‘If You Make Bengaluru Your Home, You Should Learn Kannada’: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu Sparks Debate On Local Language Respect; Netizens React

India, with a linguistic diversity unmatched, with each region holding a unique cultural and linguistic identity, often sparks debates about the importance of learning regional languages, especially when it comes to South Indian versus North Indian language particularly Hindi.

The most recent discussion on this topic was reignited by Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, who expressed his views on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, about the importance of learning local languages when moving to different states.

The conversation began when Chandra R. Srikanth, a journalist, shared a post discussing the reluctance of some people to learn local languages despite living in a region for years. She wrote, "People won't think for a minute before buying English to French, English to Spanish and English to Italian dictionaries while flying abroad but God forbid if you tell them to try and be courteous enough to learn a local language in India... There are folks who go on saying Kannada gothila (I don't know Kannada) for years like it is a badge of honour."

Vembu retweeting Srikanth’s post and expressed his agreement, highlighting the importance of showing respect to local cultures through language.

"I agree with this sentiment. 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," Vembu wrote.

He added, "I often request our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to learn Tamil after they come here."

Netizens Weigh In: Diverse Reactions

Vembu’s post ignited a wave of responses from users on X, with both support and criticism for his stance.

An X user responding to Vembu's post wrote, "I have many Kannada friends in Mumbai, living here for decades. No one can speak Marathi. Not one word. Fair?"

Another user took a more satirical approach, writing, "Great Sir. Let's divide the country and make borders with the requirement of IELTS-kind certificates in the local language for entrance. Just before that, the tagline of our country 'Unity in diversity' should be immersed in Ganga in Varanasi."

A third commenter addressed the comparison to moving internationally, noting, "That’s crazy. Can’t be compared when moving to another country vs within the country; it is different."