Tamil Nandu and Karnataka, like Arizona and California, have water issues. On Monday, the high water court ruled that we (Karnataka) have to share more water than we want to with Tamil Nandu. In response, we are protesting. The first protest was set for last Thursday. We announced it proudly and defiantly to the world. But a couple of hours later, we remembered that we had an international air show and trade event being hosted in Bangalore. Oops. So we will withhold our anger until Monday. Monday will be the bandh. On this day everyone is invited to stay home from work - in fact we are “forbidden” to not work from 6-6.  This way, anyone who is bored will be able to protest, riot even. This will be great.

 

Shiva told us that this bandh is a big deal. And its true I think. On the day of the ruling, people were kind of on edge. In 1992, when the water issue last came to a head, there were extreme riots, burning cars and the harming of many Tamil people. I asked him, somewhat jokingly, if we were in trouble. Would we be mistaken for being Tamil? “Don’t worry Madam, I have this.” And he opened the glove compartment and pulled out a Karnataka flag. “I always carry this around so we be safe. No one will be making any troubles.” He went on to tell me that he attaches it to the car. He has it there just in case. And he has a sticker that he can put on the car as well.

 

When Shiva pulled out the flag, I immediately thought about how after 9-11 everyone put american flags on their cars. Some called it patriotic. Others called it loyalty. But it seemed to me it was a symbol of not being the bad guy. It was proving that you were on the right side of things - not to be confused with the group being blamed or punished for the situation. So, the Karnataka flag symbolizes not being Tamil. And the American flag means not being well, Arab or Muslim. This becomes tricky for Tamil people who don’t want trouble, who want to prove they are not part of the problem, who want to assure others that they wish the water ruling had gone the other way. And the 9-11 situation became tricky for Muslims who wanted to ensure people that they were not terrorists. So, the Tamil fruit seller attaches a flag to his loaded cart. And the Iraqi couple, who own the Sahara restaurant, have american flags posted on their door, in their windows and on their serving counters.

 

Why flags? Why are two unrelated events on either side of the world using flags for safety, to ensure they are not mistaken for the bad guys? I can’t help but think about the Moses implications. Does this go back to the blood over the door? If so, can the angel of death be rioters or racists, not just a black cloud like in the ten commandments movie? Is a Tamil person really safer merely by putting a Karnataka flag on their car? Is an Iraqi muslim family really safer by putting an american flag in their restaurant window?

 

In the end (for now) I am thinking that it does make them safer. And I am wondering if this is logical or fair or how it should be? I remember watching the ten commandments movie (at least hundreds of times) and thinking about the people who weren’t in the house of Israel, who were really nice, peaceful people. Nice mothers and fathers who because they didn’t have the blood over their door watched their baby sons die. And just like then, I have no idea what to do with the reality of people being safer with the flags. Was the sikh man in phoenix who was killed a few days after 9-11 being punished because he didn’t have a flag on his Circle K counter? Would a flag have saved him? Is this really a fair system of deciding who is safe and who isn’t. I really don’t know. All I know is the flag is still in the glove compartment and my Tamil housecleaner Teresa is scared to go home after dark by herself.

 

Seriously. I should buy her a flag.