A couple of days back, I found myself in a serious predicament over a simple problem. My shoe soles had given way and I wanted to ask my maid to get them stitched by a cobbler who lives next door to her house. My maid does not understand Hindi or English and I converse with her strictly in Konkani. I found myself at a loss of words, particularly in the light of the feathers that had been ruffled in the Assembly over Parrikar's statement and the sentiments being hurt thereof.
I always thought that "chamar" meant cobbler in Konkani but with the ruckus and din of the last several days, I did not want to land myself in a soup over this. Was "chamar" an offensive word, did it signify a lowly caste or did it signify one's profession? I was seriously very confused. Would I offend my maid if I were to use the word "chamar" in my diction? Would her sentiments be hurt and would she walk out from the "kitchen of my house" in protest? Would Dadu Mandrekar then lead a procession to my house or worse - - would he file a suit against me in the Court of law on the grounds that I had insulted the sentiments of the backward community? Is the profession of a cobbler a restricted profession, for the Hindu backward castes only? Can others not venture into this trade? If the forward castes or Christians, or Muslims or Buddhists venture into this field, do they stand to be automatically converted to a different caste or a different religion? Does a Muslim cobbler continue to be a chamar or should we call him a "mulla"? Would a Christian cobbler be a forward or a backward, or is Christianity a casteless society? If a person from the backward caste becomes a doctor, would Parrikar have still called him a chamar or would he have called him a "dotor"? To maintain the honor and dignity of all professions, should we call all cobblers "dotors"? Will Christopher Fonseca go on a hunger strike on their behalf? Will Hema Sardessai join him? I was always aware that Religion was a delicate subject but what I was not aware of was that "words" can be such a delicate issue too, with people feeling insulted and sentiments being hurt - - sometimes strangely, at times whimsically. No wonder the Judge in the M.F. Hussein Judgment observed that "Nowadays it has become a habit to be offended by anything and everything under the sun". Cheers Sandeep
