The little saffron handbook

The little saffron handbook

Culturally, I consider myself to be part-Maharashtrian, not because it's expedient to do so, but by sheer force of time spent here, influence of friendships, and habits shaped by my environment. I reckon it'd have been the same had I spent a similar amount of time elsewhere in the country. I don't necessarily see it as anything worth trumpeting about, as there are enough similar examples all around me. I also know a few Maharashtrians who hardly fit the traditional maraaThii milieu.

Since (warning: stereotyping ahead) I do not eat poLii-bhaajii or shiiraa each day, prefer gulping down mugs of coffee rather than glasses of tea and medu-vaDaas to baTaaTaa-vaDaas, I sometimes wonder whether I do behave like the "marathi manoos" that one hears a lot about. I wish one of the Thackerays would pen a little primer on what being a "marathi manoos" entails so that one can measure one's level of conformance. In fact, a little electronic arm-band could be made compulsory for everyone that automatically displays a colour from green to red depending on how dangerous you are to the local climate.