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Business placards and hoardings neglecting/insulting Kannada

There are several instances in Bengaluru nowadays wherein placards and huge hoardings put up by business establishments to advertise their product or shop are insulting the local language - Kannada - by printing Kannada characters on a miniscule scale, whereas English (sometimes even Hindi) characters rule the canvas and are larger than life itself.

 

This is an insult to the language, and also to the consumers in Bengaluru, who are predominantly Kannada speaking people itself. This is a prick in the Kannadiga consumer's pride and prestige.

 

Look at this image (seen in south Bengaluru), for instance: (spot the Kannada characters on this and you'll have to visit an eye-specialist soon!)

muni_blr's picture

English and Kannada should be alright.

 Being a cosmopolitan city which is home to so many people speaking different languages, there is no harm in having English as the Main and Kannada as the supplementary language on Hoardings.

There are many instances where kannada itself does not figure in the name of  the shops/ companies which i find objectionable. Having othere languages only other than ( Kannada, English) is something which can be debatable as a form of insult.

The above may not make sense to some people, but being the people we are as kannadigas, we have a tendancy to allow things to happen and take control and later realise that " How did that Happen!!".

Though i must say there are other means whereby we can preserve and enrich our language.

Hurry Home

The Sage

Hurry Home

The Sage

shas3n's picture

Vote with your purse

Businesses will sell what sells. If they thought Kannada ads bring more customers, they would put Kannada at the top. I would be glad to see Kannada everywhere, being a Kannadiga. But I guess I am not in for taking offence when none is meant. I am not insulted by businesses printing small Kannada letter. I am more saddened by the state of affairs that has lead the businesses to do this. The only solution I see to this is that we can vote through our wallets. If the consumers show a clear trend of buying things advertised in Kannada and rejecting products otherwise, the businesses will be glad to switch to Kannada. It is not as hard as we would imagine. Radio stations in Bangalore have now turned into Kannada based programming because there was a clear business case for it. -Shastri

-Shastri

nijavaada's picture

exactly the point!

Shastri, as a consumer what one needs to realise is that he is indeed the King of the market, and thereby the business that happens in the market. And inside Karnataka, Kannadiga consumers no doubt form the majority (Your Radio mirchi example forms a good enough substance to prove this). Coming to think of the majority we are in, and the amount of business we give to these businessmen (who also, unfortunately, might be Kannadigas themselves!) we have a right to be interacted with in our language. Otherwise, it is but an insult to our language and us.

Sitting cold on thoughts that "this is not an insult to me" - is what a majority of Kannadiga consumers are doing, and accepting the fact that English is okay for business - thereby implying that Kannada is not. Kannada glorification on plain vanilla words, saying I too am a proud Kannadiga, has ceased to impress even a dead soul, dude! Wake up, and realize what that pride in you really has to be! If you'd be glad to see Kannada everywhere (including these boards), then press for it, and not sit ignoring the insult indeed!

Big bazaar doesnt want to put Kannada big on its hoardings, even when, believe it or not, Kannadigas spend most of the money that Big bazaar makes in Bengaluru. The trouble here, my friend, lies in you, and not in Big Bazaar! The state of affairs is but you, the consumer!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
shobha koppad's picture

Copying a comment from

Copying a comment from Karnatique,, some one called Avinash has given a very good reply..

 

Everyone wants our karnataka to progress and achieve a developed state status and an important part of becoming a developed state is addressing the employment concerns of the people.

We all feel about giving something back to the society, want to do something to help one of our brother or sister to get a job and a very simple thing, we can do to help a kannadiga get a job is talking in kannada in all the business we come across daily. It might sound awkward..

I'll explain..

A famous bank calls people in bengaluru for credit card sales and the sales calls come in 2 languages, namely Tamil and English. Know the reason why?

Coz, the same bank does a review of the sales calls made every month and their findings are as follows:

Calls made in a particular month: 1000
Calls which fetched Business: 100
Language which fetched business:
Tamil : 50
English:80
Hindi:20

and the bank knows that it must call people either in Tamil or English to make sure it gets business.

Now, out of that 80 calls in English, atleast 50 were answered by Kannadigas, who used English with the agents.

Now, imagine, if all those 50 kannadiga calls insist on services to be rendered in Kannada, failing they will reject the business with the bank, what will happen?

Bank will come on it's toes and will immidiately recruit graduates who know can speak fluent Kannada.

So,
If we all get together and ask for services to be rendered in Kannada, it will create a lot of jobs for our brothers and sisters who know only Kannada.

