ALOK PRASANNA writes from Hyderabad: I walked out of the cool air-conditioned environs of the fast food joint, and looked around to see if there was an autorickshaw that I could catch.
In the split-second before I made my decision, a woman, bearing a clipboard and a printed notepad, stopped and started talking to me about an NGO she was representing.
She started talking about the merits of the NGO and such, handing out the inevitable donation form cum receipt slip, and as I scanned the brochure (out of sheer boredom if nothing else), I realized that somewhere along the line, she had slipped into Telugu, her native tongue.
I barely heard her as I pretended to be reading the documents, hoping that she would notice my disinterest, when she suddenly switched back into English and asked if I was ready to make a donation. It was evident that she had asked me the same in Telugu, and when she noticed the obvious blank look on my face, asked if I knew Telugu.
I replied that I did not.
“You don’t?!” A pause and a look which preceded the obvious question, “How could you not?”
I pre-empted that question, mumbled that I was from Bangalore and I was in Hyderabad only to study, and hastily made my exit.
Later, I cast my mind back to a discussion a few of us had in a class. It was a small group, and we were discussing how to make our National Law University more relevant to our immediate surroundings, i.e. the nearby villages, the local farmers, the women in the villages, and others.
It wasn’t long before we hit upon the most obvious stumbling block. None of us, in the group, knew Telugu. And all of us had been on this campus, located near Hyderabad for close to five years. Why hadn’t we learnt more than the odd phrase?
At first we blamed Hindi. That, really, one did not need to know Telugu in Hyderabad since Hindi will do just as well. But that only meant that we wanted the locals to adjust to us, and not vice versa.
Then we remembered what one of our professors (a Telugu speaker himself, who had studied and worked in Madras, as it was then) had told us in class about his experience. In four years at the Presidency College, he had learnt barely a smattering of Tamil, but in three months that he was employed in Madras, he picked up enough to converse freely with anyone.
He gave us a simple reason: He had to.
With the number of local people he had to meet and deal with on a daily basis, he had no choice but to use Tamil in his conversations with them.
It was then we realized that we had never been put in a situation where we had to learn Telugu. Within our campus, the people who knew Telugu, everyone from the sweeper to the tenured professor, were in a minority. They had to adjust to us. Because our actual interaction with the city of Hyderabad itself was so limited, none of us had ever bothered to try and pick up enough Telugu.
Not even those of us South Indians whose knowledge of Hindi was at best a crude smattering.
In our discussion, as any group of wannabe lawyers are wont, our instant remedy was to impose the requirement of learning the local language through compulsory classes. As our professor pointed out, it had been tried. It was a spectacular failure.
It is, of course, easy to dismiss the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and Raj Thackeray’s mobs as a bunch of illiterate and vicious goons, but what makes them find resonance with what their “leaders” say. Doesn’t the feeling of being made to feel like a foreigner in one’s own country matter?
The “language issue” does not have anything to do with culture or classics, but something as basic as respect for the local language. It is silly to divert the matter into a “who has read more Kannada classics, or seen more Marathi drama to be eligible to raise the language issue.”
Ignoring the demagoguery on both sides, this, I think, is what explains some of the emotions that have been raised by this matter. It is a pity that the rabble rousers and screamers have been able to tap into this feeling and turn into violence, rather than seek proper dialogue to remedy it.
While the resentment against the “outsider” may also have economic angles to it, the emotional aspect linked to language cannot be forgotten or ignored.
Alok,
There is a fine line between pride towards our language, and language chauvanism used for political gains. Many migrant residents of Maharashtra speak Marathi. It is perhaps only in Mumbai that there are the floating migrants who rely on Hindi. But Mumbai is not Maharashtra, and often confuse the capital with the state, just like Bangalore is not Karnataka. Parties that use language as the basis of their manifesto, only politicise the issue, and always by making the case weak for learning the local language.
But having said that, I do find it odd when people who choose to move to another place for however short a time, don’t find it necessary to interact with that city. The first step towards any interaction would be to pick up the local language. When one spends time in Ahmedabad or Thiruvananthaopuram or Chennai, one realises there is no other way but to learn the language if one wants to get things done! I know many Bangaloreans, who have lived in Bangalore all their life and cannot speak any Kannada, even the basic conversational lingo!
Many migrant residents of Maharashtra speak Marathi. It is perhaps only in Mumbai that there are the floating migrants who rely on Hindi. But Mumbai is not Maharashtra, and often confuse the capital with the state, just like Bangalore is not Karnataka….
