It hurts to get stereotyped. Never mock someone else’s food, culture, tradition, way of living. It is so because it hurts.
I was a victim of Stereotype.
I am from Bihar; I lived in Kota for 3 years in my quest to please the Gods who guard the gate to IITs. Of course, I couldn’t please them. But, I learned life lessons in Kota.
When I went outside Bihar for the first time, being Bihari was an abuse. I was asked questions about how I lived in such a place where kidnapping, murder, ransom, etc was rampant. People made me feel as if I came from a Jungle. I cannot blame them as the reputation of Bihar was like that at that time. Initially, I felt so bad, I started to hide that I was from Bihar. Since, I never had a Bihari accent due to hindi being my mother tongue rather than any other local dialect. So, I would tell that I am from Haryana for a brief period since my cousin stayed in Gurgaon and I knew his address.
It was the worst part of my life to feel ashamed of my birth place. Was I responsible for the law and order or bad reputation of Bihar? I bounced back and told people that I am from Bihar. I was one of the best things I did. Some people who told they were from UP or MP, later told me that they are also from Bihar. Slowly, many started coming out of their inhibition of being labeled as a Bihari, We decided that if being Bihari is a tag and we will wear it so that at least people who meet us would learn to see Biharis in a positive light.
Many from other states were honest and upfront and would tell that “You don’t look like a Bihari”. Now this was time to request them to see us in a different light. We do speak good English and are generally good people like you all. Just because you met a bunch of idiots who might have shared the same birthplace doesn’t mean that we all are like them.
Since then, I have never felt humiliated for being a Bihari. After staying for more than 11 years outside Bihar in Kota (Rajasthan), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Hyderabad ( old AP) and Mumbai ( Maharashtra).
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