You are not doing anything but talking in kannada to get these jobs created for your brothers and sisters.

shobha koppad's picture

well said nijavada

super !

 Kannada glorification on plain vanilla words, saying I too am a proud Kannadiga, has ceased to impress even a dead soul, TRUE to the core !

 

shas3n's picture

Nijavada,

Nijavada,

As tarlesubba aptly put it elsewhere, “kannada can only be saved if kannadigas are confident and directly enabled and see no contradiction in being a kannadiga and a citizen of this modern world”.

Although we agree on what we want to achieve, our approaches seem to differ. To save my language, I would rather put my money on removing the obstacles that make it difficult for me to be a world citizen AND Kannadiga. I don’t think demanding everyone to use/respect my language just because I am passionate is my cup of tea. Ramming Kannada down the throat of businesses and non-Kannadigas is only going to create more resistance.

-Shastri

-Shastri

ssheragu's picture

very good everyone, more so

very good

everyone, more so kannadigas should start asking for all services in kannada

Srinath Heragu

ssheragu's picture

good observation  best

good observation 

best start would be to name the new airport as

KEMPEGOWDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND PUT THE NAMEBORAD FOR THE AIRPORT IN BIG KANNADA LETTERS

Srinath Heragu

nijavaada's picture

what makes you think?

Shastri,

What makes you think asking/demanding for one's own language, and also the language of the land to be used prominently in business as "ramming?"

Using Kannada for business in Karnataka cant be termed as Ramming. Using Hindi and other immigrant languages in Karnataka is Ramming! Using Gujarati in London is Ramming! Calling bELe as "dhaal" in Karnataka is Ramming!! Ramming unwated things into the Kannadiga consumers' throats. If you oppose ramming, why dint/dont you oppose this ramming??

If one stops to think why this is happening, it is because we dont show our interests and intentions clearly in words to the businessmen, and unfortunately someone else is doing that in favour of their language inside Karnataka. So if we show our interests and being a customer, demand for its inception, it is not Ramming. If you think it Ramming, then Ramming is the way to go (in achieving our goals)!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
tango08's picture

BIAL airport signboards

Looking at the signboards of BIAL and the same pattern repeats - Kannada is third and its font size least of the three, making it practically unreadable from a distance. You start to wonder whether this airport is a gateway to Karnataka or to UP/Bihar!
tango08's picture

Agreed, there is no harm in

Agreed, there is no harm in having English and Kannada in a cosmopolitan city such as ours, but why shove Hindi down our throats?
Mithun's picture

general perception

tango08, I believe it is as per the popular perception. The popular perception is that Hindi is the national language. So the display hierarchy would be the international language first, next the national language and then the regional language. The foreign company who built the airport would not know the intricacies of our language issues. They might have done it as per what any central govt. institution tells them. I do not think BIAL is intentionally forcing Hindi on us. The general north Indian feeling is that they hate English. They think bracing English is like showing slave attitude to our past British rule. Hindi is the only way to express patriotism. They demand Hindi in everything.
tsubba's picture

airports & language

with respect to airports, it is the MoCA which has special awards for hindi implementation. you can check out there annual reports there are dedicated sections for citing the airports with the best hindi implementation. bial must be credited for even flashing a 'namaskaara' on their website even during the construction phase. meanwhile we have our own deeper problems, i think if the govt gives a percent or two concession on registration fees on projects that have local names like brigade hoysala instead of a brigade acropolis, or a prestige vijayanagara instead of a prestige atlantis, and for signboard fees that have kannada scripts, it will go a long way. meanwhile all is not so grim ...
nijavaada's picture

the force is elsewhere!

It is definitely true that BIAL is not shoving Hindi down our throats. But the fact remains that the Karnataka state govt. (under the aegis of KSIIDC) and the central govt. (thru' AAI) hold equal shares in the board that forms the BIAL committee. Both of them combined hold around 26% share. With this stat, Karnataka govt. should have clearly had its say while the airport was being formulated - saying these should be followed in the airport making process. But that hasnt happened.

Why?

Because of this very attitude wherein people continue to think "I am a proud Kannadiga, and am not insulted by such petty things as Kannada missing on placards/hoardings, or Kannada being cornered on such advts." As long as the Kannadiga consumer is awake and is careful in selection, holding the language measure, both the govts. here would have stood and pressed for Kannada prominence in airport implementation.

