dinner party talk

Yesterday I was at a dinner party with Mou's dance group (she's a dance teacher). It was all women, a mix of ages, and a very lively bunch... maybe about 12 people altogether.  Most were Bengali.

After a bit of mingling, someone convinced one of the women to sing. She picked a devotional song... she had an amazing voice and it was beautiful. And then everyone was in the mood for singing and such things, so she sang a couple more upbeat and popular songs... people joined in and clapped and since the group was a bunch of dancers, there was some dancing as well. I loved how unexpected it was. And then the conversation just resumed... and took an interesting turn.

When introducing me to people, Mou always mentioned that I want to learn about migrants from UP and Bihar.  She would say it with a little smile, and it was also always met by a knowing smile or chuckle. So after one of these reactions, I asked the few people standing around me what they found amusing about my research topic.  And for the next few minutes, the room exploded in a debate about the intelligence of Biharis vs. Bengalis (remember this is an almost exclusively Bengali bunch).

At first, it came out as a joke... someone said, well, they're not "all there" and pointed to her head. Another woman immediately countered that its just Bengali nature to think of everyone else as low-brow and uneducated. The banter about snobby Bengali attitudes continued... and finally someone said, "well listen, its no good to have brains without brawn, right?" Meaning the Bengali intellectuals need the Bihari work force around.

Another woman countered that Biharis are actually quite sharp, as evidenced by the fact that so many take the IPS (Indian Public Service) exam. To which it was quickly replied that no one else wants to be in the IPS... the good careers are in IT and business.

The atmosphere was full of jest and laughter, but there was definitely an underlying belief in the superiority of Bengali intelligence... or maybe just the richness of Bengali intellectual traditions?  At the same time, I didn't sense any hostility towards the migrants (in the way that there is among upper-middle/upper classes in Bombay, and certainly among a lot of Maharashtrians, regardless of class). None of the "they shouldn't be allowed here" attitude.  Just the raging stereotypes I guess.

Update on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 12:13AM by Rameez

I should add that the "Biharis' they're referring to are particularly lower class labor migrants, who have a visible presence as a group in the city, especially because they dominate jobs like driving taxis and rickshaws.  Bihar is one of India's poorest and least literate provinces, and also has a reputation for having political leaders that are corrupt and incompetent.  That's changing though... but those are still the general impressions that people have of people who come from Bihar. Poverty, incompetence, lack of education.

There are also plenty of affluent Bihari migrants, but they blend into the city more seamlessly... and they weren't the population of 'Biharis' that these women had in mind at all.  In fact, my roommate is originally Bihari and a student at one of India's top business schools... and I think no one would have hesitated to have this conversation in front of her, because they just don't associate her with Bihar.