E-Paper
Knowledge of Telangana dialect must for govt job
HYDERABAD: Do you know what Khushki and Tari are? Or Mathadi or Alugu? If you don’t, you aren’t eligible to be employed by the Telangana government, which says understanding
HYDERABAD: Do you know what Khushki and Tari are? Or Mathadi or Alugu? If you don’t, you aren’t eligible to be employed by the Telangana government, which says understanding the local dialect is compulsory for state recruitment tests.
For record’s sake, khushki means dry land and tari is wet land. And mathadi is the flow of water overflowing from a tank and alugu means the sluice of a tank to let out excess water.
The government says the rule is both a necessity and a tool to promote local culture, which has been long neglected under the shadow of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
“How can a person who wants to get recruited in the revenue department or the agriculture department do justice to his a job if he does not understand what is Khushki or Tari? That is precisely why we have introduced questions about Telangana dialect in the syllabus for recruitment tests, whether is for Group-I category or Group-II,” Telangana state public service commission (TSPSC) chairman Ghanta Chakrapani told HT.
He said at least 10% of questions in the general awareness section of recruitment tests pertained to Telangana culture and dialect. “The candidates may belong to any part of the country, but they have to invariably study the Telangana dialect, which is essential to be a part of the Telangana administration,” Chakrapani said.
The language spoken in Telangana is Telugu – the same as its neighbouring Andhra Pradesh – but in a distinct dialect mixed with Urdu and Marathi words. This is now being projected as the new state’s own language.
In order to make things easy for people from other parts of the country, including those from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University is now coming out with a dictionary of Telangana dialect and an encyclopaedia of words typical to the region.
“There are thousands of words typical to Telangana dialect and culture, which do not find a place in any Telugu dictionary. The proposed dictionary is aimed at highlighting these words, their usage and their importance in the local parlance,” university vice-chancellor S V Satyanarayana said.
This isn’t the first attempt to focus on Telangana’s unique dialect and culture. “There is a Telangana Pada Kosam (compilation of Telangana words) by writer Nalimela Bhaskar. Since the region was under the influence of Asaf Jahi dynasty and also neighbouring Maratha and Kannadiga rulers, one can find a number of words with Urdu, Marathi and Kannada touch in Telangana,” said popular Telangana poet Juluri Gowrishankar.
The state was carved out of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 2014 after a six-decades-long struggle. Soon after, the Telangana government embarked on changing the curriculum in schools and colleges by introducing chapters on the Telangana movement.
At least a dozen pages have been dedicated to the role of Telangana Rashtra Samithi in general and its president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in particular, in achieving the statehood.
