MAHARASHTRA DAY

 

As a Dombivlikar, I am always proud of my Marathi roots.  In fact, any person should be proud of his mother tongue and his local language.  I am a Tamilian and proud to speak Marathi.  These are the roots on which I have evolved myself as a proud Indian.  The world may be globalised and the talk about states may seem to be foolish talk for the people who paint themselves as civilized and modern.  However, the fact is that unless you meet the aspirations of the people of the land and its culture, you can never dream of true progress.  Development of a few cannot be at the cost of the vast majority who deserve their place in the sun.

The martyrs and textile workers contributed to making Mumbai what it is today. Of the 106 martyrs, most were mill workers and poor people.  Real details of the movement have not been conveyed through school texts and non-Maharashtrians make a simplistic and erroneous connection of the movement with the Shiv Sena.  It was about lakhs of workers losing their livelihood if a separate state was formed, while the middle class Marathi was concerned with linguistic and cultural issues.  The young generation does not know this.

It all may seem senseless now.  However, Maharashtra was given an unfair deal.  Long after the Centre had accepted the division of states on linguistic basis in the south, Maharashtrians had to fight for everything – a united state, a state with Mumbai as its capital, a state that could claim its place in the sun.  Bombay was to be carved out as a union territory in favor of the business community which was predominantly non-Maharashtrian and the workers stood in danger of losing out of their jobs.

It was during that time around 1955 when the then Chief Minister Morarji Desai and Mumbai Congress President S.I. Patil announced that Maharashtra would never get Mumbai for 5000 years.  The aspirations of the local people were not respected by those in power.  The workers with the support of the middle class later on, revolted against those in power for fulfilling their aspirations.

Girgaum saw the maximum victims of police atrocities during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.  Flora Fountain became the backdrop of a protest, which turned into a bloody confrontation that would forever be etched in the minds of those who actively took part in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement and those who stood by the cause.  The Police opened fire on demonstrators of the movement at this very spot, leaving 15 dead.

The Samyukta Maharashtra Movement was visualized by Lokmanya Tilak and was advocated fiercely under the leadership of Shripad Amrit Dange, Acharya Atre, Prabhodhankar Thackeray, Senapati Bapat and many others.  Shahir Amar Sheikh inspired lakhs of people across Maharashtra through his poetry and songs. Even women were a major part of this movement.

A rally would be attended by 4 to 5 lakh people, yet they were thoroughly disciplined.  Those were not the age of Internet or Facebook or Twitter, yet instructions issued in Girgaum would spread across the city within minutes.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Babasaheb Ambedkar did not favor the formation of states on linguistic basis as they felt that the linguistic passions would grow and eventually become a threat to national unity.

Since most of the other linguistic groups in India got their own states, the decision on Gujarat and Maharashtra, too, needed to be taken.

It was Shripad Dange who suggested formation of a unified Maharashtra to be on May 1 as it was Labor Day and the workers of Mumbai had contributed the most towards the formation of the state.

The Union Government asked Maharashtra to submit Rs.56 crores and 300 villages to Gujarat in 1960 in return for Mumbai as the capital of Maharashtra.

Culture is integral to human civilization.  Maharashtra’s cultural diversity is a legacy handed down to it by reformer saints and poets of the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  It has a rich tradition of urban theatre.  My favorites are Lata Mangeshkar, Bhimsen Joshi, V.S. Khandekar, Vijay Tendulkar, Mama Warerkar, Ram Ganesh Gadkari, Vijaya Mehta, P.L. Deshpande, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Sayaji Shinde, Mahesh Manjrekar and Atul Kulkarni among many others.  Who else can forget the son of the soil Sachin Tendulkar, the toast of India and Maharashtra?

The varied flavors of Marathi food whether it is vada pav, usal pav or thalipeeth, it has not failed in seducing the most stubborn taste buds.  Varan Baath and masale bath with kadi, jilebi, papadi and bhajji are my favorites.  Misal is a very popular dish in Mumbai, Puneri Misal and Kolhapuri Misal have their own charm and taste.  Other Mumbaikar staples include kothimbir wadi, kanda pohe, pithale bhakri, naachni bhakri, dalimbi usal and usal pav.

While Dadar, Lalbaugh-Parel, Vile Parle and Old Girgaum changed flavors, Dombivli still manages to retain its old charm.  That is why, it is the second cultural capital of the state, after Pune.  The tradition of hosting New Year welcome rallies during Gudi Padwa in typical Maharashtra style started in Dombivli, which has spread across the state, and outside it as well.  At a time when food giants and restaurants have sprung up all over, the biggest crowd pullers here are poli-bhaji centres. 

Unfortunately, the real issues of the people were ignored.  The very mill workers and textile workers who had fought for Mumbai lost their jobs and livelihood.  The vision of Maharashtra has become like a political circus.  The movement has been hijacked by regional parties to prop the language issue.

Farmers are committing suicides in Vidharbha.  The clamor for a separate Vidharbha is slowly beginning to gain ground.

Unless the aspirations of the people are met by the government, there is no reason why yet another revolution cannot take place in this same state.

While the Maharashtra Day Celebrations have ended, my heart goes out for the victims of the Telangana agitation.  Had the political leaders of Andhra remained loyal to the aspirations of people cutting across all sections in Andhra Pradesh, there would have been no clamor for Telangana.  The critics of the formation of a separate state for Telangana are hypocrites.  While they kept silent when Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal were formed,  they lead us to a false notion that the formation of a separate Telangana would prove fatal to our country’s unity. 

[Information taken from various sources]