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
nijavaada's picture

offence

If the central government imposed Hindi as national language and asked BIAL signboards to have Hindi for that reason, its just another linguistic crime committed by them on Kannadigas. This has been happening in all corners where there is a Kannadiga standing as a consumer. He has been given the impression that his language is for whatever is local, then Hindi is to be used for whatever is national and binds different parts of the country with Karnataka, and then English as the royal entity which will take the Kannadiga across borders of nations.

This is entirely false. A Kannadiga needs but only Kannada to represent himself, anywhere in the world. A Kannadiga is equally an Indian, but he ceases to be an Indian soon as he ceases to be a Kannadiga. In fact his Indian-ness is by virtue of his being a Kannadiga. This applies, in fact, to all the migrants in Karnataka too. After they've come into Karnataka, they are now Indians by virtue of becoming a Kannadiga in Karnataka, not by remaining as a Tamilian/Hindian/Bihari guy in Karnataka. Indianness of a person is deeply embedded in the Kannadiganess of people in Karnataka, Tamilness in the people in Tamilnadu, and likewise.

Likewise an organization (BIAL here) is considered serving people well, and thereby serving the country well, when it is serving Karnataka well, recognised that Kannada is enough to do this job, and has respected Kannada in all walks of its business.

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
Mithun's picture

rightly said

TS, you are THE thinker. Our government should deal with businesses, with a business sense. Only some type of incetive is required to make the wheel turn. Pure emotions of kannadigas will not make any difference to businesses. Even if we have that, it is doubtful that people will choose brigade Hoysala over brigade acropolis (whats this local name? Huh! chee ----- Woh society tho local lagti hai). Forget Bangalore. Even in Mysore, whenever I go to the auto stand infront of KSRTC bus stand and repetitively talk in Kannada, auto drivers respond in Hindi. As Nijavaada says, we should become more assertive for Kannada in services. Rumours are doing rounds in USA that Hindi is being introduced in USA schools.people have even demanded that Hindi be declared an official language in USA.
murali772's picture

no force please, we are different!

I would consider myself a citizen of this world first, then an Indian, then a Kannadiga, then a Bengaluru nivasi, and then a Koramangala nivasi. So, if I have to give up the interest of Koramangala in the overall interest of Bengaluru, I will; if I have to give up the interest of Bengaluru in the overall interest of Karnataka, I will; if I have to give up the interest of Karnataka in the overall interest of India, I will, and so on.

India has been amongst the biggest beneficiaries of globalisation, and amongst the biggest beneficiaries in India has been Karnataka. And, this wouldn't have happened if we had remained fixated with just Kannada. The fact of the matter further is that this opening out is in fact now beginning to enrich the Indian languages and thereby the cultures, from the moribund state they were in all these years. So, it's all happening even without anyone having to force it down. Pushing beyond a point, as the basic laws of Physics tell you, is only going to generate a reaction. Let's be different from the Raj Thackerays of this world. Let's do it in a cultured way.

Muralidhar Rao
nijavaada's picture

culture, my feet!

murali772, I wonder what you mean and what you understand by the term globalisation, and why you seem to be getting confused between that and the discussion going on here!

Besides, you seem to be totally dazed about interests in things. You have a serious conflict of thoughts inside you, which is why you're confused about your interests!

Please tell me what is it that you call "your interest" in Koramanagala, and the same for Bengaluru, Karnataka and India. And of course, it does no help, if you dont tell us what difference do you see in having "an interest" in Bengaluru, Karnataka and India? Just how different do you think an "interest" in Karnataka is from an "interest" in India?!

Besides, people like you, are always quick in responding and saying lets not do it that way, instead lets do it the cultured way. Can you also open your bag of these cultured beans and spill out the technique you think should be followed?

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
s_yajaman's picture

Rants

Nijavaada,

Your posts are becoming rants.  Murali sir thinks we should do it the cultured way - no need to go hammer and tongs after him.  At least talk politely to him.  We all have minds of our own here. 

Just because you choose to see insults and offence in every letter, sentence and full stop does not mean we all have to.  Not very hard to understand this - is it? 

Thanks,

Srivathsa

 

Drive safe.  It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

nijavaada's picture

explanation...

Yajaman,

Thanks for your words. I am sure I had a reason for those words I chose. If it sounded like a rant, I have the following to help make that feeling go away.

