Comments on: A dreadful experience

By: Himadri

Himadri — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:26:06 +0000

My dear frnd. it is such a one kind of common problems of south india…..specially in Tamilnadu and Kerala.

And thanks my friend for letting us know of your deadly experience…….so that we should be aware of that when we will go to the south next time………Thanks

By: Rachna Parmar

Rachna Parmar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:38:56 +0000

Hi Aritra,

I am a Hindi-speaking person living in Bangalore since the last 6 years. I have picked up some Kannada words. I had only traveled to Chennai recently as we went to Pondicherry. Even though people could speak only Tamil ( at restaurants, we had to stop to ask directions), I felt no hostility from anyone. Yes, we would want them to know English but that is hardly possible as pointed out that the level and medium of education of public servants is low. I guess you should have taken the help of some English-speaking Tamilian, that is what I do, find some Kannada-speaking person to help me out. Your experience was unfortunate but let us not label a city, a region or a language bad. And one more thing, Hindi is not the only national language, all Indian languages are national languages constitutionally, so that logic will not work.

I am a Hindi-speaking person whose mother tongue is Hindi before you start jumping to conclusions. Let us show some tolerance in this country is all I say.

By: Aritra

Aritra — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:37:04 +0000

My dear friend I am also not sure that the rule is a true one but that cop told me that.My disappointment is that people there are so reluctant to learn and speak ‘Hindi’ which is our national language and I could not stop saying that you will not face this communication problem in West Bengal because most of the people know Hindi which is not a tough language to learn.Yes it is too much to expect the bus conductor and the police constable to speak English but it is not too much to expect them to know our national language.

By: Eniyavan

Eniyavan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:59:04 +0000

Whooaa guys!! I gotta stop you right there.. Its a very common problem which every faces when you travel across our country. So lets not get into any Chennai bashing here.. alryt!!

Abt the rear entry in bus, I am not sure how far it is true. I dont remember such a rule existing when I was in Chennai and I am not aware of any law being enforced even now either. The bus conductor would have expected you to name the place where you wanted to go. Anyway I do know that the bus conductors and the police constables can be very very rude to us but again thats not something specific to Chennai alone.

At the same time, I think its a lil too much to expect the bus conductor and the police constable to speak english or Hindi. They come straight out of their schools ( where the medium of education is Tamil ) to these jobs. I totally feel bad that you had a regrettable experience in Chennai.In this day and age, with so many resources available its upto us to be better prepared before we travel to some place.

Pls give me a tickle if you go down there the next time, I will make sure you have a very pleasant experience

@ Siddhartha: We myt not be gud in Hindi but i do think south Indians are always gud in english.. well atleast most of us

By: proma

proma — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:24:50 +0000

nice … recently m having writers block ….. its funny at the same time inspiring

By: Siddhartha Chakraborty

Siddhartha Chakraborty — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:59:53 +0000

this is so bad !! I dont want to be rude to the south indians .. But why dont they try to learn English/Hindi , at least those people who come across different people like bus conductors or shop owners should learn at least english , if not hindi .. They should not forget they are Indian first then south Indian .. even in Hyderabad , i faced such situations .. Its pathetic ..

By: Doctor Who Blogs

Doctor Who Blogs — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:19:17 +0000

Ya i can understand what plight you were in… Its really tough to imagine getting messed up with the law and that too for not understanding the local language but i guess the local authorities should have been much polite towards you… but that you can least expect from them too…

Now this also raises my apprehension coz i am about to visit Bangalore even if it has to be for two three days. But i hope my twitter buddies @zoooni and @javeedkibrahim will sail me through… he he jus kidding…

But then at the end if we are proud of India’s diversity, we gotta respect it too… not just in particular states, but all over India… but i dont agree that it should be at the cost of shoving it down your throat… and being completely indifferent to the ‘outsiders’…

By: Omkar

Omkar — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:54:11 +0000

Awful! Inhumane! The side effects of a cultural and linguistic diversity.
And Yes, thanks for letting us know this!