Have you caught yourself getting into an unavoidable tiff with an auto driver or a vegetable seller only to remind you that you do not speak the local language? Or do you face the brunt of not being able to converse in Kannada at government offices? Being the IT capital of the country and known for its cosmopolitan environment, Bangalore has people pouring in from all across the country and abroad as well.Despite all this, Kannada still remains the preferred language for auto drivers, bus conductors, government officials, making a number of day-to-day tasks difficult for outsiders.Coming to the rescue of non Kannada speaking population in the city is Kamala Goenka Foundation, an organisation that conducts free of cost Kannada classes for Hindi speaking people.The classes are conducted on every Sunday at 10 am in Sadashivanagar and all you need to do is register yourself by paying `100.“Although the classes are for free, we charge a registration amount of `100 to ensure that the person is sincere and is genuine in his or her interest. This is because with limited resources, we do not want the seats to be occupied by people who are not genuine about learning the language,” said Shyam Sunder Goenka, the founder of Kamala Goenka Foundation.Although the foundation is 17 years old, the initiative of carrying out free of cost Kannada classes was taken up a year ago.Since then, more than a hundred people have benefitted from it.“I am a native of Delhi and came down to Bangalore 20 years ago. Although the people are fluent with Hindi and English and are quite cooperative, I struggled in the government offices since I did not know the language.Even instructing my maid and getting my household work done was like a battle won everyday. I attended the classes by Kamala Goenka Foundation few months ago and life is much easier now after knowing the language,” said Rashmi Jain, who attended the free Kannada classes at Kamala Goenka Foundation.The classes are booked on a first-cum-first serve basis and is flooded with response.“We have put a limit on the batch strength which is 25.But for every session, we get over 40 registrations. This shows that people are interested in learning the language but most of the time cannot do so due to the lack of resources,” said Shyam Sunder Goenka.The foundation has been into the field of the upliftment of different language across the country since its inception.“I strongly believe that one should know the local language.It is the prime duty of people pouring in from different parts of the country to learn the language and study the culture of the state they are living in and earning from,” said Shyam Sunder Goenka.The foundation in collaboration with Shri Veerendra Patil Degree College in Sadashivnagar is organising its valedictory function for the fourth batch and inaugural function for the fifth batch on July 10. Classes for the next batch will begin from July 10.Contact: 9341943535
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