I can count atleast a dozen (or more) instances where people (including Murali sir) have bluntly commented that "we shouldn't be doing it that way!" But nowhere have I seen voluntary involvment by any of those people, in saying, "Okay, lets sit and talk this out, and arrive at a conclusion about how we should do it." Saying we should do it in a cultured way is not a solution, mind you!

Should we enact a (cultural) play on the street and try to educate (entertain) people about the problem? Is that what you mean cultured way? Or you want the two sides to sit on opposite sides of the table and sign a treaty? Let them please enlighten.

I guess we're all here to talk about problems, and think about mature ways to solve them to a good extent. We're not here to listen to comments some people write as their pastime. I hope you now understand my reason for venting frustration.

Besides, Murali's words need to be supported by reason. Reason to justify his order of priorities, and an explanation of what he means. In my previous comment, I raised a question which itself is an answer to Murali's confused state of mind.

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
tsubba's picture

nijavaada

nijavaada please be civil. if all you want to say is that interest in ka is not different from interest in india, say so, dont make personal attacks and dont get into public pyschoanalysis. if you can make a case for your ideas in a civil manner then it is worthwhile, otherwise it serves no purpose for anybody and a whole lot of people will sign off from this thread and and any others you respond to and you will be left with your ideas and opinions.
sarvagna's picture

s_yajaman

Throwing stones and burning buses is not his cup of tea or coffee.  He knows what he is talking about when he means the word cultured.

Unwarranted statements from your side.No one has proposed such ideas here.You seem to be indirectly indicating that nijavadha believes in doing so and hence murali is proposing a cultured way?

 


nijavaada's picture

this is not personal

From these it is so clear that one can get so personal only when the words really start seeming to be an attack on one's persona - and not when his language is insulted on the road!

Anyway, TS did a good job in re-phrasing my thoughts in his comment. I was wondering if Murali also got the same opinion or not from my comment. If that dint happen, I think I'll have to say it otherwise from now on. That I accept.

But Yajaman, your inferences are usually pregnant with wrong notions:  As sarvagna has pointed out, anything standing for Kannada, and anyone talking about Kannada, is chauvinistic according to you.

According to you, any person talking about resolving this is talking about throwing stones in public space! Isnt this your one-sided thinking in a way? I can come back and say you're already biased towards accepting whatever Murali (just an example) says.

I am not personally against anyone or anyone's thinking here. It isnt going to get us anything. Its just that I am particularly intrigued by opinions of some people who still think Karnataka and India are two separate things that one "represents"!!

And Mr. Yajaman, if you've come back from Singapore after living for 6 years there, you need not be claiming gratitude from other readers for that, and I hope that was not your intention when you returned either. Your (along with Murali's) interest in BMTC buses to the extent of getting English characters on their boards (like in Singapore, perhaps), is already known to us, and I dont want to start over that again. In short, those interests are well understood here. But if you wish to leave just because you feel your interests are not respected, no matter what they are, you're getting personal yourself.

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
nijavaada's picture

no force!

No one is talking about force/violence here.

Infact trying to save that scene here, by saying that we as educated citizens should realise that businesses around us (Kannadigas) in the market, are ignoring Kannada, and as a language it is finding neglect in our very own surroundings.

And this is an insult indeed. Believe it, soon a Kannadiga cant even "dare" to speak Kannada in the market - that stands very much around him!

And the solution we should be talking about here is Consumer awareness, widespread attention to this injustice on linguistic grounds. Instead of that if we have people repeatedly saying, "I am not insulted, please come and destroy me, and that is still fine with me," we'll soon be done with. 

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
sarvagna's picture

Nijavaada

I think you need not justify your beliefs/priciples here.Leave it for readers to guage on what has been written here and understood.

nijavaada's picture

okay.. here goes.

Ok then. I accept I might have gone overboard at times in this thread, but here's what can make anyone else (kannadiga i.e.) repeat the same.

This is what FitnessOne - a gym-chain in Bengaluru - based in Chennai, had to say, when asked about the conditions inside their gyms in Bengaluru, and how they were all ignoring Kannada language, in multiple ways.

I quote them:

"Thank you for your e-mail. It is always a pleasure to recieve communication, especially from pioneer members such as yourself.

We are in the constant process of improving. We welcome suggestions and feedback ...
...
 
As far as the music is concerned, we avoid playing reagional languages and restrict ourselves to English as it is universal. We consider Hindi at times only if there is too much demand for it."

Now we have on our plate what we're bound to face in future - an attitude displayed in such commercial establishments that attempts to efface Kannada, and its music, out from the gym scene, in this case. What with all the success Kannada music has found lately, these guys still dont seem to provide the same to their customers - who, ironically are predominantly Kannadigas in this branch!

