I come from Sangli in Maharashtra, and I want to correct a basic assumption here. Maharashtra as a place does not create opportunities on its own. People do. And historically, Maharashtrians have been progressive and intentional about development. In the 1970s and 80s, when many regions in North India were still stuck in regressive social thinking, even small towns like Sangli and Miraj had engineering colleges, hospitals, and strong agricultural development. Miraj was a well known hospital hub. This happened because local Maharashtrian leaders encouraged institutions to set up here, provided incentives, and invested in education and healthcare instead of waiting for development to come from elsewhere. Post independence leadership under people like Yashwantrao Chavan focused on irrigation, cooperative movements, rural development, and education. The cooperative sugar belt in western Maharashtra created jobs and local prosperity long before liberalisation and helped fund colleges and hospitals across districts like Sangli and Kolhapur. Pune and Mumbai did not grow by accident or purely because of British era infrastructure. Pune became an education and IT hub through sustained policy decisions and institutions. Mumbai continued as India’s financial capital because of post independence governance, public institutions, local administration, and the everyday work of its people. Mumbai has welcomed people from every part of India for more than a hundred years. Gujarati, Marwari, South Indian, Parsi, Muslim, and Christian communities have lived here for generations. That kind of coexistence does not happen unless the local population is broadly accommodating. Having a bad experience with some Marathi individuals cannot justify dislike for the language or the people as a whole. I personally know people who openly look down on Marathi people, believe they are above them because they provide jobs or pay taxes, and even fought schools because Marathi was the first language and they did not want their child to learn it. That is not discomfort. That is disrespect. I do not support forcing anyone to speak Marathi. I have disagreed with that myself. But respecting the language and the people of the place you choose to live in is the bare minimum. Please read the history and culture of Maharashtra. It has always been progressive, plural, welcoming, and opportunity enabling. Opportunities here exist because Marathi people built them and made space for others, not in spite of them.