People hail Bengaluru auto driver’s solution to language tussle
Meet Ajmal, a 31-year-old Bengaluru auto driver whose simple and novel attempt to teach basic Kannada to non-Kannadiga passengers can help diffuse the heated language problem between the locals and Hindi-speaking migrants.
At a time when there is so much negativity, stress, and strain on Bengaluru roads over the language issue with locals pushing against Hindi “imposition” and the near-vehement refusal of outsiders to learn Kannada, there is this autorickshaw driver Ajmal Husen, who has found a novel way to “teach” a few conversational sentences to anyone willing to learn.
Ajmal’s effort to bridge the Kannada language divide has gone viral from the minute it appeared on social media. It was then picked up by the traditional local print and television media, which made him an instant celebrity and earned him praise from all quarters for his move that addressed the problems arising out of the language imbroglio. Bengaluru city has seen several instances in the recent past in which there have been acrimonious and even violent altercations between the locals and Hindi-speaking migrants, with faults on both sides.
Yes, Ajmal, a seventh-class school dropout, has been driving an auto for the past few years and owns another that he rents out. He has seen a few incidents happening due to friction over the language issue. Refusing to enter into the controversy himself, he said he always thought that there should be a simple, viable, and effective way to resolve one of the biggest irritants on the roads, one that generated undesirable feelings in society. If Kannadigas resent the Hindi-only-and-you-must-speak-the-national-language attitude, (wrong on facts too), then there is now a growing perception in the north that even Bengaluru is now becoming like Chennai, where Hindi speakers are not very welcome. Mind it, this is just a perception, and the reality on the ground in Tamil Nadu today is that Tamilian business owners are learning Hindi to supervise the migrant staff they have hired.
Coming to Ajmal, it would be difficult for him on the language issue because he is a multi-lingual, speaking fluent Kannada, Hindi, and English, and can manage a smattering of Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, and Bengali. He never loses his cool when encountering “the entitled” Hindi belt migrants who insist they will speak only Hindi, but said that “many auto drivers in Bangalore do not know anything other than Kannada. Sometimes there are problems due to this.”
With so many migrants visiting and living and working in the city, the locals feel that they should respect and learn the local language, even if few words, so that the locals don’t feel insulted, Ajmal said reflecting the sentiments of many.
Given the ‘never-ending kind of a stalemate, over this language problem, which is not big for big government action but is not very small to be ignored, Ajmal thought and came up with a novel and innovative solution – finding a simple and effective way to teach Kannada to his passengers.
He made a chart of a few simple conversational sentences and words of common and everyday use, and their translations in English and put it up in his auto for passengers to read easily. The small yellow chart containing the teaching material is hung in front of the passengers behind the driver’s seat.“Some commuters have already said that they do want to pick up some conversational Kannada, but neither had time nor opportunity. “But when I told them that during the ride itself, he would teach them a few words and sentences, almost everyone is willing,” Ajmal told Southonomix.com in a telephonic interview on Wednesday.
The moment his efforts were documented by local newspapers and television, Ajmal became a star in his own right and is besieged with phone calls from unknown well-wishers friends, and fellow drivers. Now being an “instant celebrity” is not new for Ajmal, who is extremely popular on Instagram, with one lakh, thirty thousand followers. Ajmal, who has been creating audio, video, and textual content since January this year, inspired by a truck-driver Vlogger who does cooking series – tweeted by industrial Anand Mahindra – Ajmal took to social media, after learning how to prepare content, edit, and manage social media through YouTube.
Today he is approached by companies to do promotions of their products on social media. Among the companies that have used him for promotions are a firm that runs a resort, a knee pain balm-making company, and a private gas company. After his Kannada teaching effort went viral, he was approached by an APP that helps people learn Kannada for collaboration.
The APP, Learn Kannada which enables people to learn the language through English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Bengali approached Ajmal for an association, which he said, would evaluate and join the initiative if it was useful for the society. “I don’t have any problem in joining the initiative that will help people learn Kannada,” Ajml said.
A self-taught YouTube video maker, Ajmal can edit videos, make clips, and put content on his Instagram page. Now, after the media, even a key state minister, Priyank Kharge, has also shared the video of Ajmal. The chances are that the government may speak to the auto driver and encourage him in his endeavor.
On the Kannada language teaching kit, he said, “It is an ongoing process. I have got a good response to the chart I have put up in my auto. I have also got some suggestions. Some I can implement, and add some more material to the teaching kit,” Ajmal said.
