Why Kannada deserves more than apologies

Let me just come out and say it: Kannada-dalli maathadi.  Which is like saying, Hindi mein baath kijiye. Or Tamizh-pesu. I have chosen these three languages for a reason.  This week, actor Kamal Haasan offered up a third instance of folks being caught in a Kannada language controversy. The players may be different but the script is the same. Singer Sonu Nigam refused to sing a Kannada song in his Bangalore concert and later issued an apology. An SBI bank manager in Bangalore was caught on camera speaking in Hindi to a Kannada-speaking customer and then proclaiming that she would 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 Jnanapith awardees, save Hindi. It is also the only language, besides Hindi in which an Indian author has won a Booker Prize: Geetanjali Sree and more recently, Banu Mushtaq respectively.

Do Kannadigas have a chip on their shoulder about their native language? They didn’t used to. I know North Indians who moved from Delhi to Bangalore 30 years ago and still don’t speak a word of Kannada. These days though, language tensions have taken over the state. We have auto-drivers who demand that their rides speak to them in Kannada. In the past year, vandals broke and removed signs in Central Bengaluru that did not have Kannada signage. The government had to issue a directive ordering signage that included Kannada, and now, all over the city, you see signs written in the beautiful cursive of the Kannada language.

I moved to Bangalore 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 without speaking the local tongue. 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 local folks there would put up with it? Catch a Chennai auto driver giving the time of day to anyone who doesn’t speak Tamil, and I can say this because I grew up in Chennai. But Kannadigas are expected to speak in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu or whatever language is thrown at them. And you know what, they do, perhaps to their own detriment. That’s the thing. Bangaloreans are by and large accepting, flexible, and multi-lingual.  You have homes where Tamil, Kannada, and Telegu are all spoken because this city lies in the crossroads of several states. This is why people from all over the world feel comfortable here. They have all been accommodated. 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 populated their state and city without assimilating into their language or culture. Isn’t language the real route to culture? 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 get 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 difficult language. Immigrants come, stay, make their living, livelihood and indeed fortunes from this state. To expect them to learn the local language is not jingoism. It is the norm in most Indian states and cities. Why should Karnataka and Bangalore be any different?