I moved to Mumbai erstwhile I was nine. A Pahadi miss successful hand-me-down sweaters with a Hindi-English tongue. I landed successful the metropolis accelerated dormant connected a red-eye Air India flight, clutching my mother’s sari similar it was the past acquainted happening I had. As the kaali-peeli curved past the streets astatine dawn, the archetypal show that stirred maine awake was the Haji Ali Dargah — bathed successful sunrise, floating connected the Arabian Sea, shimmering similar a promise. I didn’t cognize the language. I didn’t cognize the map. But successful that moment, I knew: I was home. I was a Mumbaikar.
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We came present not by design, but by transfer. My parents were successful authorities service, and we hopped from municipality to town, authorities to state, capable that I knew ne'er to get excessively attached to a pincode oregon a school. Marathi wasn’t taught successful our home, wasn’t portion of my curriculum, and wasn’t mandatory. And yet, aft 3 decades of surviving here, I’m told by politicians, by Twitter eggs, by MNS banners that I’m not a “true” Mumbaikar due to the fact that I don’t talk Marathi.
Mumbai — oregon Bombay, depending connected what the psyche calls it — is simply a metropolis of galore migrations and galore contradictions. It’s the metropolis of Shobhaa De’s English, Amrita Fadnavis’ Marathi, Haji Ali’s Urdu, Lalbaug’s Marathi-Portuguese dialect, Dharavi’s Tamil, Malad’s Gujarati, Bandra’s Catholic Konkani, and Lokhandwala’s mentation of what we’ll generously telephone Punjabi.
This metropolis hears implicit 20 languages spoken each azygous day. It welcomes everyone and nary 1 successful adjacent measure.
The caller Marathi connection contention spearheaded by MNS isn’t astir preserving civilization — it’s astir posturing. When the system is faltering, governance is chaotic, and Mumbai is flooding yet again, linguistic nationalism becomes the cleanable decoy. It allows leaders to manufacture offence, to invent a menace wherever nary exists, and to presumption themselves arsenic protectors of identity, without having to bash the hard enactment of existent governance.
I accidental this not arsenic a governmental pundit, but arsenic idiosyncratic who’s walked these streets for 30 years. I’ve stood connected packed Virar locals with elbows successful my ribs. I’ve wept successful kaali-peelis stuck successful three-hour jams, I’ve written books connected the tetrapods of Marine Drive, I’ve marched successful Azad Maidan, I’ve gotten mislaid successful Bhuleshwar gullies, and I’ve learned to curse fluently successful Bambaiya. If this isn’t what it means to beryllium a Mumbaikar, what is?
Let maine beryllium clear: I person tremendous respect for Marathi. It is simply a rich, lyrical, humanities language. I privation my daughters to larn it, sing successful it, and someday constitute emotion letters successful it. But that’s the quality — love. You nurture a connection done inclusion, education, celebration, civic encouragement, and pride. You don’t shove it down people’s throats astatine petrol pumps and toll nakas.
You cannot weaponise connection and past telephone it culture. That is coercion, not preservation. And it’s besides a unsafe precedent. This increasing signifier of linguistic majoritarianism crossed Indian states is troubling. Because if you commencement mandating that Marathi indispensable beryllium spoken successful Mumbai, oregon Kannada successful Bengaluru, past what happens erstwhile Bihar insists connected Bhojpuri? When Tamil Nadu penalises Hindi? Our states look to beryllium veering from pridefulness into parochialism, utilizing connection not arsenic expressions of pride, but arsenic instruments of exclusion. This is not however federations function. It’s however they fracture.
Linguistic authoritarianism is dangerous. Are we acceptable to wage the terms of turning citizens into outsiders successful their ain state based connected the connection they speak? Language should beryllium a bridge, not a instrumentality of dominance. The much we weaponise it, the much we spot distant astatine the thought of India. Language is not a trial of belonging. Humanity is.
India’s aboriginal depends connected connection arsenic a celebration, not a checkpoint. We’ve survived due to the fact that our diverseness didn’t disagreement us. But the mode guardant is done preventive action, not punitive measures.
We hide that connection is besides a reflection of history, migration, trauma, and identity. And for galore of us, that individuality is fluid. As a Pahadi miss with nary roots successful this soil, I made Mumbai excavation not done connection but done life. I became a Mumbaikar not due to the fact that I learnt to rotation my R’s but due to the fact that I learnt to support going erstwhile the metropolis tried to devour maine alive.
I cognize the champion pau bhaji is not connected Zomato but down CST station. I’ve learnt that Ganpati visarjan is arsenic overmuch astir spirituality arsenic it is astir music. I’ve seen capable buildings fall, and friendships collapse, and dreams flail connected movie sets to cognize that Mumbai is not a connection — it’s a spirit.
And yet, present we are, successful 2025, arguing implicit whether idiosyncratic who says Bombay alternatively of Mumbai is anti-Maharashtra. As if that’s the metric for loyalty. Never caput that the Constitution allows states to take their authoritative language. Never caput that Hindi is spoken by implicit 44 per cent of Indians. Never caput that we are a polyglot federation of 121 languages spoken by implicit 10,000 radical each. Instead, we’re being told what to say, however to accidental it, and erstwhile to accidental it — oregon look the wrath of those who’ve mistaken fearfulness for leadership.
Let’s beryllium smarter than that. Let’s retrieve that the greatness of Mumbai lies successful its quality to sorb — not impose. It has country for everyone. The bhel-puri seller who speaks Tamil. The Gujarati stockbroker who slips into Hindi. The migrant who calls it Bombay due to the fact that that’s however she archetypal heard the sanction whispered connected a crowded bid from Gorakhpur.
This metropolis does not request a connection trial to determine who belongs. If your bosom beats successful bushed with this city’s chaos, past you belong. Because Mumbai isn’t a word. It’s a heartbeat that doesn’t cheque your accent earlier it lets you stay. So yes, I don’t talk Marathi fluently. But arsenic a Pahadi who speaks arsenic a Mumbaikar, that should beryllium enough. I don’t request anyone’s support to belong.
— The writer is an acclaimed author
English (US) ·