- She is a Kashmiri Muslim. She studies at the reputed CEPT University in Ahmedabad. She said: Im not exaggerating, Ive been rejected from 40 homes in Ahmedabad. Finally even in the building I now stay at, a courier had once arrived from my home and the pesky yet lovable aunty next door received it. That evening when I came home from College, she called me inside in hushed tones and asked me very nervously if I am a Muslim! I said yes, since I dont see any reason to hide my identity, she replied Beta, I wont tell anyone in the building, you shouldnt either. First they have a problem with me being Kashmiri, then with me being Muslim, then with me being a girl and then with me staying alone. Till date, I call this place my flat. I will never refer to it as my home. - He is a boy from Chennai. He too studies at CEPT and loves photography and sketching. He was out one morning at 5.30 AM, clad in his usual attire of a T-shirt and knee-length shorts, looking for an auto to take him to Sarkhej Roza. Many autos passed him by with curious, suspicious glances. Finally when one stopped and cautiously allowed him to enter, the auto driver warned him: Aap kyu subah subah aise ghumte ho? Sab ko darr lagta hai!. Then he asked his name: Shriram, he replied. The driver exclaimed: Toh phir aap ko Sarkhej Roza kyu jaana hai!!! On another occasion, his parents were visiting him from Chennai and an estate broker asked them: Do you eat Non-veg?, they didnt but he did, so technically they didnt lie when they said: No, we dont. Then the agent gave them a 1 hour lecture over how they need to ask to keep the Mohammadans at bay and how bad they are! His parents were so aghast that they asked him to leave the next day and return with them to Chennai. - She is a girl from Bombay. Her confidence was at its peak as she passed out of a renowned International school in her home city. Then she came to Ahmedabad for higher education. Almost everyone in her College ostracised her as she didnt speak in Gujarati. Over time, she went into severe depression. Her parents packed her off to Auroville to recover. She is now back and has learnt to lower her expectations and keep to herself. She also mentioned an incident when she was out late at night near Law Garden with a guy friend of hers and this policeman came up to her and said: Acche ghar ki ladkiya aisa nahi karti!. I think the main problem is that people here dont read. They have such limited exposure, she concluded. - She is a girl from Chennai. This is the 6th home she is staying in. She has either been chased away or has elected to best stay away from the previous 5. Every single time, every other door on her floor peeks in to carefully scrutinize everyone coming out and going in to her door. 2 girls who are students from outside staying in a rented flat is not something they like. My friends tell me that the 5 seconds when they have to get out of my door are the toughest ever for them!. On one occasion, she said: 2 of my friends were staying together in a rented accommodation in Ahmedabad. One day, a group of uncles from the building just walked into their home and threw condoms all over the place and then called the police! Each of them had to pay 50,000 Rupees to be allowed to go without any trouble. I can never imagine my father or any uncle I know back home even dreaming of doing such a thing!. - She is a Nepali student. They call her Chinki, Chainese and what not! Till date, they have not understood her! Sitting close to her was another girl. Full of spirit and taking everything jovially, she narrated several incidents when her being from South India has gotten everything from her name to her attire to her appetite and so on misinterpreted on several occasions here in Ahmedabad. - He is a faculty at CEPT. He is a Brahmin from Palanpur in Gujarat but his wife is a Malayali Christian. When they bought their new home, the seller thought of it as his duty to introduce them to the rest of the neighbours. As he took both of them around the entire building, both of them were always introduced as Brahmins from Palanpur! On one other occasion, his mother-in-law was staying with them for a brief while! She was cooking a meal with her usual mix of onions. Realizing that she had run out of onions, she called out to the vegetable vendor passing by downstairs to bring some onions upstairs. He mistakenly ended up going to the home next door! Totally scandalized upon receiving this unexpected visitor, the neighbour immediately rang his bell and gave his mother-in-law a lecture on how she shouldnt use onions in cooking as this was a Jain flat. - She is also a faculty at the same University. She said how so many times Ive wondered why I havent been discriminated against as much because I too have done lots of things which are by no means traditional but then I realize that I have a Gujarati surname! These experiences of staying in Ahmedabad came out this Saturday at Apna Adda. Some of them said in unison: I HATE Ahmedabad! If it werent for my University, I wouldnt stay here a minute longer. No place treats people from outside as badly as this place!. Let us talk about infrastructure and money later, if a place cant be welcoming of other human beings and does not miss an opportunity to make them feel different and even inferior, then I feel ashamed of my own City. Forget development, this city is far from liveable for anyone who is different!
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 17:37:43 +0000
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