The fact here is that with such effacing of Kannada from the air inside commercial establishments, Kannadigas stand to lose, in the long run. The language loses value as a medium for business, employment of Kannadigas in such places will eventually decline, Kannadigas end up to lose economically.

All this, I agree, wont happen tomorrow, but is certainly going to happen sooner than later. The only solution is to start waking up TODAY!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
Mithun's picture

Summarizing...

Hi All, Here is my attempt to put together all above arguments in last 24 houres - so that initial thread spirit continues... TS says--> There should be some incentive for the business establishments to consider Kannada in ANY way. The other languages have it. Our govt. did not care to put that framework. Nijavaada says --> Business establishments are not bothering about local sentiments. The Kannada cause will loose recognition in the long run. Locals will be the ones to suffer this. WE are Indians because we are kannadigas. No dual identity. murali sir says --> We are indians first. Regional identity comes later. Bangalore city has seen the profit of globalization. We should not take any step which hampers the globalization system. Pushing the Non-Kannadigas beyond a point gives unpredictable results. Sri says --> lets argue in a positive spirit. OK guys, I hope we are ready to go ahead again. Please feel free to rephrase me if I didnt get it right.
sarvagna's picture

Mithun

I have edited my reply.I am sorry if you are hurt.

Mithun's picture

back to square one

it looks like we are again back to doing psychoanalysis of members here. I tried to stop it from this thread, but it backfired on me.
Mithun's picture

explanation for statements

thanks Sarvagna. Please feel free to type up in detail whats in your mind like opinion, explanation/justification for that and example scenarios. We can debate it only when I know what you think in detail. I will not know it if you dont express with full details. Murali Sir, If you are still reading this thread, then I would like more explanation on your stand - Indian first and kannadiga next. Why I am asking is, because I am totally unclear on this. I need some example situations in the language context. This will help everyone to understand better what you are saying.
nijavaada's picture

let me contribute...

Mithun,

Let me cite an example to get this discussion about Language, and who-comes-foremost fundae.

Take up a handful of mud from this land in Karnataka, and ask yourself which place it belongs to - Karnataka, or India? Obviously, it is both, isnt it?

So one thing is proven - there're no two different identities, as in One I am a Kannadiga (belong to Karnataka) and Two, I am an Indian. Both these identities are one and the same.

But because there are different kinds of muds/soils across the width of this nation, there ought to be difference in thoughts one gets when holding up sands from different places. So a handful of mud lifted up inside Karnataka has its identity as long as it retains its quality that is unique to itself, and therefore the guy who lifted it is constantly reminded of the fact that this is mud from Karnataka land, and has so and so features. That is mud from Assam, it has so and so qualities.

But mind you, the differences here is depicting richness/variety, and not the"difference" per-se!

So, because of the difference in languages people speak across India, any person living inside Karnataka, has an identity of his own only because of the uniqueness he and his state represents - and that is Kannada. So a person's identity in India actually rests in his ability to project himself as a representative of the land he is making his life from.

If I am a Tamilian by birth, but live in Bengaluru, say. My Indianness lies in being a Kannadiga here. Remaining to be a Tamilian inside Karnataka is neither being a good Kannadiga, nor being a good Tamilian. So it is not being a good Indian either, 'cos Indianness is the same as being a Kannadiga in KAR, and Tamilian in TN.

So in essence, one's identity comes first, and there cant be two identities to one person. So my identity is my Kannadatana. There's no "three-level" identity to any person on this planet. One identity needs to say it all!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
Mithun's picture

thats the way!

Well argued, nijavaada. I also believe a person has only one identity. The same identity applies to everything. A person is made up of all these factors (nation, language, food, clothing habits, traditions, God). Because, i cannot be an Indian without being a Kannadiga (in my case) and cannot be a Kannadiga without being an Indian. If karnataka was in other country, then another matter. When the matter involves anyone outside India, especially in emergencies like war, diseases, flood, etc or competition then a national feeling automatically comes to everyone. I believe there have been many earlier attempts to do things without violence - like painting black. The people who put up boards should have taken a hint from that. Now about the boards: before globalization came, we were learning English. Now also we are learning English. There is a common language for the migrants here - English. I believe every city should have a local language-widely used and one common language. 3 languages not required. We should not believe that who ever steps into bangalore will stay there for a long time. Many people come here for business trips, short periods, business conventions/exhibitions, transit people like travellers, tourists etc. These people need a common language to the city. local language and common language should be used in all public signs and boards. Hoardings: Language used in hoardings is not properly monitored/supervised I believe. Some framework should be put in the advertising industry that an ad needs to take local body approval. That local body should not approve if local language is not used. I am not aware we if already have this. If so, please enlighten. kannada can be perfectly used for all types of ads in addition to English.
nijavaada's picture

we have it!

