Indian customer in Canada ridicules Kerala man over Hindi skills: 'Oh the south'

A Kerala-born sales advisor working in Montréal faced unexpected language bias from a fellow Indian customer.

An Indian-origin sales advisor in Montréal, Canada, recently faced an unpleasant encounter with a fellow Indian customer who judged him for not being fluent in Hindi. The man took to Reddit to share the ordeal, underscoring the deep-seated linguistic bias that persists within the Indian diaspora, even in a foreign country.

The customer mocked the man for not having fluent Hindi. (Reddit)

The advisor, who speaks four languages—Malayalam, English, Hindi, and French—was working at a telecommunications store when an Indian man specifically requested to speak with him. “The Indian guy,” the customer pointed out, prompting the advisor to switch customers with his colleague.

Despite not having spoken Hindi in over two years due to his French-speaking job, the advisor conversed in Hindi to assist the man. However, as the conversation progressed, it became evident that the customer had no intention of making a purchase. Instead, he began questioning the advisor’s background.

The man assumed the advisor was born in Canada because of his accent and slightly rusty Hindi. When the advisor clarified, “No, I only came to Canada two years ago,” the customer appeared shocked and judgemental, he wrote.

However, this seemed to offend the customer even more. “How can Hindi be your third language?” he asked, prompting the advisor to explain, “Because I’m from Kerala in the south, so we speak Malayalam and English.”

At this point, the customer’s attitude took an openly dismissive turn. Mocking the advisor’s South Indian heritage, he responded, “Ohhhhhh the south, you’re one of those makes random mocking sounds people, yeah I get it now,” before leaving the store.

A man who “doesn’t even speak English, let alone French,” as the advisor noted openly belittled another Indian’s language and cultural background while navigating a foreign environment himself.

Take a look at the post:

Many took to the comments section to share their opinion. One user wrote, “I had multiple instances over here in canada when Indians questioned my nationality because I can’t speak hindi. I am from Kerala and I don’t speak hindi. I once had a supervisor who insisted I should learn hindi (in canada) in a month; I pulled upto HR and he was moved later. Most people starts speaking in Hindi as soon as they see me and I will be standing there like dumbfounded!”

Another added, “Should have called the police on him for the black money dealing stuff lol.”