploit the fault-lines.