Mrs. (or is it Ms:)) Mallya:
I am a Maharashtrian. Without being rude, what you say is just not true. Having travelled across and up and down India extensively, I can say with confidence that a person can live ANYWHERE in Maharashtra without learning even a word of Marathi. Even neighbouring Goa, despite the huge number of tourists, is not Maharashtra. You have to learn at least a smattering of Konkani. So also Kannada in Karnataka, where in addition to understanding and speaking, even knowing to read Kannada helps a lot.
This includes remote villages. Contrary to what you say, almost every major city in Maharashtra has significant numbers of non-Maharashtrians, many of whom can’t speak any Marathi. Maharashtrians (unfortunately) never actually feel that outsiders should learn their language. That basic desire that outsiders should learn their language while they are in their state-which is common everywhere in the world, the basic expectation that outsiders should learn the local tongue-this basic expectation is absent among Maharashtrians.
Those who criticise MNS blindly should understand that Maharashtrians are already only 35 % of Mumbai’s population. They do not want to be reduced to 3.5 %, 0.35 % and 0.000000000000000000000035 % of Mumbai and Maharashtra’s population. THis is the anger that they are feeling at unchecked migration. This is the root cause, not Thackeray.
PLus, it is quite obvious that demographic change on the scale that is happening in MH is simply not happening in TN,WB,AP,KL,KA,GJ. Hence, it is quite obvious to the Maharashtrain that these communities are simpy NOT in the same situation as he is-namely, being reduced to a minority in their own land. Because these people are not having any imminent threat to their demography-they can preach all they want. ONly those who are wearing the same shoe-they can feel the pinch. Maharashtrians can see with their own eyeballs demographic change.
Were they in the same position-things would have been very different.
Mind you, the Maharashtrians with their attitude of speaking “varan bhat” Hindi itself roll the red carpet out for non-Maharashtrians. But they are too naive to realise this:(
i lived in pune for a while. went there as a rookie.
you can survive in pune without marathi, but to live in pune you need to know marathi. speak-talk-read. that marathi script is devanagari, which i was familiar with helped. first words in marathi for me, kachaDa taaKu naka
now as a bachelor you can live in a mental ghetto and meet only people in your office, go to a certain type of hotels do without marathi. but you’ll miss out on vada paav, misal, amruthalaya etc etc. miss out all the hilarious banter in the buses and 6 seaters and most importantly, you’ll miss out on getting on the good books of the nice and propah marathi aunties in your colony, and hence risk the chance of getting some nice home made food every now then.
eventually, i discovered a lot of non-locals. my sample might be biased but all such people i knew were comfortable marathi speakers.
there is roaring kannada scene in pune. but you have to seek them out. many hiding under names like punekar!!! ofcourse, you can hit the hotels and speak to the manis if not the yajamanru in kannada or tulu.
wonderful city. but their news papers suck. i discovered ToI in pune. i was shocked. the hindu arrives i day late in pune at those days would get them only at one vendor in deccan gymkhana. eventually it became too much of a chore to go all the way upto DG to get a newspaper. shifted to mid-day, IE and even JAM.
“It is a pity that the rabble rousers and screamers have been able to tap into this feeling and turn into violence, rather than seek proper dialogue to remedy it.”
Yes, no one wants violence. Dialogue needs two parties. And the other party and media is not willing to get into a dialogue if initiated through civilized means. The issue is a non-issue for other party and media. But pick up one stone and everyone starts noticing. That is the tragedy surrounding the issue. This is not justification but plain observation.
When you are in a new city for a couple of years or more, no matter what the reason, if you do not make an attempt to pick up the basics of the local language, culture and customs, it is plain inexcusable. Not only does it belittle the hosts, it reflects bad on the individual — no matter what the excuse.
Like tarlesubba pointed out, you miss out on a plethora of new experiences while all the way setting yourself up to be viewed as myopic, self-centered and unappreciative. Though there is a mention of why none in the group made an effort to learn Telegu — ‘we were not forced/required to’ — the reason absolves self while blaming the circumstance — woefully weak at best.
Since the post is introspective, rather than moving from the antecedent(encounter at the food joint) to the consequence(dismay over the local language sidelining and possible legal measures to correct), you will need to dwell on “B” — your belief system ; else you are jumping from “A”(antecedent) to “C”(Consequence) bypassing “B” and absolving yourself along the way — A typical mistake per the “ABC model (Antecedent, Belief, and Consequence) of Cognitive Psychology”.
I would start slow and small, with the riddance of the denial — we were not required to ; Yes, but you still could have and that was the right thing to do. So why not start it NOW ? You may not be successful in changing the laws, but you sure can change yourself and your group. That’s a start ..
