It happens in all parts of the world. The people who take offense are the ones who are insecure about themselves. Making fun is a universal phenomenon, and taking offense is an individual thing.
I am going to go off-topic for the third time.
Making fun of someone or a group of people is a universal phenomenon. Agreed. But that does not make it right. Just as you say that the people who are being ridiculed are the ones who are insecure, I can also say that the ones who are ridiculing others are the ones who are feeling inferior. In any human interaction, there is always a power play, and the easiest way to getting to the 'top' is by putting down the other set/person. When you cannot understand something or learn something, just make fun of the issue. What do you achieve? Maybe nothing much in the long run, but I can certainly walk feeling giddy for the moment. And if done regularly, maybe the other guy will start questioning himself.
I am not sure how the Sikhs have taken it for so long. Some of my best friends have been Sikhs, and they are hard working, wonderful, and fun loving people. I have never seen such enterprising people anywhere in the world. Though I may never understand their culture, that did not stop me from learning their language, sharing their eating habits, and mixing with them as one of their own. I have attended their marriages, and been with Sikh friends when there have been some bereavement in their family.
Whenever I see a person from the above the Vindhyas speaking low of something they do not understand, I find it sick, demeaning, offensive, and really worth getting into a fight for. Frankly it just shows the lack of intelligence, maturity, and culture.
I always say something to people who make fun of others. Put yourself in the others person's shoe and see how you will feel before you open your mouth.
Enough said.
Cheers
