In July, a picture of an autorickshaw from Bengaluru bearing an offensive inscription leaked online, inciting uproar among social media users. A woman by the name of Dravisha took to X, formerly Twitter, in the midst of all of this to provide some advice to Bengaluru car drivers who expect people to speak Kannada and display offensive posters.
The idea for Bangaluru autos
Dravisha gave some advice that will be useful to individuals. “Idea for Bangalore autos: Here’s something that might work better instead of expecting people to speak Kannada and have rude posters,” she wrote. Have little placards or banners inside the cars that can teach us simple words and phrases (like, How much is the fare?). (Are you able to turn left? etc.) Ask people to speak Kannada to the drivers in a courteous and friendly manner. Put numbers to demonstrate how Kannada is dying and how passionate you are about protecting it. I fervently hope Namma Yatri assists with its execution.
What did the tweet say?
In a following tweet, she stated, “One can argue that change occurs top-down rather than bottom-up (although it has in a few circumstances). How about introducing regional linguistic expressions one may use with the drivers to communicate based on geographical location through apps like Namma Yatri, Uber, and Ola? That doesn’t mean the concept in tweet 1 is invalid, but both seem wonderful from an implementable point of view to reduce the tension right now. Open to everyone’s thoughts!”
Idea for Bangalore autos: Instead of expecting folks to speak Kannada and have rude posters, here’s something that might work better:
— Have small posters/placards inside the autos that can help us learn basic phrases (Ex: How much is the fare? Can you take a left? etc.)
— Have…
— Dravisha (@dravishakatoch) August 13, 2023
Language ratio in India
According to the 2011 Census, 26% of Indians are bilingual, and 7% are trilingual. Hindi is the most popular second language, with English following in second place. Consequently, only a tiny minority (7%) of Indians have the opportunity to learn Kannadiga (or any other state language),” a different user added.
“Is this a solution? Many might disagree, but it will undoubtedly help close the gap. I really like the concept. You may need to speak with the Namna Yatri team about this; it might be included in the mobile app. When we travel the world, we will employ a French or German language translator; why not Kannada?, a third individual questioned on Twitter.
