Though it’s language or, more appropriately, speech that makes humans different from other mammals or animals in general. But it is language itself that brings differences among the humans.
Though I’ve been staying in Bangalore since a year and a half, I still don’t understand it’s chief language Kannada. Neither do I understand the other popular languages – Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. Yes, I agree it’s my fault, I should have taken the initiative.
Because I didn’t know Kannada, the localites didn’t misbehave with me, that’s a good thing. I have been managing to survive here with my knowledge of English and Hindi.
But this language differences often made me feel out of place in college. Most of my classmates are from Bangalore itself, so they are fluent in Kannada. We all have a tendency to talk in our language with our friends, that way we are more comfortable. But I didn’t understand a word of their conversations. Often I would say “please translate”, sometimes they would, sometimes they would dismiss saying, “it’s not so important”. That’s the reason why I experienced a little problem in mingling with people, which I didn’t experience before. Earlier I wouldn’t take much time in mingling with people. But now I do. I feel all the more lonely. I feel the urge to leave this city as soon as possible.
