http://drdivas.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/why-im-not-a-madhesi/

Udit Narayan Jha

I come from a family who have been in Madhes for four generations.

The people like us are ethnically known as ‘Pahadiyas’ in Madhes, although my father doesn’t know which ‘Pahad’(hill) his forefathers came from.

He always called himself a Madhesi, and has a Madhesi ‘Mita’, whom we call Mitbuwa.

Dad, despite our continual requests & pressures never wanted to settle anywhere except on his 6 Kattha land in a Dham in Madhes.

I grew up in Madhes, where my Madhesi friends used to tease me with a rhyme:
” Pahadiya Bhut Khatta me Sut
  Tohar Gand Marbau Chul-Chul Mut”

I didn’t know any equivalent of their rhyme my 1st language. So I used to feel really pissed off. Later, I started retorting to their ‘Dohori’ by replacing the word ‘Pahadiya’ by ‘Madhesiya’.

I was the smallest boy of my class, naturally, a good target for bullying.

One of my Madhesi friend was very protective of me. His name was Binod Paswan.

I used to go learn swimming with him in a nearby pond.

There too I needed Binod’s protection.

I wonder where Binod might be nowadays. Being a Paswan, a Madhesi untouchable caste, he might have left school, and joined the Maoists, or now the Jwala Singh.

Whenever I think of Nagendra Paswan, I’m reminded of my best friend Binod Paswan.

Back to my father. Thanks to the threats from the armed groups like Jwala Singhs, & seeing so many ‘Pahadis’ killed, my father fled  finally from his cherished land some months ago.

While fleeing lamented to his friends & relatives that ‘Janaki Mata’ didn’t allow him to stay in her place.

The Kathmanduites call him a Madhesi because of his Madhesi ways of speaking & dress-ups.

The Madhesis, influenced by the post-colonial world view, define themselves through the discourse of ‘otherness’. They complain that they’re in perpetual identity crisis in their own homeland.

True. Very True.

But what about my father who still calls him a Madhesi, and wears both ‘Pahadi’ Topi & ‘Madhesi’ Dhoti ?
What about his land where a communal flag is proudly grounded?
Isn’t he in an ‘Identity Crisis’?

What about me?
I, too, never called myself a ‘Pahadi’ & always stood against Kathmanduites’ discrimination against the Madhesis.

This is not a story born out of fantasy. Anyone can verify it authenticity.

Hence, I never called myself a ‘Pahadi’, & now I disagree with my father.

I’m not a Madhesi as well.

Awesome !!!! Heart touching!!!

no offense to anybody..........but i think jha's are kayastha, ppl from madesh i.e madeshi

Reminds me of Tasalima Nasareen's novels. Unfortunately, she is despised by many people for her 'insult' of  Islam. Lazza and Phera are great novels which portray the ethnic division in Bangladesh between the Hindus and Muslims.

I commend your feelings. In the words of great Nepali Dramatist Bala Krishna Sama " Manish ko Jaat Manish nai ho, usko aru kunai Jaat chaina".

Funny story. Now, he became Pahadi? how can someone trust this kind of blog ? it is definitely a heart touching story. But, don't you guys think about the reliability of this source? i have never read any writing from Udit Narayn. Come on guys!!!  he is one of the most demanding singers in the Bollywood these days. do you think he will choose a blog instead of other form of media to put forth his feelings? i do not know to whom this dude is trying to convince and about what?             Bro, whoever u are , don't try to add fuel in this burning nation. it does not matter he is Madheshi or Pahadi. He is definitely Nepalese. how could you make such a senseless story. FYI Bro, i have met his nephew once. don't try to ridicule the sajhaites. please take ur shit away from the Sajha and ty to do some constructuve work.

i dont know if the reliability of the source is true or not, but the story seems to be.....

and cmon seriously, wot do u expect from madhesis?  despite all the hatred and biased stuffs from the kathmanduites and all the crap, do u still expect them to act normal, as if nothings wrong... arent they really in an identity crisis? They know they are Nepali, but we treat them like Indians....... WTF !!!

i am from kathmandu and i know how people treat madhesis, i used to treat madhesis like crap for which i really do regret, was immature at that time. And to any Madhesi people in sajha, my sincere apology on behalf of all the Kathmanduites who have treated you like you were not Nepali......

If somebody treated me like i was not from Nepal, but from India, i would have kicked that son of a gun;s ass, and try to imagine the whole population treating you like that..... Not only in Kathmandu, but in most of the places Madhesis are treated unfair, unjust.... They are Nepali too, just their language and skin color is different, that too not a vast difference.....

I did not support their demand for a secular state, but i do understand what made them demand such an extreme point......

And mark my words, the Terai uprising will be seen again, unless the people and their thinking and attitude change towards the our Nepali brothers and sisters.... It is not in Govt's hand to decide how people treat other people, its the people themselves..... So plz ppl treat Nepali people like Nepali, not like Indians....

HOpe ya'll get the point.....

LOve n peace

you are 100% rightsoullesseye bro.every nepalese should respect one another

as a great personality of nepal said:

     HAMRO DESH CHAR JAAT CHHATISH VARNA KO SAJHA PHULBAARI HO!

you are 100% right  soullesseye bro.every nepalese should respect one another

as a great personality of nepal said:

     HAMRO DESH CHAR JAAT CHHATISH VARNA KO SAJHA PHULBAARI HO!

So far the meaning of Madhise and Phadiya, It all contains about the place of dwelling. Tarai is Madhes and dweller of Madhes is Madise. In Kathmandu, who ever dwell in Pahad they are called Parbate.

Now the sad part of this movement turned to racial and ganged against the origin of the race instead of dwelling.  I have on Jha colleague who is the resident of Bhaktapur, he claims he is Newar Brahmin. But jha in Tarai is Kayasta Brahman. So how you take it, His ancestor melt down with the system and became part of Newar family, actually his great great parents were from tarai. I met Sapkota who teaches Nepali in Saptari can not be recognized he is not a madhise, but he may be suffering from this movement because his cast is not Mahato, Jha and so forth.

History repeated badly , as many kings "nakabandi" to Kathmandu city to win it, so did the madhesi movement not letting go in the commodities and fuel to Kathmandu. Sorry to see these all happening one after another.