Woman’s idea to overcome language barrier in Bengaluru divides the internet

Against this backdrop, @dravishakatoch, an X (formerly Twitter) user, wrote, “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 polite and warm phrases asking folks to speak to the drivers in Kannada — Add numbers on how Kannada is dying to showcase the passion to protect it. Low-key hoping Namma Yatri helps implement this.”

In a follow-up tweet, she added that ride-sharing companies can also “introduce regional linguistic phrases one can use with the drivers to communicate based on the geographical location”.

One can argue that change doesn’t happen bottoms up (in a few cases it has, yes) but top down.

How about app like Namma Yatri, Uber and Ola to introduce regional linguistic phrases one can use with the drivers to communicate based on the geographical location.

That doesn’t…

— Dravisha (@dravishakatoch) August 13, 2023

The tweets got hundreds of likes. Many people criticised this suggestion, however, saying that it was entitlement masked as politeness. Some netizens argued that the first tweet put the onus of overcoming the language barrier on autorickshaw workers, instead of the much privileged passengers.

Echoing this view, an X user wrote, “Here’s a radical idea. You could maybe, just maybe use this new technology called Google translate instead of putting the responsibility of teaching you the language on the auto drivers. It’s relatively easy to use, there’s an app & I hear it’s all the rage for travellers.”

Another user wrote, “Comes to Bangalore in search of employment and a better life. Complains. Not surprising that I don’t see any thread on how to help South Indians in Delhi. Typical North Indian narrow mindedness”.