The Internet has been abuzz with memes after a recent spat between a woman passenger and an auto driver. One of them suggested Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh should pick up Kannada ahead of his concert in Bengaluru.
Many are reacting to the insinuation that the city is inhospitable to those from other states.
Lyricist Kaviraj, founder of the Kannada language group Namma Naadu Namma Alvike (Our state, our governance), feels Delhi-based TV channels have been unfair. “We are wrongly portrayed as people who rough others up. People from outside the state are also involved in crimes in Bengaluru,” he says.
“All we are saying is ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’. If you are living among us, try to learn our language,” adds Kaviraj.
Arun Javgal, state organising secretary of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, agrees the Delhi media gets it all wrong. “Banks and other institutions demand services in Hindi. When other communities from south India don’t demand services in their languages in Bengaluru, why do native Hindi speakers feel they are privileged?” he asks.
Prof Narendar Pani of the School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies, says people are rallying around language “on a particular issue”.
“Context changes according to time. In the ’70s and ’80s, issues related to class mattered. In the ’80s and now, things are being interpreted from the lens of language. Essentially, when individuals want to assert themselves, they form groups with people they resonate with,” he says.
Language becomes a bigger site of conflict in Bengaluru than in other parts of Karnataka, he says. “This is due to how the city is structured. The Cantonment was set up as a different area in the past and so is the IT sector now. Thus, language becomes the root of identification and also conflict. Bringing up the language issue in all other conflicts has become a way of expressing one’s frustration.” However, Pani believes the tensions now are not as bad as they were “earlier”.
Some posts on X
One post compared the angry auto driver to villains portrayed by bus conductor-turned-actor Rajinikanth in ’70s movies. “Not be surprised to see Muthuraj... inducted as a natural villain in #Kannada (‘#Canada’) movies & beyond after seeing his natural villainous viral video (sic).”
Other users asked if they need to learn Kannada even for a short trip to Bengaluru so that they do “not get beaten up by autorickshaw guys”.
A meme connected to Diljit Dosanjh’s upcoming show reads: “Breaking. Diljit Dosanjh cancels his concert in Bengaluru. He said he was not told beforehand that he has to sing in Kannada, he mistook it for Canada”.
Another meme depicts the singer holding a book. It was accompanied with this text: ‘Kya dekh raha hai, Bangalore mein concert karne ke liye Kannada seekh raha hoon.’ (‘What are you looking at? I am learning Kannada for my performance in Bangalore.’)