North vs South

Me and the kids were at the park as usual. The kids were obviously playing and the mums were most obviously chatting BUT not gossiping:):)

Now, I have a few friends whom I meet regularly, I cant say we are close, however we do meet almost everyday, so we know each other fairly well. Both the women in question were from the North, one an Assamese and the other a Maharastrian. We kept discussing something trivial, until somehow we started discussing Chennai in general and both said almost in unison that they would be thrilled if they could be back in Mumbai as soon as possible.I just smiled then and then the topic changed.

However, later on, I was idly thinking over it. Though they are really pleasant and nice otherwise, I have always felt they sort of "tolerate" Chennai and its people. Somehow and this is not the first time, I have always felt that when folks from the north come here, they subtly look down upon us and just about put up with things here. They are mentally there and physically here.The same folks somehow, gel with South Indians when they are abroad, because then we become Indians living abroad:)

But we go live in the North, we always try to learn the local language, never look down upon it, never ever say that it sounds like marbles shaking  in a tin;try our best to adapt to local culture, food et al and mostly embrace the city as our own. I can personally vouch for this because most of my immediate and extended family, including myself have always lived in the North. We usually always find a whole lot that is great and different about each place and mostly love to be friendly with everyone, not just people who speak our own language. In fact, I take great pride in saying that I know Marathi and Hindi:)

So whats the deal, exactly?Are we just more accepting and tolerant of others?Why do I always get the distinct feeling that North Indians just sort of "suffer" their stay here in the South? What is really missing here from their point of view?Arent we all in  one country with the same facilities?Guess, we could just talk about the change in weather, right?