I have lived in Bihar for 2 years. I have extremely good memories of Bihar. I understand things went drastically bad that the Biharis had to emigrate to other places for livelihood inviting fallout like those we have seen in Maharashtra. Bihar is improving now under Nitish. I like that gentleman. He has shown enough calibre to run the state without getting into corruption.
Maharashtra in general and Mumbai in particular has seen spates of vicious regionalism from a section of the population. Some like to openly flaunt their disgust for Hindi and Hindi speakers, brag about how much Mumbai contributes towards tax revenue yet refuse to acknowledge that much of the revenue generation can be attributed to the Hindi Film Industry.
Nepal exists today because of their loyalty to the British Empire. Otherwise, it would have been a vassal to the British Crown or an outright colony like an agency or presidency. Gurkhas are brave - true. Gurkhas are patriotic - gross generalisation. Bravery is not the sole
forté of Gurkhas and the Silda massacre should be a reality check for all. Be it the Pathan tribesmen, the Sikh and Rajput warriors or the Tamil Tigers, all are brave. Of course we should acknowledge bravery. However, when it comes to India, Nepal's recent bonhomie with PRC does not exude admiration for the Nepalis. Of course, this should not imply that all Nepalis are anti-India. When I visited Nepal, I simply loved the country, the people and their culture. Apparently these things don't flow from the barrel of the gun. It is regretful that Nepal today has become exceedingly hostile towards India and Indians.
Regionalism will not be eradicated altogether anytime soon. However, when it comes to Indian States, we need to stick together. We only have two choices:
- be merciful to each other,
- be treated mercilessly by invaders.
Together we can defend ourselves - and if you did not catch my drift, I am hypothesising a possible invasion of India by Pakistan and Nepal with the blessings of PRC.