About KRV & MNS : It is not them, it is their true intentions and their modus operandi that’s a suspect..
The fact is people don’t “care” about things until it starts happening in their own back yard. Any social group that adopts a laissez faire attitude is doomed to lose especially when interacting with opposing groups who are very tenecious in their ways. In the case of the language issue, for instance, you will find a migrant linguistic group that vows not to learn the local language but instead want to teach you their own language or expect you to know it (pick your own examples….lots to choose from!). Sheer arrogance. These are the types of 2 headed monsters who enable the slow erosion of a local language. India as a country in the last 10-15 years has witnessed so much internal migration it isn’t surprising that the melting pot (or cauldron) of cultures is frothing with conflict and resentment.
Vikas Joshi,
Karnataka is second only to maharashtra in facing this problem.Both are soft hindutva states outside the hindi heartland.It is far easier for outsiders to migrate.Karnataka does not face this problem in smaller towns.Also the kannada script is different from devnagari.That helps the cause of Karnataka.
While the basic liberal attitude of maharashtra and karnataka cannot be called in question and their nationalist credentials unimpeachable,it is also a fact that Bombay has had a history of its own and bangalore was a british cantonment controlled by madras presidency which became a preferred destination for central investment because of the liberal kannadigas.
We need to open up madras,calcutta,hyderabad in the same way.They have to take much more migrants.
One of the main reasons for the people in not being able to learn the local or regional language, other than Hindi, is adoptation of 3-language formula. More so, this formula was not at all implemented in its spirit. Seondly, the locals themselves not having any pride for their language. I am working in a Central Govt. office, where people from different states have been working for more than 10-12 years. Hardly few of them have ever spoken Kannada. When confronted, they give a cool but true and factual reply. “Whenever we try to speak Kannada, you start talking in our languages. Instead of appreciating and encouraging, you make fun of our efforts to speak Kannada. The sabjiwalas, carpenters, electricians, masons, all and sundry speak Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam etc. except Kannada. How do you expect us to learn and speak your language? …….. This is a serious issue to be pondered over by us.
QUOTE While the resentment against the “outsider” may also have economic angles to it, the emotional aspect linked to language cannot be forgotten or ignored UNQUOTE
I think the matter of language pride and chauvinism actually stems from “economic alienation”, a sense of being on the margins of apparent economic growth. This leads to a sense of deprivation and social frustration & then identity politics of the worst kinds take over. Wherever “locals” have not grown in economic terms i.e. being in leadership positions of wealth creation & power, and where “outsiders” are in these positions, the sense of alienation comes to the fore. Bengalis and Marwaris control the economy in Assam and we know what happened there from the 80s onwards as more and more Assamese youth became disillusioned with their prospects in their own state. No different than from what’s going on in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The reasons for this alienation are in my humble opinion, manifold.
It is not a matter of jingoistic speech mongering but of actual ground level development action which of course no politician wants to deal with. They want to develop a sense of entitlement (“am a son of the soil so I should get a job in my state”) rather than foster all round growth. Issues relating to education (e.g. how many Marathi / Kannadiga students are present in the IITs, RECs, IISc, IIMs civil services, etc compared to outsiders) , entrepreneurship & wealth creation (e.g. how many Marathi / Kannadiaga entrepreneurs exist in Mumbai or Bangalore compared to outsiders? Withour local wealth creation, political parties depend on outsiders for raising money to win elections e.g. Telugu / Marwari mining mafia in North Karnataka), how many senior charismatic bureaucrats & politicians exist at the state and Central levels (e.g. in Karnataka, almost all the Rajya Sabha MPs are from outside the state! Dharam Singh vs Deshmukh, Deve Gowda vs Pawar ,Praful Patel vs Mallya!), infrastructure across the state (e.g. how many cities outside of Mumbai and Bengaluru are centres of development and growth), pride in one’s own culture and history through well marketed education, learning, tourism, seminars, etc (e.g. Bangalore Habba is a Bollywoodised version run by non Kannadigas). Who’ ready to deal with these?
Sanjaya:
Some answers to your questions:
(”am a son of the soil so I should get a job in my state”)
Try to understand that every state in India gives state domicile students qoutas, preferences or reservation-or something of the sort (including KA). MH is the only state that does NOT. Superficially, this does not sound much. What are the implications?
