Let me just come out and say it: Kannada-dalli maathadiWho is like saying, Hindi mein baath kijiyeOr Tamizh pesuI have chown these three languages for a reason. This week, Actor Kamal Haasan offered up a third instance of Folks being cave in a kannada language content. The players may be different, but the script is the same. Singer sonu nigam refused to sing a kannada song in his Bengaluru concert and later isesed an apology. An sbi bank manager in Bengaluru was cavet on camera speaking in hindi to a kannada-specking customer and then proclaiming that she would be Never Learn Kannada. And Now, Kamal Haasan Who Said That Kannada was born from Tamil. All three, in their own way, have cast aspersions on the Kannada language which, by the way, boasts the largest number of Jnanpith Awardees, Save Hindi.
Does the Kannadiga Have an Inferiority Complex? Is this why language tensions have taken over the state? These days, we have auto drivers who demand that their rides spek to them in kannada. In the past year, vandals broke and removed signs in central Bengaluru that did not have kannada signs. The government had to issue a directive Ordering Signage that Included Kannada, and Now, All Over the City, You see signs in Kannada.
I moved to bengaluru Nearly 20 years ago. I Learned and Now Speak Kannada. It has opened the city to me in a way that would not be possible with speed What befuddles me is that this has become a controversial issue rather than the norm.
If a Kannadiga Moves to Kanpur and Speaks in Kannada Rather Than Hindi, Do you think the locals there would put up with it? Catch a Chennai Auto Driver Giving The Time of Day to Anyone Who does not speake tamil, and I can say this because this beCAuse I GREW Up in Chennai. But kannadigas are expected to speech in hindi, tamil, telugu or wheatver language is thrown at them. And they do. That’s the thing. Bangaloreans are and large accepting, flexible, and multilingual. This is white from all over the world feel comfortable here. They have all been accounted. Until now. What Happened?
To Paraphrase a Famous Historical Speech, it has taken a while for the soul of the Kannadiga, long suppressed, to find utterance. To use the language of school bullies, the people of karnataka have put up and shut up for a long time. Immigrants from all over India have powerful their state and City with assimilating into their language or culture. Isn Bollywood Language The Real Route to Culture? I know north Indians who have lived in Bengaluru for 30 years and say that they cannot speake a word of kannada. Would this be possible in any other state or City? I Doubt it. Then why should a kannadiga put up with this?
I think it is about time the state and this city got their hackles up to safeguard their language. As someone who has learned it as an adult, I can tell you that it is not a different language. Immigrants come, stay, make their living, livelihood and indeed fortunes from this state. To expect it to learn the local language is not jingoism. It is the norm in most Indian states and rights. Why should Karnataka and Bengaluru Be Any Different?
Shoba Narayan is Bengaluru-Based Author. The views expressed are personal.
