Actress Sahiba Bali's recent comments about the way people in Bangalore speak English have not gone down well with the public. In a recent podcast, she spoke about her visit to the city and how the culture has influenced her. However, her comments have left people annoyed, with many calling her out and comparing her comments to the way English is spoken differently in southern and northern India.
Actor Sahiba Bali's “Bengali English” video has gone viral. (Instagram/@untriggeredpodcast)
“In India, wherever you go, the English is different. Even in Bangalore, the English is very different,” she says in a podcast with Amin Jazaieri, before providing examples to back up her comments and saying, “You seem worried.” The rest of the video sees her recounting her experiences.
Watch the video here:
The post has been viewed over 8.6 million times and has become a huge hit, with people sharing it and commenting on it in various ways.
What did Instagram users say about the video?
“Oh my goodness! Who made a jury to judge people in Bangalore by observing them? Bangalore is the IT capital of India and if everyone had an accent like that I don't think she would have been able to run a project there for long. This lame generalization shows she only knows lame things. P.S. stop adding 'ki' and 'woh' to Oxford English,” wrote one Instagram user. Another echoed the sentiment, adding, “As if North Indians have British English.”
“As a Bangalorean I can categorically say we don't speak like this. Who were they speaking to? Don't generalise. It has become cool to talk about language accents but that needs to stop,” added another.
A third commented: “Content creators have absolutely no topics to talk about apart from Bangalore. Either the traffic, the accent or the weather.”
However, several people came to the actress' defence and said that she was not making fun of the way English is spoken in the city. As this person added, “These people have never criticised the way English is spoken in Bangalore. On the contrary, they are expressing their love for the unique Bangalore way of speaking English. But most of the comments I have read here are of provoked people attacking North Indians for their complete lack of knowledge of the language. Why all of a sudden there is this hatred? Why all of a sudden there is this division? It's sad.”
Sahiba Bari is an actor from Kashmir. She is known for her work in films like “Bard of Blood” (2019), “Tanaav” (2022) and “Laila Majnu” (2018). With over 500,000 followers, she often wows her fans with visuals from her personal and professional life on Instagram.
What do you think about this video of Sahiba Bali and her remarks about 'Bengaluru English'?