They are as follows: while MH engineering aspirants find it close to impossible to get a seat in MP (because 80 % of the seats are set aside for MP students), or in Haryana (same reason), Punjab (because 85 % of the seats are set aside for Punjab domiciles), Tamil Nadu (69 % for TN domiciles), AP (85 %-that too, on a zonal basis, not even on the whole of AP:)) and so on, a Telugu. Haryanvi, Punjabi, Tamil, Madhya Pradeshi student can very easily get a seat in Maharashtra. This means while other states have closed their doors to Marathi students, Maharashtra has thrown its doors open to all and sundry. Do you see then, that the whole playing field itself is NOT level-the Maharashtrian can only compete in MH and even in MH he is being asked to compete with people who themselves do not have to compete in their own states!
Secondly, while Maharashtra’s ST, SC, OBC and other quotas are often utilized by non-MH ST,SCs and OBCs-the reverse is impossible because quotas in other states are restricted strictly to state OBCs, STs, SCs. The playing field becomes even more unequal.
Thirdly, other state governments in the rest of India ensure that reservations are given to local domiciles in private universities and institutes.
Isn’t it true that in Karnataka, Kannada medium and rural Karnataka students get reservation in engineering and PG courses? Correct me if I am wrong. What are the details?
In a way, the Maharashtrian in Maha is being asked to forego what other states give their people. This is one of the causes of resentment.
Besides, what the MNS is saying with regard to jobs is true. When AP has 60.5 % literacy, WB has 68, Punjab 69 %, TN 73.3, Gujarat 69 %-all these have no problems filling 90 %+ of their jobs with locals. How is it MH with MORE ITIs, MORE graduates, MORE literacy (77 %), MORE polytechnics, MORE people passing class X/class XII than these states-can’t fill 90% of its jobs with locals?
When AP (60.5 %) fills its jobs with locals totally, MH with 77 % can’t?!! The number of people passing class X/XII in MH is greater than any state in India and bigger than the CBSE board itself! Even assuming quality etc, even then, why should there be an issue hiring locals?
infrastructure across the state (e.g. how many cities outside of Mumbai and Bengaluru are centres of development and growth)…
On this score, Maharashtra is the BEST in INDIA. No state has as many well-devoloped Tier I, Tier II, Tier III cities as MH including TN, Gujarat et al.
In Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Kohlapur, Solapur, Aurangabad, Thane, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai-no city has as many big and devoloped cities as MH. Contray to popular percetion, Maharashtrian has the largest number of 1 million + towns. There’s plenty of towns which are big OUTSIDE Mumbai. Tamil Nadu’s towns are much smaller and less devoloped by far. Gujarat is a distant second.
rather than foster all round growth…
Point taken. But what all ground needs to be fostered for people to get jobs as security jobs, cleaners, drivers, cooks, and other such jobs? EVen looking at higher level jobs-what great skills do these jobs need? Can it be specified? And in what way are Marathis lacking at those skills? What are these great skills which are absent or not found in MH?
The merit arguement is used without any data to support it.
There is something quixotic in a state which has much greater trained
man power than others being a state where people are brought in from outside. There is something quixotic in a state which has the second highest literacy level(higher than even TN, lower than KL) in India being told of locals not able to fill jobs/not enough locals qualified etc when states like AP, KA, TN, WB, GJ, PJ can fill with far less literacy. There is something quixotic in bringing manpower from other states when there are more qualified people here than there!
When AP (60.5 %) fills its jobs with locals totally, MH with 77 % can’t?!! The number of people passing class X/XII in MH is greater than any state in India and bigger than the CBSE board itself! Even assuming quality etc, even then, why should there be an issue hiring locals?
Dear Faldo, I hope you don’t mind. Your quote sums up the issue to a large extent. Am using it for using this purpose:).
Open quote:
While it is true merit is the criterion for certain jobs, a lot of lower level jobs go to migrants from other states for a host of reasons.
In some cases the job-creators might find migrants willing to be exploited and work at lower wages. In other cases, people favor workers from their own states and do not always bother to look for local talent.
Sometimes even for government positions for such jobs, the advertisements appear in certain national level newspapers and their publications in other states but not in local papers, so many local candidates are just not aware of such openings. If these were stray instances, these could be ignored but as it has become rampant, the local people are showing their resentment.
In a way do the people from some states have to suffer because they are relatively more developed or more peaceful or their representatives have less influence in the government.
This does not mean that migrants are to blame but one must realise that it is not a question of merit alone.
Bengalis and Marwaris control the economy in Assam and we know what happened there from the 80s onwards as more and more Assamese youth became disillusioned with their prospects in their own state…
The root cause was actually enmasse emigration from Bangladesh. You have omitted this point-which started it all.
Vikas, no problem. My comments were summed up from my own obervations in Maha & Karnataka. Your point about other cities in MH being quite developed is perfectly valid. This has been the case from a very long time. However like you said more development also has caused an influx which is causing resentment.
