Talking Local, Thinking National

ANY years ago, during the early years of the IT boom, I spotted a signage in a Bengaluru medical shop that offered a 1 percent discount for those speaking Kannada.

- GEETHA RAVICHANDRAN

It struck me as a small nudge to learn the language of a city that had begun welcoming a large migrant population.

Since then, the voices on either side of the linguistic divide have become more strident and uncompromising.

It is indisputable that job seekers who move across the country contribute to the economy of the state they move to. The cross-country migrant population comprises both unskilled and highly qualified workers. In this milieu, publicised language disputes often involve educated employees pitted against locals providing basic services. Incidents of violence and demands of job reservation for locals are the fallouts. It is also true that for the vocal few who refuse to learn a new language, there are several professionals, students and homemakers who acquire proficiency in the language of the region where they work and live. Ultimately, a willingness to use the local language makes it easier to do business.

More than ignorance of a local language, it is the recalcitrant attitude to bridging the linguistic gap that is galling. It's a sad commentary that prejudice and bias against people based on language and region thrive even among the educated classes. Languages sharing a common genealogy often suffer from bouts of sibling rivalry. While linguists theorise about the origin of languages based on historical evidence, unverifiable claims and counter-claims on superiority add to the political buzz.