Mithun,

We have all that it takes to have the deserved reverance accorded to Kannada on its land, be it in business, administration or otherwise.. But the real problem comes in how badly it has been implemented! Implementation is where failure lurks strong in our system. And surely enough we as consumers, are party to this problem. If we dont insist, no damned law can be enforced upon businesses or administrations to reflect Kannada on their ads, boards and hoardings.

So the solution here is not to find new ways of making boards or plates (seen in the number plates discussion) but instead in making sure we have our rules implemented. Of course our rules also need to be re-written sometimes to be inline with the latest advances in technology or other changes.

The committee should strictly rule that any business ad/hoarding should have Kannada characters in this font-size, when English is in this font-size. Relative sizing is to be emphasized here. Reason being the nature of characters in Kannada and English demand that Kannada letters be of nearly double the size of English in order for both of them to look equal in appearance. Things like these are what "we the people here" need to come up with and make sure more people know about such things. The govt's doings will soon have to follow what the masses want.

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
Mithun's picture

KDA

our KDA should look into these type of aspects, rather than demanding job reservation for Kannadigas. As TS suggested earlier, giving some incentive will help push the kannada cause - afterall, in business it becomes give and take. I believe KDA does have a good clout. Recently lokayukta came up with a new method- we can complain about corruption online. How about KDA starting a helpline or web forum to post things related to kannada? or a mail-ID where one can anonymously send letters. Something where a free hand is given to report issues. KDA should check these issues and warn the concerned or fine them. This might look crazy. I agree KDA is not like police and we are not reporting robberies. But still, it is good to do accomplish things in a legally valid way without resorting to violence. The state and city wont get bad publicity in general; investments will not go away.
nijavaada's picture

a valid one

A valid suggestion by Mithun, but nevertheless calls for another system to be implemented correctly, failing which we're going to be back in square one.

So we're at a stage where we dont need a new implementation to get things going on the right track. We are in need for more awareness among people. Each individual in our society is a consumer, and if we plan to educate the consumer/customer, then the businessmen (or service providers) will have to bend to our expectations. And there needs to be good enlightenment about the language angle of these expectations consumers should know.

For all this to happen, we need a collective and planned public effort. If after this we dont get what we want, then of course the KDA route is to be taken. A system cannot be built purely on rules and assumed to be in good shape!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
Mithun's picture

Nameplates in marathi: Maha govt.

Hi All, Please go thru this TOI news item. Posted it here because it is in the same context from a neighbouring state. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Nameplates_should_be_in_Marathi_in_3_months_Maha_Govt/articleshow/2980233.cms

The Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra on Thursday outdid MNS or Shiv Sena on the sons of the soil issue, directing that nameplates of commercial establishments in the state should be in Marathi within three months

Niranjana's picture

I am a new member here. I

I am a new member here. I came across this website recently and am thrilled to be in touch with the developments in my home city.

Actually, it is a widely held misbelief that Hindi is our National language; All Indian languages printed on the 1Re note and English are national languages. Hindi and English are official languages of the Indian Government.

 

City.Zen's picture

Respect

"I don’t think demanding everyone to use/respect my language just because I am passionate is my cup of tea." Reminds me of the old adage, "The only way to command respect from everybody is not to demand it." A knotty question: Since Bangalore Praja is about Bengaluru's affairs and since Bengaluru's language is Kannada, shouldn't this site be in Kannada?
City Zen
nijavaada's picture

its getting there..

City.Zen,

Well, there are websites that are already in Kannada. Wonder if you've been able to catch a glimpse of those. But there's a reason why this place is in English - and that is Kannada on the computer is still not a "cup of tea" for many, because we're so-to-say in the stone-age of using Kannada in technological aspects, whereas English and some other languages have been there in new-age already.

But that should only serve as a motivation to us, 'cos we have so much more to achieve, while English and others dont have to!

