Foreigner speaks with locals in Haryanvi, leaves big smiles on their faces

Rock can be seen conversing in almost-fluent Harvanvi with auto-rickshaw drivers and shopowners in Gurgaon.

They say if you want to win someone’s heart, just speak their language.

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And Karl Rock is following this adage to the core and impressing locals as well as bonding with them.

A resident of New Zealand, Rock lives in Gurgaon and is currently polishing his language skills in Haryanvi. He also has a YouTube channel India Survival Guide and posts videos for foreigners to learn “Quick-Start Safety Guide, allowing them to confidently and safely travel in India.”

In the latest video on his channel, Rock can be seen conversing in almost-fluent Harvanvi with auto-rickshaw drivers and shopowners in Gurgaon. His Haryanvi is accented no doubt but his efforts pay off as he wins a smile from the locals.

Rock starts his conversation with a simple “Ram Ram” as he greets shopkeepers in the video shot mostly in Gurgaon. He impresses and surprises them in equal measure as he asks them if they are from Haryana in Haryanvi.

“My girlfriend teaches me a lot of Hindi and Haryanvi as do my Indian friends and YouTube,” Rock was quoted as saying by television news channel NDTV.

But he is mostly self-taught as he believes that the best way to integrate into a society is by learning the local language, he said.

“I want to be able to chat with the phalwala, dudhwala, and everybody I met during my day.”

“Enjoy the smiles and surprise on locals’ faces as I speak to them in their local language in India! And laugh at my Hindi too if you’re a native Hindi speaker =D Jai Hind,” Rock says in the description for the video.

Rock wants to visit “all 36 states & union territories in India plus India before partition” as he is passionate about Indian life and culture. So far, he has visited 28 states and Bangladesh.

The YouTube video has gathered over 391,572 views so far and encouraging words from viewers.

“You captured such a beautiful video,” YouTube user Nitesh Agrawal commented on the video.