Secure savarna spaces

"Giving these Muslims so much importance is making them quite arrogant," said a savarna woman casually, in response to my statement that the Hyderabad Metro Rail stations would be having name plates even in Urdu, apart from Telugu, Hindi and English.

Obviously, my initial reaction was, "WTF!?" But also, I thought, "How the hell does having name plates in Urdu equal giving 'too much' importance to Muslims?"

Half of the Hyderabadi population is Muslim, predominantly Urdu speaking. Shouldn't that be reason enough to have name plates in Urdu? What does 'too much importance' mean? (That's a rhetorical question, I know what it means. Most savarna or maybe even most Hindus have a feeling of injustice that the government appeases minorities (more specifically Muslims) and neglects Hindus)

Such is the prejudice and bigotry that is nonchalantly spouted in secure savarna spaces. Spaces where the savarna and also usually upper-middle class elites mingle and speak their true nature.

An interesting side note to these secure savarna spaces is that the men and women neatly divide into groups of their own. The men discuss what men are supposed to discuss - politics. The women discuss jewellery and domestic issues. Gender roles are as interesting as ever.

Unfortunately, due to my ascribed social status, I happen to inhabit such spaces at regular intervals. I have heard some of the most absurd, crass and bigoted statements being uttered with full conviction and zero hesitance. The prejudice isn't just about religious groups, but naturally tends to overflow into casteist boundaries as well.

Apart from the sheer ignorance that the savarna exhibit in such spaces, what surprises me is that they seem to be fully convinced about the validity of their statements. If I were to draw a parallel, I'd think the conviction of such foolish beliefs reminds me of the jihadi who blows himself up believing that he would be greeted by 72 virgins.

For the longest time, I would ignore such statements and resist the temptation to confront or scream in their faces. But over the past couple of months, this has become increasingly difficult.

How to make these secure savarna spaces into secular avarna & savarna spaces? I feel that the cause of my the generation before mine is lost. Even among my generation, a lot of prejudice exists, but I would like to believe that the situation is slightly better. The obvious solution would be ensure that these savarna actually meet and interact with non-savarnas (if this happens, there's a small chance that the savarna bubble would be burst).

Update 1: Harsh Mander, activist and journalist, came to University of Hyderabad recently. During his talk (on Media Coverage of Deprivation), he said, "There are very few things I am scared of. And one of those is going to social gatherings, where I am afraid that my friends and colleagues will start spouting all kind of prejudice." And instantly, I thought, "Secure savarna spaces!"