The situations in KA & MH also go back to historical reasons as KL indicated.
Janasamanya – what you mentioned is very similar to what I myself have seen. I have heard people saying that when others spoke to them in Kannada they felt like correcting/ making fun (hasya) or replying back in their language, instead of appreciating the effort and trying to carry on the conversation.
I had always thought that Tams, Tels, and Mals somehow managed to force outsiders to speak the language of the locals. It is not comforting, but interesting, to know that one can get by in Hyderabad without learning Telugu.
Bengaluru, you are not alone.
Pulikeshi the last:
What do you think of the KRV? Honestly? What is your assessment of this party and its future? What are your feelings? What do you make of what it has achieved thus far? Do you feel as peplexed as me when you read in the newspapers “yesterday KRV activists destroyed/demolished/burnt/vandalized etc.”
Just wanted to know.
And clarify:
but interesting, to know that one can get by in Hyderabad without learning Telugu….
Yes, if one doesn’t have much interaction with the city itself:)
Since we are talking of learning local language. I want to learn kannda. Tried convincing my HR in office to start kannda classes but in vain. Tried googling but nobody seems to conducting kannda classes. I tried those “Learn kannda in 30 days” kind of books but did not work out for me.
–kk
I. Kannadiga–
I have vented against the KRV in many posts in the last few months. I agree with you. Why do we have to associate violence and vandalism with doing right by Kannada?
The KRV will self destruct; if not, Kannadigas are in for a lot of grief.
You are right again. What do non-Kannadigas have to gain from learning Kannada in Bengaluru? Obviously, Kannadigas themselves have little use for it when seeking a job.
KK Says:
“Since we are talking of learning local language. I want to learn kannda. Tried convincing my HR in office to start kannda classes but in vain. Tried googling but nobody seems to conducting kannda classes. I tried those “Learn kannda in 30 days” kind of books but did not work out for me. ..”
Your point is very valid. But going after your HR to conduct classes may or may not yield results. I was like you when I came to Bangalore as a student to pursue Masters, 30 years back. Our group of co-students used to conduct weekend classes for children in a slum near Yeshwanthapur Circle (which slum is now mostly cleared). I have learnt my first Kannada from those kids, whom I taught English (So after all it was a give and take). I am sure positive interaction with outside world definitely helps in this respect.
As I had interest in politics and local gossip, I started reading Kannada with the Lankesh Patrike. I also could appreciate the dialects of MaanDya and DhaarwaaDa from the writings of Hubballiyava and other columnists of that tabloid in those days. As far the writing is concerned, I learnt it during my short stunt in Government where I was pen pusher for a while. I can’t boast that am an expert in Kannada and also I don’t suggest every one else to become an expert in Kannada, but colloquial knowledge can easily be acquired if one has the inclination. As for me I enjoyed learning a new language and proud to have become a part of the community and never felt like an outsider.
@KK,
have you tried kannadakali.org?
Nice site,, you can also try Kannada classes conducted weekly at Hosmath hospital by Kannada Prasara parishath
Babuds, you actually learned to read Kannada and your text was the Lankesh Pathrike? May God have mercy on your soul.
@bellad
Thanks for the pointers. I will definitely try it out
What’s with you guys south of India with this “insider” and “outsider” obsession. I am a Bengali and have lived seventeen years in New Delhi with no feeling of being an “outsider”. My mother can’t even speak Hindi (or English) properly and she manages to live perfectly well. My friend is a Kannadiga and I didn’t come to know of this fact for quite some time until his parents mentioned it in some passing conversation where they come from.
Trouble for me started when I landed in Bangalore. My rude awakening to being an “outsider” in one’s own country. This whole business of being unwelcome has taken its toll on me and what I keep on brooding these days is when I can just run off from here. Had it not been for the mistake of buying property in Bangalore and the associated trouble of changing jobs, I would have been long time out of Bangalore by now.
I have had very bad experience with Telugu people …
I am working in a S/w firm in USA where there are lot of Telugu people. I was forced by 2 Telugu people to learn telugu, when I said I am in US not in AP they still inssited that in Software world like C++,C…. Telugu is also a language you are supposed to know
while attending the interview at 3 times i was asked if I knew telugu.
I am surprised that you were not forced to learn Telugu in AP.
why you only consider upper people ? please indicate all kannadiga live in maharashtra state ; not only mumbai
we have only language relation or other …. please say me. becoz in mumbai or poona I saw only cast relation kannadigas mets ; its fact ! So we can change the system and get ready to all kannadigas samgha in maharashtra state and with good relation with Marathi loka. thats called social relation.