ONE sophisticated gentleman accosted me by name at a party in Delhi, as he had seen my picture in a newspaper or magazine. I had recently published my third novel, Filming: A Love Story, to some critical acclaim. He was obviously the kind of person who followed talk of literature and culture. He knew that before moving to Denmark, where I was then (and now) an academic, I had worked for the Times of India in Delhi. He asked me when I had graduated from JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), perhaps influenced by the slant of some of my writing. “I never went to JNU,” I replied.
“Ah,” he exclaimed, “You are a Delhi University alumnus!” “No,” I replied, politely, “Didn’t go to DU either.”
There was a moment of hesitation, and then the gentleman, almost despite him self, offered a third alternative, this time probably influenced by my name: “Jamia?”
I had an almost identical conversation with a sophisticated lady at the Jaipur Literature Festival a bit later. I think that was after the publication of The Thing About Thugs. In both the cases, my interlocutors could obviously not imagine that I had finished my schooling, Inter, BA and MA from my hometown, Gaya, in Bihar.
Because that is the kind of reputation Bihar has over the rest of the country: it is a state people leave for education and car eeropportunities. Some of the reputation is justified; some is not. However, what is not justified is the kind of fun that may be poked at Biharis in other parts of India, especially in the tonesetting metropolitan regions of Delhi and Mumbai.
This story is from the August 24, 2020 edition of Outlook.
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This story is from the August 24, 2020 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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