You need not stop just at a webpage.. why dont we start asking/thinking higher here:

1. Websites should be in Kannada

2. Websites should be about the entire world, but remain in Kannada

3. To interact with all that Kannada content, I need a Kannada keyboard

4. I need Kannada spelling checker, once I've typed in Kannada 

5. I may end up getting RSI with all that much typing, so I need Kannada voice recognition

We can and need to keep the list going on. We need to make sure our wish-list never stagnates, and also make sure every move we make today is targeted at atleast one of the goals we list here.

Once we determine that we want Kannada to be out there, its all about planned execution. And I am sure all this will happen only if we want more than a mere cup of tea!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
navshot's picture

Kannada and technology...

Just for your information...

Sometime back I saw a blog here in Kannada... not sure how to create it. Maybe admin can help?

I think some form of content creation in kannada is already there. I contribute on and off to this kannada wikipedia. You can do it too...

http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki

Ofcourse, it might require us to install/enable something on the OS. But the procedure is extremely simple and well documented. I also use Google's Orkut to network with my friends. There is a very nice feature where you can type in Kannada... its very easy to type... it supports phonatic input.

 

-- navshot
admin's picture

Kannada section coming soon

How can a Bangalore specific forum be complete without a kannada section, never! But unfortunately, since we have built the site from proven open source technologies, English was easier to setup.

There is some bit of work left before we roll the kannada section. If you want to help with the effort (technical work), please let us know via the contact form.

-Admins

nijavaada's picture

now we're talking!

@ navshot,

I must say this was one of your best shots! This falls very much in line with what is being tfalked about here in enguru blog page. In fact if you observe, apart fom superior content being talked about here, the page itself survives entirely on Kannada, and the content is all created in Kannada. Look at all the applications beside the blog content - everything is in Kannada! This was the kind of things I was hinting at in my earlier comment - saying pages are already there in Kannada - we only need to make the list bigger and better.

But given all this, we still wont be technologically self-sustained until we have the technology itself in our language - and to that effect we need to have big dreams, and garner sufficient capabilities to make them all true. Kannadigas havent achieved anything small in the history if we observe correctly. If it was doable by our ಪೂರ್ವಜರು / poorvajaru in the yesteryears, we should be able to better them today!

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
shas3n's picture

Kannada

Some useful tips for using Kannada on this site: You can input Kannada using Google tranliteration (http://www.google.com/tra...) or Sampada Converter (http://sampada.net/converter) on pure web-based interface. For a stand-alone application Baraha and BarahaIME are nice. Google one is the best since you dont have to worry about a/A e/E etc. The site already has Kannada capability but I guess there are not enough content creators. Check this link http://bangalore.praja.in... -Shastri

-Shastri

nijavaada's picture

google

Shastri,

The google utility to write in any language is not just beneficial from a convenience perspective, but their utility makes it OS agnostic and hence a guy running Linux/Solaris and unable to reap benefits from Baraha is able to use this tool and write in Kannada!

We need Kannadigas to be present in this development too. If not anything else, by being good consumers itself we can promote more of such developmental activity based on Kannada. A simple usage of such tools on the web will make them work more on it.

The same situation extrapolates to any other kind of market around us too. 

-Nijavaada

-Nijavaada
City.Zen's picture

Praja is a word known to all Indians.

"How can a Bangalore specific forum be complete without a kannada section" -- Beautiful words and very prompt response!!! Praja is a beautiful word known across the country by all languages bar a few. Is Praja a Kannada word? If not, what is the Kannada equivalent? I am asking so that if not Bangalore praja.in, at least I could change my own chosen name, which means Praja. And just wondering - language is there for man and not vice versa. Will all English posts have an accompanying Kannada translation and also the other way round - original Kannada posts with English versions so that the message gets across to everybody irrespective of their languages? Else, the whole purpose of the posts might get defeated. There may arise good demand for translators.
City Zen
santsub's picture

Praja is a word known to all Indians

The word Praja is derived form Sanskrit - but very much a kannada word too since almost all of Indian languages use Sanskrit as their base of origin. Praja and Praje are Kannada words...

