Bengaluru is notorious for being discriminatory against non-Kannadigas and those who do not speak Kannada. Recently, a video went viral on social media that showed a passenger and a cab driver arguing over air conditioning in the car. The driver is seen angrily insisting that the passenger speak only in Kannada despite seeing that the passenger does not know the language. Here are all of the important details that you would need to know about this incident.
Bengaluru: Driver And Passenger Argue Over Air Conditioning
Here’s the Full Clip of kalesh b/w Cab driver and A guy over not Turning on AC in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/mxwO2njy7g
— Ghar Ke Kalesh (@gharkekalesh) May 20, 2024
In a series of posts on X (formerly known as Twitter), a passenger in Bengaluru shared the discriminatory treatment he had to witness in Bengaluru. The videos he shared showed a heated argument between the passenger and the driver.
Since everyone is forming an opinion let me share the context here- 16sec video is 1st followed by the other video. I denied to sit in his friend’s Indica as it didn’t have AC and was filthy. Then I sat in his car n he talked to me in Hindi only. pic.twitter.com/CeNhOuN5J0
— Dr. Atharv Dawar 🇮🇳 (@atharvdawar) May 20, 2024
The passenger is heard repeatedly asking the driver to first turn on the air conditioning in the car and then asking how the AC isn’t working. As per the posts made by the passenger, it seems that he was first asked to sit in another car but the passenger refused.
But d moment I asked him to Turn on the AC he got charged up. Listen to him responding in Hindi AC nahi hai. It’s not abt language here it’s about arrogant n irresponsible person using Kannada language as smokescreen to continue scamming gullible people who travel to BLR for work
— Dr. Atharv Dawar 🇮🇳 (@atharvdawar) May 20, 2024
The reasons he gave for his refusal were that the car, which was an Indica, was filthy and the AC was not working. He subsequently sat in this car. He also claimed that the driver was speaking in Hindi before but the moment the passenger asked to turn the AC on, the driver got angry.
This Is What Netizens Had To Say About The Video That Went Viral
I am a kannadiga, I call his behaviour arrogant and nothing close to what we kannadigas are
— Sunlionie (@sunalonie) May 21, 2024
The angry driver is heard repeatedly saying that the AC is broken and that the passenger should speak in Kannada. The passenger, in his posts, went on to highlight that the issue was not really about the language barrier.
Brother, I see he is not fluent in Hindi so he is not interested to speak. He has right to speak in his own language. Your are expecting him to give technical reasons for AC not working. 😂
— ಮೀನರಾಶಿ (@aus_pisces) May 21, 2024
He said that people like the driver use language barriers as an excuse to dupe people who are not from the city. Many people called out the driver’s arrogant behaviour. There were still a few people who supported the driver and attempted to justify his rudeness.
Have you ever faced similar discrimination when visiting or travelling in Bengaluru? Let us know in the comments section below!
Cover Image Credits: @atharvdawar/X (Formerly, Twitter)
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