Of Cricket & Regional Divide

Most Indians would remember 1983 as the year we won cricket’s holy chalice – The Prudential World Cup. But ask people of my age and they will tell you that it was also the year they were born. Not surprisingly then, it won’t be wrong to say the passion for cricket resides in all twenty three year old Indians by default. Add to this passion the opportunity to be away from the prying eyes of parents, glass-pane-window-loving neighbors and being with some three hundred like minded individuals. The result leaves nothing to imagine.

Just like the fervor for the game, the culture at college was such that my mates savored the same belief as our cricket’s governing body, of Zonal Selections. The teams so formed were strictly on the basis on the region the player hailed from. There were regular and emotion packed matches between teams from Delhi, U.P., Punjab and Himachal. The remaining teams which did not constitute of players ‘exclusively’ from a state had a heavy regional influence. Being someone who believes in the notion that an individual is at his truest form when engrossed in a passionate game, such duels were of concern. Inevitably, one would observe an undercurrent of regional divide that plagued the atmosphere; and at times highlighted the true emotions.

It was not just on the field but off the field as well that one could witness the unrest. Those matches that involved two different factions meant another Heysel Stadium disaster like atmosphere. The joke was that the playing field has been a witness to less matches and more fights and that our neighborhood dhaba often doubled up as the maison de justice.

Now, the development of groups is a common feature in any social setup. People interact and integrate on the basis of a common thread that binds them. In cases wherein the individuals are subjected to an environment that is new and to adapt is a must, they generally stick with individuals having similar cultural background. This is so because out of all things it is one’s culture and not interests and skills, which make him / her socially acceptable. The same happens in an engineering college where people from different cultures and background come together. The groups so formed are basically on the basis of region and ethnicity. So we see that from the very beginning there is an inclination of sticking with people whom one can relate, which is absolutely perfect and understandable. However, in due course of time, as the comfort level within an existing group increases, the individual becomes content and makes no efforts to mingle with individuals from / of different groups.

On the very first day I was only too happy to observe that the bulk of people who were allotted rooms on my floor were all from Delhi. The ones on the floor above were from UP. To this day I am not certain if the sorting was done on purpose. The consequence of the sorting was hardly on my mind. To have a room mate whose residence was only five minutes walk and getting acquainted to people with whom I shared common friends from school was reassuring. Hence, I did not look anywhere else for friends. It is my understanding that most other students had similar experience since in the first two months or so I never saw anyone mingling with students from other floors. Hence, my interaction with people from UP was restricted only to the classroom. Overall, this resulted in regional groupism rather then groups based on intellectual likings. This was the foundation of the regional divide that was to be experienced.

There is an interesting point highlighted by a good friend who graduated from a different institute, but having similar experiences. She points out the role played by the Alpha Male (or Female) in a group. He or she would be the pivot around which the group revolved. The internal scuffle among group members to play the role of that Alpha Male was witnessed too. This further confirmed by belief in the notion of hanging together on the basis intellectual likings was crippled by the ‘charm’ of being socially acceptable first. She goes on further to observe, that even in universities abroad, which often boast of their rich diversity, the students from different countries prefer hanging out together. This may only be partially true but the existence of various region based clubs in almost all universities is a testimonial to the fact that region plays a major role in bringing about the cultural dynamics that exist within an institution.

(With Contributions from Neha - friend, colleague and social counselor)