'South Indian' or simply Indian?

Methodology of The Golden South Survey

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Fifty years after the creation of linguistic states, the South is far more integrated with the rest of the country than it was at the time of independence and state formation. We today see a ‘South Indian’ who clearly has multiple identities – each identity is linked to a life experience and real life situation. The success of the South is essentially the by-product of creating language-based states. Above all, the apparent ‘north-south divide’ is not something, which comes out clearly in common citizen’s perceptions. The differences between the two are more on marginal issues and on substantive matters they appear to share the same worldview.

The golden jubilee of the formation of Southern states, provided a window of opportunity to capture what the South represented – as a people, as a distinct region, as a special region of regions and of course as an integral and important part of what makes up India. The CNN-IBN-CSDS-Deccan Herald survey conducted in the Southern States was an effort to feel the social and cultural pulse of the South. The findings of the survey have been analysed by Sandeep Shastri and Yogendra Yadav *. A detailed statement of the methodology adopted to undertake the study is carried along with the article.

On what issues and in what areas did the survey seek to elicit the response of common citizens? What did it mean for an Indian to belong to the South? Was the South in any significant ways different from the rest of the country? How did people in the South view the development of their state and how did it compare with their neighbours in the South? Was the South being fairly treated by the rest of the country? How comfortable was life in the South? How did people in the South view apparently contentious issues linked to the rest of the country? Had the South (and the North) moved towards a meaningful integration? These were just some of the questions that the study sought to tap.

Multiple Identities

People who hail from the South of the Vindhyas are often characterised as ‘South Indians’. The survey found that common people are generally familiar with this term. Do people from the South really see themselves as South Indians? Do those who originally hailed from South India, but today live in other parts of the country, assume ownership for the term ‘South Indian’? Among the South Indian respondents living in the Southern states, more than two out of every three identified themselves as South Indians. If the response of South Indians living in other parts of the country is analyzed, the percentage of those who said that they were ‘South Indian’ rose to more than ninety per cent. The implication is significant. Once people moved out of the region that they belong to their sense of identity with their roots is much stronger and more intense.

There were minor variations in the four southern states on whether people who hailed from this region responded positively to the term South Indian. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, over eighty per cent of the South Indian respondents gave a positive reply when asked whether they were South Indians. In Andhra Pradesh, a little over two thirds of the respondents said ‘Yes’ to this question and in Kerala less than one-thirds of those interviewed took this stand.

It is relevant to note that a significant number of respondents in Kerala did not respond positively to the South Indian identity. The survey also reveals that respondents in the state of Kerala were quite assertive in stressing their state identity. It appears that given the migration pattern in Kerala and the percentage of Malyalam speaking population that is spread across the country and abroad, the local (Keralite) and larger Indian identity resonates strongly in the perceptions of people in the state.

* (Sandeep Shastri is the National Convenor, Lokniti Network and Director, International Academy for Creative Teaching, Bangalore and Yogendra Yadav is Co-Director, Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi).