How Many Languages Does Bangalore Speak?

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How Many Languages Does Bangalore Speak?
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Sitting on a table with 40 other women on one
gossip filled lunch session, I realized that not
one of us was speaking in pure English. Since I
work in a translation company, this made me very
inquisitive and I tuned in my ears to the various
conversations around me. Did I hear Bengali,
Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi and Kannada? Was
it possible that the people on my table are
linguists or polyglots? These questions come to
most minds when they sit and observe a room full
of people in the cosmopolis called
Bangalore. Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of
India opened its doors and became the dream
destination of working professionals across the
country. The industrial boom followed by the IT
boom turned the city into a mecca of job
opportunities. People who came in search of the
Gold Rush not only realized their dreams but
also enjoyed the weather, the culture, the
development and the quality of life and decided
to settle in this city, which stands within the
four pillars erected by Kempegowda.
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As people from different parts of India found
their way into Bangalore, they infused the city
with their language, food, culture, traditions
and festivals. Within no time, Bangalore has
become the City with diversity. It is no more
rare to sit at a Stammtisch and find people from
all corners of India and of late, the world
sitting next to you, conversing in various
languages. You are no longer surprised when you
hear different languages while sitting in a BMTC
bus travelling to the airport. The manager at
a high-end Japanese restaurant may actually be
from your home-town of Kolkata who might just add
in a dessert on the house because he heard you
speak Bengali. Your next-door neighbours will
most definitely be like the characters from
Two-States, speaking two very different
languages.Your domestic help maybe from across
the country from a small town in Bihar and your
broken Hindi with hand gestures will most
definitely bring smiles to both your faces and
yummy food to the table. You might ask me if
Kannada is still the most spoken language in
Bangalore. The answer to that is definitely yes.
Kannadigas are extremely proud of their rich
culture and heritage and their language is
equally important. You will hear the language
being spoken all across the city and there are
certain words like majamadi, howda?, seri,
illi-alli, naanu-neenu being used by
non-Kannada speaking people also.
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However, does this diversity in languages play an
important role in shaping the development, growth
and future of this city? I definitely believe so.
As the city went into the local polls last year,
the political parties released their manifesto in
five languages Kannada, English, Tamil, Telugu
and Hindi. All political parties believed that
different linguistic groups would play a major
role in the election process.
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During the festive season of Dusherra, one can
see the true nature of how various languages and
cultures have influenced Bangalore. The Gujarati
speaking community is busy organizing grand,
large-scale Dandia functions in Palace Grounds,
whereas the Bengali Association is busy finding
the most unique Durga idol, the Kannadigas and
Tamilians travel the length and breadth of
Bangalore to visit relatives and appreciate their
Golu or Bombe Habba. The above two scenarios
are socio-political which are restricted to
Indian languages and this gets us thinking about
the influence of foreign languages in this city.
Bangalore has always been a students city, and
academics and learning have played a prominent
role here. There are numerous foreign language
institutes that cater to the hunger of learning
and knowledge of foreign languages has opened new
avenues
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MNCs like Bosch and Société Générale have opened
regional offices in Bangalore due to the
availability of highly skilled resources with
foreign language skills. Many consulates have
their offices in this city and given all these
growth areas one will also see a group of young
Bangaloreans in cafes talking in German, French,
Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. The Make in
India movement has also seen how Bangalore has
quickly adapted to this need and provided
solutions to its citizens in different Indian
languages. The fact that Bangalore speaks so many
languages both Indian and foreign, has lead to
an increased demand for content in Indian
languages. Be it ecommerce in Tamil and Telugu,
mobile OS in 14 major Indian languages or even
development of platforms and portals which allow
users to type content in Indian languages all
these high-tech developments have in some way or
the other leveraged on the multi-lingual, skilled
resources available in Bangalore. The fact that
this city houses so many Indians, speaking
different languages has made it a recruiters
paradise. Translation and Localization companies
who aim to cater to the Indian language speaking
audiences have found a gold mine of resources in
Bangalore
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We can definitely state that the migration of
people, speaking different languages, from all
across India started with the supply of jobs and
now with so many initiatives by corporates and
the government we can see that there is also a
great demand of skilled resources with language
competencies. Be it translation or creation of
content for websites, localization of ecommerce
portals or publication of e-books in various
languages, all these services have high
conversion potential in Bangalore because the
city speaks so many languages. The city has
retained its Kannadiga heritage but also embraced
other cultures and languages and given them all a
unique identity in Bangalore.
Thank You...