“Do you guys perform black magic?”
My ears were hit by a rough voice. I look at the speaker, a middle-aged man, probably in his 50s, standing in front of me with curiosity in his eyes.
I did feel disgusted, but I managed to keep my composure and replied with a pretentious smile. “No, we don’t.” The man responded, “Oza” is known for black magic, and you are from Assam, so perhaps your family practices it.
This time, I was about to lose my cool, but I responded patiently, “None in my family is related to black magic, and we do not practice black magic in Assam.”
He might have sensed my disgust and left soon.
This is nothing new; mainland India has always held stereotypical views of the Northeast. The last time I needed to bring some logistics from Pune, the logistics agent refused service, citing jungle and hilly areas as the reason.
Yes, even in the twenty-first century, India’s mainland retains these attitudes toward frontier areas. This is most likely due to disseminated misinformation and inadequate media coverage.
The most recent Netflix advertisement, “Cherapunji Ki Diwali,” is yet another example of how the Mainland prefers ignorance over facts in order to maintain cultural hegemony.
Leaving aside the misinformation about the rain cycle and climate, the most disturbing aspect of the advertisement is the misrepresentation of ethnic culture and demography. According to the census, 71.5% of the population in Cherrapunji is Christian, and only 3.5% is Hindu. Still, the advertisement makes it appear as if the entire population in Cherrapunji strives to celebrate Diwali, which is primarily a Hindu festival. How cruel it is to violate an ethnicity’s culture in order to achieve capitalistic goals.
What else did they show? The entire family jingles and dances to RRR! Can you imagine a north Indian Hindu family singing gospel or dancing to the tune of Khasi folk songs?
We won’t because, as a minuscule community, they must consume whatever they are made to consume. We frequently fill our social media feeds with accusations that China is erasing Uyghur cultural identity, but we choose to ignore what is happening to our own ethnic communities.
The worst part is that, instead of being questioned, the ad has received millions of views… and still counting.
As a Mainland Hindu, what could be a better way to provoke my emotions than to witness a practically “non-existent” community celebrating Diwali while watching RRR?