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Tibetan man in Bengaluru speaks fluent Kannada in viral video: 'After drinking Kaveri water...'

What struck a chord with many viewers was his heartfelt statement dismissing the often-heard phrase, ‘Kannada gottilla’.

Updated on: Jun 18, 2025, 09:09:07 IST
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A Tibetan man's message on embracing Kannada has gone viral, sparking a wave of appreciation on social media for his fluency and respect for the local language.

In what appears to be a vox pop-style video, the man speaks in fluent Kannada. (X)
In what appears to be a vox pop-style video, the man speaks in fluent Kannada. (X)

In what appears to be a vox pop-style video, the young man speaks in fluent Kannada, expressing how deeply the language has become part of his life. “I know a lot of Tibetans who speak Kannada more than their mother tongue,” he says in the clip. “People respect me a lot when I speak in Kannada. They feel proud that an outsider is speaking the local language.”

What struck a chord with many viewers was his heartfelt statement dismissing the often-heard phrase, ‘Kannada gottilla’ (I don’t know Kannada). “There is no such thing as Kannada gottilla. After drinking Kaveri water, you speak Kannada automatically,” he remarks with a smile.

The video has been widely shared across platforms, with users praising his sentiment and calling it a powerful example of linguistic inclusivity and cultural respect.

Watch the video here:

The Tibetan man's viral video celebrating the Kannada language isn’t an isolated moment. In recent months, several non-natives have earned praise for embracing Kannada, with one notable example being a German woman whose video speaking the language went viral on social media.

The clip, widely shared on X, showed the woman, identified as Jenifer, conversing fluently in Kannada with locals. Her efforts to learn and use the language were met with enthusiastic appreciation, especially at a time when language politics were flaring in Bengaluru.

One X user who shared Jenifer’s video wrote: “German citizen Jenifer, currently staying in Karnataka, learns Kannada and tries to converse in Kannada with locals. Look at the appreciation she gets for speaking in Kannada. If Germans can, why can't Indians learn and speak Kannada with Kannadigas?”

(Also Read: Bengaluru lecturer asked to resign for speaking in Kannada, issue later resolved)

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