2 hours Ago By Express News Service
BENGALURU: A Bengaluru auto driver, who was upset with the recent clashes of non-Kannadigas with local auto drivers for not conversing in Kannada, has come up with an initiative to help them with basic communication in the local language. He has made a poster with basic conversation an outsider would have with an auto driver in English, and its translation into the Kannada language. On Monday, his initiative went viral with many appreciating and acknowledging that it is a great idea to learn Kannada.
TNIE got in touch with Azzu Sultan, who is popular on social media platforms through his profile ‘Auto Kannadiga’. “I did not expect that my small step to help non-Kannadigas communicate in Kannada with auto drivers would go viral,” he said. “I have been driving an auto in Bengaluru for more than six years, and can comfortably communicate in Kannada, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi.
However, many auto drivers know only Kannada. It is the language of Karnataka, and one of the basic things auto drivers like me expect is to converse in Kannada,” Sultan said. A native of Ilkal, Sultan said his poster is just a small step in bridging and promoting linguistic harmony.
Along with the poster, he has also made a video on how to pronounce words the right way in Kannada. With the help of a few auto unions and his friends Parashuram, Arun, Mallikarjun and Sunil Arya, all auto drivers, he created the posters which are put up in autos. On the poster cost and whether there were any sponsors, Sultan said each poster cost him Rs 24 and he had already put up 500 posters in autos with his earnings.
Sultan, who is popular on Instagram, said he will do some promotions to earn money and put up more posters. He said some auto unions have also agreed to sponsor posters. “Along with my auto duty, I reach Indiranagar Metro Station around noon, and spend time distributing the posters,” Sultan said, adding that in the coming days, he will do this at Metro stations across the city and update the same on his social media page.
To promote the Kannada language, I wish to take the campaign to cabs, especially those operating at the airport, he said, and resumed his duty..
