Azzu Sultan has been working as an auto driver since 2019.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: An auto driver and part-time content creator has come up with a clever way to bridge the language gap between Kannadigas and non-Kannadigas.
Azzu Sultan, popularly known online as Auto Kannadiga, has been teaching his passengers basic Kannada through a placard placed inside his auto. The placard has simple phrases that can be used while hailing or booking an auto, and during the auto ride. They are printed in both Kannada and English.
“People say ‘learn Kannada’ every chance they get. But someone needs to teach it, right? Who is taking up that responsibility? In this fast-paced city, no one has the time to learn a new language or pick up a hobby. So I thought I would encourage passengers to use the 20-40 minutes they spend in the auto daily to pick up some basic Kannada,” shares Sultan.
He started the initiative last month, and since then has installed the placard in 500 autos across the city.
“Some unfortunate incidents seem to have tarnished the image of Bengaluru’s auto drivers. There’s now a perception that all auto drivers are just angry and rude. That is not the case, and I’m on a mission to prove that,” says the 31-year-old. He also encourages auto drivers to make friendly conversation with the passengers. “In this scenario, rebellion is of no use. And neither is violence. While some auto drivers need to change their approach, it is also important that passengers make an effort too. It’s a two-way street,” he adds.
He hopes to instal the placards in more autos across the city. “So far, I’ve done everything on my own. I used the income I make through social media to facilitate this initiative. But now I’m running out of funds. If an organisation comes forward to help, we can expand the initiative,” he tells Metrolife.
Some of the sentences on the placard are ‘Sir, elli idira?’ (Sir, where are you?), ‘Nange tumba urgent ide. Dayavittu bega banni’ (I’m in a hurry. Please come quickly.), ‘Naanu Kannada kalitha ideeni’ (I’m learning Kannada.), ‘Booking cancel maadbedi’ (Please don’t cancel the booking), and ‘Sir, swalpa nidhanakke hogi.’ (Sir, go slow.). In addition to the translated sentences, the placard also has a QR code that leads to videos of Sultan reading out the sentences.