TMKOC Producer Asit Modi Decries Focus on Religion, Caste
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Kumarr Modi says society’s fixation on religion, caste and language divides people and urges Indians to put national identity first.
Mumbai: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Kumarr Modi has expressed disappointment over what he describes as society’s growing obsession with religion, caste and language, arguing that people should identify themselves as Indians first to foster harmony and strengthen community living.
Speaking exclusively to IANS, Modi said divisions in society were increasing. “Today, whenever we meet someone, the first questions are: ‘Which religion do you belong to? What is your caste? Which community do you belong to? What language do you speak?’ I always say that if we first say, ‘I am an Indian,’ then this problem will be solved and everyone will be able to live together,” he said.
He reflected on his childhood in Mumbai’s chawls, where neighbours were treated like family. “In my childhood, and even in Dilip (Joshi) bhai’s childhood, we lived in a chawl system. In Mumbai, whether it was Bhuleshwar, Kalbadevi or Dadar, we all lived in chawls. The neighbours became our family because the houses were small. There wasn’t the concept of a nuclear family in the way we see it today. Even today, I am connected with the neighbours I had when I was six or seven years old,” he said.
