Saturday, July 21, 2007
The intimidating Bong and other myths...
You don't need to strain your ears too hard to know what they're saying. Mom's lips will be pursed, while Dad will simply urge the driver to concentrate on the road. And if you're the sort of excitable pre-pubescent action freak that I could never relate to, you will promptly turn around, stare from the window above the boot, and eagerly anticipate the moment when everything would erupt. Outside, the rickshawwallah would take off his towel, spit out his beedi, and draw his fists while the motorist would slowly take his helmet off, marking the event with an ominous, almost quasi static motion. The torrent of abuse would reach its crescendo, before climaxing at a point of incoherently guttural rage. Dad will curse the traffic jam, while you'll revel at your good fortune at being able to obtain courtyard seats for such an event. You prepare your eyes for the feast, and sure enough, they prepare to rain blows on each other...
Well, I wish I could give you a 'blow by blow' account, but unfortunately, for all Bong fights, this is where the blows stop raining. We can't call it a story really, since it begins and ends in the buildup. The ingredients are all present- an enraged motorist, an errant rickshawwallah, and the preliminary verbal exchange that in any other situation involving any other breed of humanity would have surely culminated in at least a minor fisticuff. But the synopsis of a fight involving 'The Bengali' is slightly different. They will promise each other a gory future quite vociferously, but they will never actually hit each other. After a while, the crowd that gathered to watch the show will fizzle out as well, leaving the combatants to duel in the only way they know how, verbally. Of course, the arms will be raised, and the bodies will come threateningly close, and exaggerated gesticulation will take place. But aside from tearing each other's tendons in speech, both leave the scene completely untouched.
After a while, Mom will turn around to surmise the scene, before wrinkling her nose and contemptuously commenting on the 'violent' nature of 'choto lok'.
Bengalis are an inherently timid race. Now, PBPI's like myself are probably exaggerated walking examples, but even a typical Kolkata bred city slicker, despite having the requisite words in his arsenal, isn't great shakes at physical aggression. It might not come as much of a surprise that Bengal lags far behind most other states in the country as far as recruits in the army are concerned. The only form of aggression that a Bengali is adept at is the literary kind, but more on that later. It is rare to come across a Bengali who is truly intimidating by the force of his persona, except in excellently written fiction. And it is even rarer to come across a Bengali who fits the stereotype of bully. It just isn't in their blood.
Now I'm not saying that our blood has been sweetened by the copious amounts of 'rossogullas' and 'sandesh' that are synonymous with our kind. Pettiness, hypocrisy, jealousy and a rather irritable temper are equally synonymous characteristics. But we are, at the root of it, 'bheto bangali'. Ergo, the next time you piss off your Bong neighbour (going out with his daughter should be enough to condemn you), expect a copious stream of lucidly worded insults, and perhaps an even more lucidly worded letter of complaint, but aside from that, let's just say you run a greater risk of physical injury in the land of gummy bears.
yeah bongs are cowards alright at least according to the stereotype. they prefer the IAS to the armed forces and if you've read Kim you'll come across a lot of other unflattering views about bengalis. kipling always equates bengalis to clerks.
agreed...wuldnt condemn myslf as a coward tho...rathr we prefer 2 term it as 'being above such trifling means' :P
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Well, I wish I could give you a 'blow by blow' account, but unfortunately, for all Bong fights, this is where the blows stop raining. We can't call it a story really, since it begins and ends in the buildup. The ingredients are all present- an enraged motorist, an errant rickshawwallah, and the preliminary verbal exchange that in any other situation involving any other breed of humanity would have surely culminated in at least a minor fisticuff. But the synopsis of a fight involving 'The Bengali' is slightly different. They will promise each other a gory future quite vociferously, but they will never actually hit each other. After a while, the crowd that gathered to watch the show will fizzle out as well, leaving the combatants to duel in the only way they know how, verbally. Of course, the arms will be raised, and the bodies will come threateningly close, and exaggerated gesticulation will take place. But aside from tearing each other's tendons in speech, both leave the scene completely untouched.
After a while, Mom will turn around to surmise the scene, before wrinkling her nose and contemptuously commenting on the 'violent' nature of 'choto lok'.
Bengalis are an inherently timid race. Now, PBPI's like myself are probably exaggerated walking examples, but even a typical Kolkata bred city slicker, despite having the requisite words in his arsenal, isn't great shakes at physical aggression. It might not come as much of a surprise that Bengal lags far behind most other states in the country as far as recruits in the army are concerned. The only form of aggression that a Bengali is adept at is the literary kind, but more on that later. It is rare to come across a Bengali who is truly intimidating by the force of his persona, except in excellently written fiction. And it is even rarer to come across a Bengali who fits the stereotype of bully. It just isn't in their blood.
Now I'm not saying that our blood has been sweetened by the copious amounts of 'rossogullas' and 'sandesh' that are synonymous with our kind. Pettiness, hypocrisy, jealousy and a rather irritable temper are equally synonymous characteristics. But we are, at the root of it, 'bheto bangali'. Ergo, the next time you piss off your Bong neighbour (going out with his daughter should be enough to condemn you), expect a copious stream of lucidly worded insults, and perhaps an even more lucidly worded letter of complaint, but aside from that, let's just say you run a greater risk of physical injury in the land of gummy bears.
yeah bongs are cowards alright at least according to the stereotype. they prefer the IAS to the armed forces and if you've read Kim you'll come across a lot of other unflattering views about bengalis. kipling always equates bengalis to clerks.
agreed...wuldnt condemn myslf as a coward tho...rathr we prefer 2 term it as 'being above such trifling means' :P
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