May 1 is indeed unique for Marathis who, moreover, believe in the grace of labour. In 1960, on this very day was born our state, Maharashtra. Sure must I check my facts, though I think I am not wrong if i state that Gujarat, part of the erstwhile Bombay Province, was separated from Maharashtra on linguistic grounds, and thus Gujarat, too, attained separate statehood on this very day.
Now we Maharashtrians are truly, and quite justifiably, proud of our regional identity. Sure 'Sahyadri rushes to help Himalaya' as and when needed. That is to say, we are Indians first for sure. Yet we revel in our regional identity.
Outside of Maharashtra, too, Marathis are respected a lot. Our saints like Sant Namdeo have a place of pride in the Guru Grantha Sahib. As far as history is concerned, from the days of Shivaji Maharaj up to the 1857 Freedom Struggle, it was the Marathis whose efforts helped carve a unique identity for our country.
As for the Indian Independence struggle, it was Lokmanya Tilak who was hailed as the Father of the Indian Discontent against the British. He was the first to creatively use festivals as a fount of folk resistance. Thereafter continues a lineage of great patriots, thinkers, reformers such as Agarkar, Savarkar, Phule, Karve, to name a few, given the spatial limitations.
Take any field, music, films, musicals, drama, the Dalit literature, science,education, commerce, feminist awareness, Maharashtra has always been at the helm. In brief, May 1 is indeed a happy day for us Marathis
Well, as for the Labour Day, unfortunately, in tandem with the rest of the world, there is a disrespect for hard work hereabouts as well. Currently, there is a curious disregard for any blue collar work. Why, people do not even study, but they demand the cushiest white collar job.
Our country is overflowing with doctorate degree holders who cannot frame a single correct sentence even in the L1, forget English. Nor do such 'educated' people know the basics of any field. Such ignoramuses look down upon any physical work.
What is wrong in cleaning up your own house, the small patch of garden, your clothes or your utensils? Why not iron out unstarched clothes? Given the crazy ideas of modernity, however, most look down upon anybody who is in to any physical activity, while our intellectual labour is not much to write home about, busy as most 'workers' are with petty politicking!
Time to get respect back to labour of all sorts as labour truly forges our genuine identities.
Pratima@ Workers of the world better unite as they have nothing indeed to lose except all sorts of invisible chains, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment