Friday, December 21, 2007

Are you really from Bangalore, Sir?

What qualifies you to be ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿ?

Chennai is one of the few cities I don't like to be in. The heat and the high humidity puts me off. The other important reason, the language. Tamil (or is it Tamizh) is spoken so zealously, they have forgotten other languages exist too.
Poor me, I can speak nor understand Tamil, even a wee
bit, not even "How are you" !!!

This Monday, I was forced to be at Chennai for some business meeting. As
usual, I had difficulties with my taxi driver. "Come to arrival gate with vehicle" was my request to him (in English!). I was surprised to find only him, not with the vehicle at the arrival gate!!!
Miscommunication or misunderstanding, I have never been able to fathom.

The next day, it was a different driver, who had done
previous assignments with our company staff. He could speak reasonable English and most importantly, could understand me!!

End of the day, he was driving me back to the airport.
He was a man with an encyclopedic knowledge about Chennai and Bangalore too. He was asking me some
questions about Bangalore, and suddenly, he asked me "Sir, are you really from Bangalore?" I was taken aback and asked the reason for his doubt. " Sir, everybody in Bangalore speaks Tamil. You say you don't know Tamil. So, I got doubt if you really are from Bangalore"

A simple, innocent question led me think "Is being literate in
Tamil, the important qualification to be a ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿ?"

I know the immediate reaction to this. S
hould we take the opinion of a simple driver so seriously?
But please remember, these are the people who account for a large percentage of the populace. The educated hardly find time to peep out of their own ivory towers!

Bangaloreans proudly proclaim to the world, "Bangalore
is a cosmopolitan city". Whenever a ಕನ್ನಡ organisation protests against marginalisation of ಕನ್ನಡ, its culture, its people, they are assaulted by a barrage of verbal missiles, claiming how their actions are damaging ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು's cosmopolitan reputation.

1. Why is only Bangalore under pressure to prove its
cosmopolitan credentials?
2. Is this a de facto admission that other cities are not cosmopolitan?
3. Is being cosmopolitan is such an important virtue?
4. Then, why are other cities not encouraged to become
cosmopolitan?

Answers, anyone????

1 comment:

Shubha said...

Excellent questions there nagen.. unfortunately I havent got any answers ,however I do have another question.

why are kannadigas are or are expected to be the most accomodating?