Who is the real Maratha ? !!
Well , the yelling situation in Maharashtra over Maratha reservation triggered me to write this. Born to and raised in typical Deshmukh Maratha family in Latur.
Raised under so called traditions, which is actually a restriction to live a bird free life. But eventually you learn to take pride in these traditions. And you don't even come to know when you fall prey to all these traditions and proudly adapt with these restrictions .Then you learn to boast that I am from 96 K family. And so was I..
But all my pride and belonging ness to this Maratha , 96 K community shattered during my admission to Engineering college. I had scored good marks which helped me in getting admission in Government College or Government Seat in a Private College. I was 16 years old then. But my mother could not gather enough money for my admission. Though she never shared with me the financial crunch or the financial problems she had been going through , but as the admission date was nearing, I sensed that problem.
So I decided , to call my father and ask money for further education. My father was not staying with us (with me and my mother). I only used to see him in family gatherings like wedding function of some relative and all. He is married to another woman and had two children from his second wife.And I never objected this decision of his, as I have seen many such cases in our extended family. Neither my mother nor any relative has spoken anything unacceptable about this.In fact , I used to think whats wrong in choosing in second family if you are happier there. (Ah, how liberal thinking I had at the age of 16 ! )
I decided to call him and ask money from him for my engineering admission. I called him up and told him that i needed money for this this. He said he would come and meet me and speak to me personally at our house. I was so happy , because he was coming. I cleaned house. Kept my mark sheet on the center table and the list of colleges where i was likely to get admission.
My father came and the conversation started . He not even once , appreciated my 12th score. I felt bad. But then I thought , my marks are actually less and probably he wanted me to score even better than this.
But when he said , that he did not have money to take care of my education. I was taken aback with his statement. He started convincing me to just complete my graduation and do B.Ed and become teacher.He added that in our Maratha family girls are not required to study so much . Tears were continuously rolling out of eyes with his reply that he did not have money. For me he was the richest man. And yes he is. Everyone knew that !
I was feeling totally helpless. Like when you fall down in a deep valley and hang on to one branch of the tree . And you feel that this branch is very strong you just need to pull your body up to save yourself. But when some body cut that strong branch then what do you do ??
My father shamelessly refused to give me money and walked away from our house.My mother was feeling very bad not because her husband refused to give money but because her child was emotionally broken.
But then I am not the person who will just sit idle waiting some miracle to happen. I decided to give a call to my Uncle . My father's younger brother. Because , when I was 14, He assured me that he will always try to help me when I am in need. He told me that, he feels bad for his elder brother's partial behavior towards us and all. And moreover I knew He is an elected member of parliament of the present ruling party. So he will definitely have money and he will not refuse it.
But, my uncle. the other so called maratha of my 96 k maratha family also refused to give me money for my education. and failed to keep his promise to help his niece when ever she is in need. No body , no maratha from our family, or our extended family came forward to support me or my mother.
Finally my mother arranged the admission fees by selling the assets she had for her future. I paid the admission fee and became an Engineer.
So who is the real Maratha ?? me and my mother who fought with all odds and came out victoriously or my father and my uncle who ran away from their basic responsibilities and failed to be a father or uncle ??
The point I am trying to convey over here is , even if maratha gets their demanded reservation. The real needy marathas will not be able to avail this. Because of the financial crunch, the meritorious student will not be able to pay the admission fees, how so ever less it is. The big maratha shark (like my father and my uncle) will eat the small maratha sharks. The big shark does not need the reservation. He is as it is flourished and prosperous. The small shark who is the real fighter , who is the real maratha, needs the reservation .
So wake up but dont fight..
just ask for what is right !!
Ask for the reservation based on financial condition and not based only on the caste !!
Raised under so called traditions, which is actually a restriction to live a bird free life. But eventually you learn to take pride in these traditions. And you don't even come to know when you fall prey to all these traditions and proudly adapt with these restrictions .Then you learn to boast that I am from 96 K family. And so was I..
But all my pride and belonging ness to this Maratha , 96 K community shattered during my admission to Engineering college. I had scored good marks which helped me in getting admission in Government College or Government Seat in a Private College. I was 16 years old then. But my mother could not gather enough money for my admission. Though she never shared with me the financial crunch or the financial problems she had been going through , but as the admission date was nearing, I sensed that problem.
So I decided , to call my father and ask money for further education. My father was not staying with us (with me and my mother). I only used to see him in family gatherings like wedding function of some relative and all. He is married to another woman and had two children from his second wife.And I never objected this decision of his, as I have seen many such cases in our extended family. Neither my mother nor any relative has spoken anything unacceptable about this.In fact , I used to think whats wrong in choosing in second family if you are happier there. (Ah, how liberal thinking I had at the age of 16 ! )
I decided to call him and ask money from him for my engineering admission. I called him up and told him that i needed money for this this. He said he would come and meet me and speak to me personally at our house. I was so happy , because he was coming. I cleaned house. Kept my mark sheet on the center table and the list of colleges where i was likely to get admission.
My father came and the conversation started . He not even once , appreciated my 12th score. I felt bad. But then I thought , my marks are actually less and probably he wanted me to score even better than this.
But when he said , that he did not have money to take care of my education. I was taken aback with his statement. He started convincing me to just complete my graduation and do B.Ed and become teacher.He added that in our Maratha family girls are not required to study so much . Tears were continuously rolling out of eyes with his reply that he did not have money. For me he was the richest man. And yes he is. Everyone knew that !
I was feeling totally helpless. Like when you fall down in a deep valley and hang on to one branch of the tree . And you feel that this branch is very strong you just need to pull your body up to save yourself. But when some body cut that strong branch then what do you do ??
My father shamelessly refused to give me money and walked away from our house.My mother was feeling very bad not because her husband refused to give money but because her child was emotionally broken.
But then I am not the person who will just sit idle waiting some miracle to happen. I decided to give a call to my Uncle . My father's younger brother. Because , when I was 14, He assured me that he will always try to help me when I am in need. He told me that, he feels bad for his elder brother's partial behavior towards us and all. And moreover I knew He is an elected member of parliament of the present ruling party. So he will definitely have money and he will not refuse it.
But, my uncle. the other so called maratha of my 96 k maratha family also refused to give me money for my education. and failed to keep his promise to help his niece when ever she is in need. No body , no maratha from our family, or our extended family came forward to support me or my mother.
Finally my mother arranged the admission fees by selling the assets she had for her future. I paid the admission fee and became an Engineer.
So who is the real Maratha ?? me and my mother who fought with all odds and came out victoriously or my father and my uncle who ran away from their basic responsibilities and failed to be a father or uncle ??
The point I am trying to convey over here is , even if maratha gets their demanded reservation. The real needy marathas will not be able to avail this. Because of the financial crunch, the meritorious student will not be able to pay the admission fees, how so ever less it is. The big maratha shark (like my father and my uncle) will eat the small maratha sharks. The big shark does not need the reservation. He is as it is flourished and prosperous. The small shark who is the real fighter , who is the real maratha, needs the reservation .
So wake up but dont fight..
just ask for what is right !!
Ask for the reservation based on financial condition and not based only on the caste !!
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