Attempts to impose Hindi in the southern states have always been met with protests, followed by the typical argument made by the Hindi belt that they do not understand the opposition since 'Hindi is our rashtra baasha'.
Never mind that the Constitution does not award any language this status, and has classified Hindi as an official language like 21 others.
Standup comedian Aravind SA refers to this eternal rumbling and grumbling in his piece Why Tamils Don't Speak Hindi, which is part of Madrasi Da – a standup special featuring 60 shows across six countries.
He begins the piece by defining a Chennaiite as not a person who doesn't know Hindi, but as someone who does not wish to speak in Hindi, despite knowing the language.
He then goes on to tear into Lungi Dance, the song that most North Indians associate with Tamil people, although it's full of inaccuracies and ludicrous stereotypes.
While the crowd is clearly enjoying the show, the comments section on YouTube – where the video has been uploaded – has turned into a battleground, with many North Indians taking exception to the comments that Aravind makes on stage.
Predictably, many of the comments are along the lines of why Hindi shouldn't be accepted by all, and if such videos were not divisive.
I am not getting why South Indian people get offended over HINDI. it’s just a language. A language is something via which we communicate. and the only reason for Hindi as the national language is it is the only language somewhat similar to SANSKRIT. Thank god u people don’t have issues with NATIONAL ANTHEM. Coz that is in Bengali, ya now try to make it in Telugu. (sic)
Every state has its own mother tongue... hindi & english r the major link languages in India whether u like it or not... stop cribbing about racism when u urself r no less racist than north indians... get rid of ur inferiority complex & show some maturity..& yes i m a proud Haryanvi & a proud Indian..Jai Hind. (sic)
These type of persons like divide and rule policy...... Before uploading this video think of people still fighting in border both south Indian nd north Indian...We all are one ...Never break unity of India...Jai Hind (sic)
However, several comments are also quite abusive, not only making disparaging comments on the performer's accent, but also taking digs at south India as a whole.
From talking about south Indian men’s preference for north Indian women to declaring that Tamil was an ugly language, the comments section is a wealth of stereotypes that the video intended to take on.
Of course, several of these comments have rejoinders from angry south Indians, too.
With over a lakh views in a day, the 4-minute standup piece has managed to make people laugh and outrage in equal numbers.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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