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This Bengaluru Auto Driver Is Striving to Remove Language Barrier
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A Bengaluru auto-rickshaw driver has taken it upon himself to bridge the language gap with non-Kannadiga passengers and help them communicate in the city.
This Bengaluru Auto Driver Is Striving to Remove Language Barrier
The language barrier in India’s IT capital Bengaluru has always been a major issue. However, one 31-year-old autorickshaw driver, Ajmal Sultan, fondly called ‘Azzu’ by locals has taken it upon himself to bridge this gap with non-Kannadiga residents with a unique way of teaching Kannada to his passengers.
As a native of Ilkal in Bagalkot district, Azzu has been driving an autorickshaw in Bengaluru since 2012 and has witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by non-Kannadiga passengers. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands and help people out.
He has pinned up a leaflet inside his auto offering passengers a chance to learn Kannada while commuting. The leaflet is headlined: “Learn Kannada With Auto Kannadiga.”
The majority of Azzu Sultan's passengers are non-Kannadigas from the Whitefield area and IT parks. To better cater to their needs, he initiated a conversation with them to understand the basic words they would require to communicate with an autorickshaw driver.
Once he had compiled a list of these words, he translated them into Kannada and displayed the list in his autorickshaw.
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“I listed the words and then translated them into Kannada. Thereafter, I displayed the list in my autorickshaw. The response was really good and then I met some members of the autorickshaw associations…” He said. “And now, we have been able to place these cards in at least 500 autorickshaws in the city,”
The response was overwhelmingly positive. That motivated him to hand out these language cards to at least 500 autorickshaws across the city.
Besides teaching Kannada to non-Kannadiga passengers, Azzu Sultan has also been active on social media platforms. Initially starting with entertainment videos, he eventually transitioned into creating content that addresses social issues and promotes linguistic harmony.
He knows Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Urdu, and Kannada. With his multilanguage skills, Azzu Sultan hopes to create a positive impact through his online presence.
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