You, your kids should learn Kannada: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu's advice to Bengaluru residents
Bengaluru: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu waded into the language debate that has gripped the state of Karnataka over the past few months. He recently reacted to a post on X by sharing that people who have made Bengaluru their “home” should know how to speak Kannada. In his opinion, not doing so is “disrespectful.”
The comment was in response to a post featuring two men wearing T-shirts with the phrase "Hindi National Language" written on them, accompanied by the caption, “Perfect T-shirt for Bangalore trip.”
Vembu, in his reply, emphasised the importance of cultural assimilation. Vembu wrote, “If you make Bengaluru your home, you should learn Kannada and your kids should learn Kannada.”
“Not doing so after living many years in Bengaluru is disrespectful. I often request our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to learn Tamil after they come here,” he added.
Vembu’s comments drew support from some, while others disagreed. "I agree. I took pride in learning Kannada, watching Raj Kumar movies and try to speak Kannada where possible. It's been 25 years now and from salfa salfa barute, now it's become gotila. One day, I do want to learn Tamil and Sanskrit when am back to India," a user said.
However, another user argued that this is immature, adding “being disrespectful for any language, culture is unacceptable but not learning a language is being disrespectful? Logic dies there.”
Another user wrote, “I have many Kannada friends in Mumbai, living here for decades. No one can speak Marathi. Not one word. Fair?”
Sridhar Vembu, whose net worth is estimated at $5.8 billion according to Forbes, is the founder and CEO of Zoho, a company that creates cloud-based business software.
I agree with this sentiment. If you make Bengaluru your home, you should learn Kannada and your kids should learn Kannada.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) November 15, 2024
Not doing so after living many years in Bengaluru is disrespectful.
I often request our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to… https://t.co/1cIQ47FMjn
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Kharge claims not allowed into reserved airport lounge, questions if toilet can be reserved for PM
Ranchi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of delaying helicopters of his and Rahul Gandhi in Jharkhand, and alleged that despite holding cabinet minister rank, the opposition leaders were not given access to reserved airport lounge.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter, which was supposed to take him from Mahagama in Jharkhand's Godda district after he addressed an election rally there, was grounded for about two hours on Friday, prompting allegations from the Congress that the delay was politically motivated.
Prime Minister Modi was stranded at Deoghar airport for nearly two hours on Friday and a 'no-fly zone' was declared in the region's airspace as the PM waited for the issue to be resolved, officials said.
"Yesterday, our leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter was deliberately delayed by two hours as the PM was sitting in his plane. Today, my chopper was delayed by 20 minutes as Union Home Minister Amit Shah was landing. His path was separate and mine was separate.
"Rahul Gandhi ji, who is the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, holds a cabinet minister's rank, and so do I. But in airport's reserved lounge, they (officials) say it is for Prime Minister Modi, I want to ask can even a toilet be reserved for the PM," Kharge alleged, without mentioning the name of the airport.
Attacking the BJP over the infiltration issue raked by the party, he alleged that Modi and Shah are frightening people despite having the power to check it.
"Are PM Modi and Amit Shah sleeping? Why can't they check infiltration despite being in power? When they can stop a helicopter, why can't they stop infiltrators?" he questioned.
Kharge also accused the Centre of using ED, CBI, I-T against those who help the Congress and its allies.
He alleged that the BJP wanted to form the government in Jharkhand to loot its natural resources.
Further attacking the BJP, he said, "They say 'bant gaye toh kat gaye' (if divided, we will be wiped out), I say 'dar gaye toh mar gaye' (if you are afraid, you die)."
He also hailed Sarna religious code as a symbol of tribal pride and stressed the need to protect it.
