By Vijayshree Kurumilla
There is a Native Indian story about a Girl and the Rattlesnake, to show how the Native Indians kindness, was misused, by the white man, to take away, their country from them. I found this story to be, strikingly reflective, of Telangana’s pre and post merger history. Here it is-
Girl & the Rattlesnake
A young girl walking along a mountain path to her grandmother’s house heard a rustle at her feet. Looking down, she saw a snake, but before she could react, the snake spoke to her.
“I am about to die,” he said. “It’s too cold for me up here, and I am freezing. There is no food in these mountains, and I am starving. Please put me under your coat and take me with you.”
“No,” the girl replied. “I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. And if I pick you up, you will bite me and your bite is poisonous.”
“No, no,” the snake said. “If you help me, you will be my best friend. I will treat YOU differently.”
The young girl sat down on a rock for a moment to rest and think things over. She looked at the beautiful markings on the snake and she had to admit he was the most beautiful snake she had ever seen.
Suddenly, she said, “I believe you. I will save you. All living things deserve to be treated with kindness.”
She then reached over, put the snake gently under her coat and continued toward her grandmother’s house.
Within a moment, she felt a sharp pain in her side. The snake had bitten her!
“How could you do this to me?” she cried. “You promised that you would not bite me, and I trusted you!”
“You knew what I was when you picked me up,” he hissed as he slithered away.>
…….
When Seemandhra separated from Tamil Nadu, we know how, its situation was. They had no funds; they had their administration set up, at Kurnool, operating from Tents, in pathetic conditions and were dreading, their future. They eyed, our Hyderabad city, at this juncture and began to work, towards getting their state, merged with Telangana, under the garb of linguistic based, states formation.
Our assembly rejected this proposal but the Centre merged Telangana with Seemandhra, and the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed in the year 1956, with a lot of promises, being made by the other side, and signing of the gentlemen’s agreement. Soon after merger, what followed was a series of betrayal, of our trust and imposition, of Seemandhra hegemony, over us.
The Pre-merger Seemandhra’s situation was similar to that of, the Rattlesnake in the story and so were, their agreements and promises. The consequences of having picked up a Rattlesnake like Seemandhra, believing that they will , those promises are there, for all of us, to see.
Andhra Pradesh has been, only a bitter experience, for us, in every way. We have built a great movement for regaining our state of Telangana. Before the moment of truth arrives, we will once again have Seemandhra party leaders, coming and asking us, to vote for them. They will come making all kinds of promises, they will come begging, for our votes, and they will go, to the extent of, even, pleading with us, ‘Please give us another chance and we will surely get the state for you’.
Knowing our history and having already been betrayed many times, we should know what to do, when Rattlesnakes make promises. Always remember, the last words, of the Rattlesnake, after it bites, the girl-“You knew what I was when you picked me up.”
Jai Telangana!