Office killed the caste system

If you work in office you know that caste system is redundant. We all know work is worship, Boss is God and bonus is the proof that good deeds are awarded. We work in modern India. The place where a man is known is by his work as long as he is not the son of the CEO.

Today during the morning tea break a colleague said something in Marathi. I guess he said Jains are not allowed to do it and another colleague said well so what, you can do it after all you are not a Jain. The first colleague replied – I am a Jain.

The second colleague looked stunned. I thought he was pwned. He replied as sheepishly as you have been caught by your boss enjoying a siesta at your desk. He said – I never thought you were a Jain.

If you think my first colleague made a mistake then I think you are wrong. Caste system is a fail in office. No one cares about it. The only time I felt boundaries exist in India was during the Maharashtra elections.

During the Maharashtra elections Raj Thackeray informed us that Maharashtra belongs only to Marathi Manoos. He touched the cord of Maharashtians and since I work in Pune, naturally he found few supporters in my office. I am a Hindi speaker who in office becomes a Hinglish speaker i.e. all official communications in English and all unofficial communications in Hindi.

Raj Thackeray told Maharashtrians that those who don’t speak Marathi must be thrown out of Maharashtra. No one in office told me to leave Pune but whenever I asked my colleagues to translate me something that was said in Marathi, someone commented – If are in Maharashtra, then you must learn Marathi.

Initially I took it as a joke but slowly the tone became more and more aggressive and now I have stopped asking my colleagues to tell me what did they just said in Marathi. This has deprived me of few ROFL moments but it doesn’t matter after all nowadays all the official communications are conducted in English.

The only thing that surprised me, no shocked me was how can well educated professionals fall in line with Raj Thackeray. What Thackeray advocated was people must be divided on the basis of language when India is the proof that unity can exist in diversity. India is one and people who try to divide India for political gains are more dangerous than Maoists.

 To sum up

Asking me to learn Marathi doesn’t make you a hero. It makes an asshole who has forgotten India is one.