Indeed, how? Some people may think this is a silly question. But, it is not. While it is really easy to recognise every other type of person, it is very difficult, and quite often impossible to recognise a Kannadiga.
If you go to a village in Karnataka, it would be an easy job, as these people are still speaking Kannada. As you go toward small towns, and ultimately to major cities, the task becomes more and more difficult.
Let us take our proud Bangalore, for example. Cosmopolitan? Right? That means people from all over India are here, freaking out with their strange dialects. But how does that prevent a Kannadiga from speaking his language?
For some reasons, this is what has exactly happened.
A Kannadiga thinks it is below his dignity to speak Kannada. That it is somehow shameful to speak Kannada. And that he would be insulting others if he speaks Kannada. That his prestige would be higher if he speaks, say, Hindi, English, or even Tamil.
This disease is seen in alarming degrees among teenagers going to schools and colleges. Even when two Kannada girls are in conversation, they prefer Hindi or English, as if it would somehow make them appear sweeter if they spoke Hindi or English.
Whatya, Whatda and Whatra -------------------------
Several years ago, I heard a strange thing. People had started adding a "ya" or a "yar" at the end of every english sentence they spoke. First I thought this was an aberration of convent education, and that these people would get over this disease sooner or later. However, I am apalled to see that this has not only thrived, but has been accepted as the de-facto English spoken by Indians.
Not to be outdone by this "yar" culture, some south Indians started adding a "da" at the end of sentences they spoke. People from Andhra didn't want to be left behind and jumped into the bandwagon whith their own appendage the "ra".
Imagine, there is a language, English, and there is a way to speak it. A dignified way, as every language has a dignified way of speaking. These bums wanted to Indianise English by adding these "ya", "da" and "ra". This freak culture has invaded youth of south indian towns and cities.
Going by the trend, i expected the Kannada people to come up with their 'whato ?' classic, but that didn't happen. As allways, Kannada people did not coin their "?o" for adding at the end. Instead they took what others gave. So, even in this our Kannada people showed that they would accept any dirt/filth others tossed at them.
Now, let us come back to the main question. How do you recognise a Kannadiga? Not by their speech, as they do not speak the language their mother taught them. The language that first enabled them to understand, articulate, wonder, somehow suddenly seems "dirty". Instead they must speak ANY OTHER LANGUAGE. Even Tamil will do, but not Kannada. Hindi is fine, but not Kannada. Telugu is fine, but not kannada.
One of my friends told me his experience in a multinational software firm in Bangalore. He joined as an engineer, and was not surprised that the majority of engineers, even librarian, accountants, were all from tamilnadu, North India, Maharashtra, Kerala etc. From the names of other emplouees he could guess that they might be kannadigas. However, these guys never spoke Kannada. They spoke English, understood Hindi very well, and in general NEVER GAVE ANYONE ANY OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW THAT THEY WERE KANNADIGAS. AFTER ALL, IT IS SHAMEFUL TO SPEAK KANNADA, AND IT MUST BE HIDDEN AT ALL COSTS. At the same time, in the canteen, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, all were heard clearly, with no sense of shame attached.
This friend of mine and another fellow started speaking Kannada in the canteen. Slowly one of the shameful ones came and told
"Good, I am hearing Kannada here"
What we are annoyed is that these people wait for someone else to start speaking in kannada. take Tamilians, they assume that everyone in the world knows Tamil. Take North Indians, they assume everyone in the world knows Hindi. We, kannada people think it is shameful to speak Kannada.
A child, if he sees his mother in a crowd, will scream "Mother" with joy. He is not shameful to recognise his mother in public. But we are. We do not want anyone to know that we are kannadigas.
Ours is a state which has always offered to people from all other states. Jobs, crime free environment to thrive. We should be proud of this fact, and behave accordingly, full of pride. If it is possible for Tamilians, who never give anything and just demand and take things, to be proud, why are we like this? We always give. And feel no sense of pride.
Hindi speaking people come here, thrive and prosper. We did not take anything from the, they take from us. And we feel ashamed to assert ourselves in front of them.
STOP USING "YAR", "YA", "DA", "RA" and all such useless dirt. Speak english as it is to be spoken, with none of these appendages.
Speak Kannada, ALWAYS. The outsiders have come to our state because their states could not feed them. They need to behave with respect to our culture and language. They can't force their culture or language on us.
Speak only Kannada, and when it suits YOU, English. No Hindi, no Tamil.
While all outsiders are potential causes of problems in Karnataka, the Hindi and Tamil people are the nastiest of all. They need to be shown that THEY HAVE COME TO OUR STATE, and that they behave properly.
Next time anyone asks you any question in Hindi, ignore him/her, and shake your head and shrugg. Do not waste your money seeing Hindi movies.
If anyone talks to you in Tamil, ignore them. If they ask you a question, or for directions, just ignore them, or say something in Kannada.
With good measures of this treatment, these people can be made to realise that they need to change.
Sirigannadam Gelge