‘Living in Bangalore and not learning Kannada is disrespectful’: Zoho CEO sparks language debate

Last update:November 17, 2024, 10:01 am IST

The internet was divided over the language debate sparked by Zoho CEO, who called it disrespectful not to learn Kannada, living in Bangalore.

Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho (Photo: X/Sridhar Vembu)

The language debate is back on social media, sparked this time by Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu, who urged those who have made ‘Bengaluru’ their home to learn Kannada, while also calling it ‘disrespectful’ to do the opposite.

Vembu’s remarks came in reaction to a post on X in which two men donned T-shirts with a “Hindi national language” print. The post, which was later deleted, captioned “Perfect t-shirt for a trip to Bangalore.”

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Moneycontrol journalist Chandra R Srikanth reacted to this post and pointed out the irony behind people wanting to learn foreign languages ​​while traveling abroad and failing to learn the local language of a state Indian.

“People won’t think twice before buying English to French, English to Spanish and English to Italian dictionaries when flying abroad, but God forbid if you tell them to try to be courteous enough to learn a local language in India. There are people who continue to say Kannada gothila (I don’t know Kannada) for years like it’s a badge of honour,” she tweeted.

In a disclaimer, Srikanth said that although her mother tongue is not Kannada, she has tried to learn it over the years and her efforts have been praised by the local people.

“Full disclaimer: my native language is not Kannada, but I have learned the language over the last decade I have lived here. My Kannada is not perfect and I still struggle to speak in full sentences, but people really appreciate it if you at least make an effort,” she wrote.

Sridhar Vembu reacts

Vembu agreed with the journalist’s sentiment and said that everyone who makes ‘Bengaluru their home’ should learn Kannada.

“I agree with that sentiment. If you live in Bangalore, you should learn Kannada and your children should learn Kannada. Not doing so after living in Bangalore for many years is disrespectful. I often ask our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to learn Tamil after coming here,” he wrote.

Users react to the language debate

His remarks sparked an online debate pitting language learning as a constraint rather than a choice.

“I have many Kannada friends in Mumbai, who have lived here for decades. Nobody speaks Marathi. Not a word. Just?”, wrote one user.

“Disrespectful? The problem is that an IT professional working in Chennai for 3 years might move to Bangalore to work there for 5 years and then to Hyderabad for 2 years. So according to the OP’s logic, they should learn the Tamil, Kannada and Telugu over these years and then finally settling down in their hometown somewhere in Maharashtra and never using these languages ​​again,” wrote another.

“Great sir. Let’s divide the country and create borders by requiring an IELTS type certificate in the local language for entry. Just before this, our country’s slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’ should be immersed in Ganga in Varanasi,” said a user.