Lots of blogs have this interview, I pick the following because it kind of represents what's in my mind as well, especially the last line. The question of identity for us Indians...what are we first - a Maharashtrian, a Tamilian, a Gujarati, a Behari or an Indian first. Perhaps most of us take the India for granted (maybe including me), and so we keep getting into this debate. But I guess a debate is way healthier than what we otherwise see. And perhaps this is the only way forward...
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devils-advocate-shobhaa-de-on-mumbai-vs-bombay/76806-3-single.html
Karan Thapar: Isn’t that cutting the very roots of cosmopolitanism, the broad-mindedness that Mumbai represents?
Shobhaa De: It’s happening across the board, not just Mumbai but we like to make Mumbai a prime example of this ghettoisation of our minds. It’s a question of identity, a question of stepped-up regionalism. It’s happening everywhere but Mumbai seems to attract a lot of media attention on the account of this. It’s happening because the question of identity, deep down, is what is troubling all of us as Indians.
Another interesting article by Rajdeep Sardesai in Hindustan Times:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=60cfd3cb-8223-415c-8418-91945ce8232e
here is what i feel!
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