Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation, recently highlighted the importance of learning Kannada for those who have made Bengaluru their home. Reacting to a post on social media platform X, Vembu said not knowing the local language could be considered disrespectful.

His remarks followed a comment on a viral post featuring two men wearing T-shirts with “Hindi national language” written on them. The caption of the original post read: “Perfect t-shirt for a trip to Bangalore.”

Vembu emphasized that speaking Kannada is an integral part of every person living in Bengaluru, emphasizing its importance in preserving cultural respect and harmony. The discussion sparked a wider conversation online about the role of regional languages ​​in promoting inclusiveness.

Vembu wrote, “If you make Bengaluru your home, you should learn Kannada, and your children should learn Kannada. Not learning Kannada after spending many years in Bengaluru is disrespectful. I often ask our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort. learn Tamil after their arrival here.

I agree with this 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… https://t.co/1cIQ47FMjn

– Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) November 15, 2024

The message sparked various reactions.

“Sridhar Ji – I completely understand your sentiment. But there is still a list of things for me to learn – a few technical certifications pending, a Vedic Sanaskrit course pending, even the script learning plan of my mother tongue Sharda is in my bucket. taking more time for something new is a challenge – the only way a person will choose a new language is if the process is organic We should think about making the process organic, can. -being with little Kanada here and there or small interactive sessions on the weekend Even encouraging someone who speaks a broken language I’m not sure how we can encourage it – but the process should be organic as we. “We’re already loaded with 1000 things that take priority over learning a new language,” one user commented.

“Language is a means of communication. People do whatever is necessary for their survival. Isn’t that common sense? In Bangalore, I meet more non-Kannadigas than Kannadigas. 90% of them them, when they speak, use English How to do it “You expect someone moving to Bangalore to prioritize Kannada over English? Languages ​​are not learned in books, they are learned in the environment,” another user commented.