SBI Manager Sparks Language Flashpoint in Karnataka
A now-viral video captures a moment that feels both petty and profound: an SBI bank manager, posted in Karnataka, flatly refuses to speak Kannada to a customer. When reminded that Karnataka has its own official language โ and that RBI guidelines encourage local language use โ the manager responds curtly:
โI will never speak Kannada.โ
She then walks off.
She has since been transferred, but not before the clip set off a digital firestorm.
This incident may seem minor โ another viral tiff between state pride and bureaucratic indifference โ but it exposes a deeper tension in Indiaโs federal fabric. At its heart is a language question that never died: who accommodates whom in a multilingual republic? Full clip after the jump.