To begin with, I’d like to make it clear that I don’t hate it when people make stereotypical jokes on UPites. I enjoy it.
What I rather dislike is the form or intention of the joke/pun/humor.
You see, there are jokes which are purely meant for comedic purposes. Then there are attacks camouflaged in jokes which are intended to demean or intimidate a person or class of persons.
It is well known that Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in our beloved country. The population is equal to Brazil, a full-fledged nation. Hence, it is easy to make out that there will be neglect, chaos, shortfall, and inadequacy of almost every resource, service or care.
A UPite might not speak fluent English, he/she may lack confidence or have lesser confidence than a person belonging to a metro city. Not to forget the cultural difference, specifically, the manner of speaking. Use of words like hum, humara, aap, etc. is common throughout the state.
That’s how it is. It neither means literacy nor illiteracy.
I abhor when people mock an UPite for using hum or aap. There’s no way tu and tera is better than my hum and aap. And I’m not even going to discuss tere ko and mere ko, which is downright insulting.
You have to understand that a person from UP and a person from Delhi or say Mumbai have lived lives and experienced things which are poles apart. The social context has to be taken into consideration while evaluating someone’s personality. A middle class in UP is not the same middle class in Delhi.
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English-Hindi debacle
As mentioned earlier, things don’t work very smoothly in UP. Not all of our teachers speak perfect English, including our parents. There’s hardly any dialogue in English among friends and family. And the overall environment of our much-adored state is nowhere conducive for English speakers.
We feel hesitant, we stutter a bit, we have to think before we speak in English. Not because we are illiterate or gawaar. But because it takes time for developing a habit. Some go to colleges outside UP and flourish, some wait for their turn.
The Paan jokes
Paan, gutka, tambakoo are problems faced by entire UP, but the brunt of these jokes fall solely on Kanpur. These jokes are somewhat demeaning the lower classes, except that it is not so. There’s a consumer base of paan and gutka across all the classes in UP. It is then okay to make such jokes as its a public menace. Also, the jokes are hilarious AF.
So mock all you want, just don’t target or attack UPites’ shortfalls created by societal pitfalls.
And as for other stereotypical jokes like Chacha vidhayak hai, and Katta rakhe hai, I love them; keep them coming.
Image Credits: Google Images
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