 

santsub's picture

Kannada in other places like yahoo

Last night I was chatting on yahoo and I was checking yahoo audibles after a long time... damn - I found audibles in Indic languages and there was Gujarati, marathi, Tamil, Malayalam but no KANNADA - it hit me hard - what if I want to talk to some one in kannada and send an audible atleast?? hope we make it more popular and get it there.. 

shas3n's picture

ನಿಜ

ನೀವು ಹೇಳೋದು ನೂರಕ್ಕೆ ನೂರು ನಿಜ! ಗೂಗಲ್ ನವರು ಇದನ್ನ ಮಾಡಿರೋದರಿಂದ ಏನೇನೂ technical ತಲೆಬಿಸಿ ಇಲ್ಲದೇ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಬಳಸಬಹುದು. ನಂಗೆ ಅನಿಸೋಹಂಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನ ಬಳಸೋದು ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಡೆ ಸುಲಭವಾಗಬೇಕು. ಆಗ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕನ್ನಡ ಬೆಳೆಯೋಕೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯ. ಅದೂ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನ ಮಾತಾಡೋದು stylish ಹಾಗು hep ಅನ್ನೊ ಮನಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಬರಬೇಕು. ಸಧ್ಯಕಂತೂ ಆ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ ಅಲ್ವಾ? ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನ ಸುಲಭ ಮಾಡೋದು ಈ ದಿಕ್ಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಆಗಬಹುದು. ಆ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಅಂತ ಇರೋ ಕ.ಗ.ಪ ಮತ್ತು ಇತರ ಸಂಸ್ತೆಗಳಿಂದ ಅಂತಹ ಉತ್ತಮ ಕೆಲಸವಂತೂ ಆಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಬಹುಶಃ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸರಕಾರಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳಂತೆ ಕ.ಗ.ಪ ಕೂಡ ಕುಂಟುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎಂದು ನನ್ನ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನ ಸುಲಭ ಮಾಡಲು ನಮ್ಮ ಸಧ್ಯದ ಆಶಾಕಿರಣ ’ಮುಕ್ತ software’. ಸಂಪದ ಬಳಗ ಮತ್ತಿತರ ಸಂಘಟನೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ಈ ದಿಕ್ಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ ಇನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಕೆಲಸ ಆಗಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ. ಇನ್ನು ಈ ವೆಬ್ ಸೈಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಹಾಕುವ ಬಗ್ಗೆ: ಪ್ರಜಾ ವೆಬ್ ಸೈಟ್ ಡ್ರುಪಾಲ್ ಅನ್ನೋ ಮುಕ್ತ softwareಅನ್ನು ಬಳಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಡ್ರುಪಾಲ್ (drupal.org)ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡೀಕರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕಸ್ಟು ಅವಕಾಶವಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಲು ಇನ್ನು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ ಪದ/ವಾಕ್ಯಗಳ ಭಾಶಾಂತರ ಆಗಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ವಿಶಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇರುವವರು adminಅನ್ನು ಸಂಪರ್ಕಿಸಬಹುದು. -ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ

-Shastri

tsubba's picture

reasonable

regarding content translation, members are more than welcome to take posts that they are interested in and translate or better yet create new discussions entirely in kannada. however, i think it is reasonable that as group(including all members of praja) we cannot make guarantees on the translation of any post. we are not a cause but a platform. kannada is one the of bangalore's concerns. sewage, water, drains, lakes, green spaces, roads, rail, public transport, taxes, governance, layouts, traffic, housing, airports, etc are other important causes. and there are other important causes for which have not found members who are interested in. as somebody said, known knowns, known unknowns and then there are unknown unknowns. we hope provide a platform for all of these but not exclusive to any of these as a matter of policy. interested members are welcome to take up any relevant issue. for example, abstract civilizational issues are way beyond the scope of this platform. concrete individual instantiations of that, perhaps. praja is a reasonably well understood word across the country. and it is very relevant to the context of this site. we see no problems. afaik, the kannada equivalent, praje, is just a grammatical variation. the root is still the same.
City.Zen's picture

Praja Admin - Read this if expanding into Chennai

"....since almost all of Indian languages use Sanskrit as their base of origin..."

I don't think the great Tamil fanatics will keep quiet if they happen to read the above statement.  :-) 

Read what Prof. George Hart of UCLA says on behalf of Tamils here http://tamil.berkeley.edu/Tamil%20Chair/TamilClassicalLanguage/TamilClassicalLgeLtr.html

Since Tamil and Kannada both belong to the Dravidian set of languages, we may infer that Kannada too is not derived from Sans krit, in spite of the thousands of Sanskrit words used by Kannadigas.

In fact, there is a campaign going on in one of the prominent Kannada websites about avoiding use of Sans krit words.

This discussion here might be useful to Praja admin if and when they want to extend their reach to Chennai - they might want to replace Praja with some other pure Senthamil word.  :-) 

City Zen

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