Telugu 'nakko' bhai, cry migrants

HYDERABAD: When Ramesh Kumar got transferred to Hyderabad from Delhi he did not envisage any major problem in relocation.
Although Hyderabad was in South India, it was no Chennai. Hindi - the only other language other than English that Kumar and his family were conversant with — was commonly understood by a majority of Hyderabadis. Or so Kumar was given to understand.
But it merely took a week for Kumar's belief to be put to test."The watchman in the apartment block where we took a flat understood only Telugu. Similar was the case with all the maids that we sought to employ. It was one hell of a problem. We knew no one and could not communicate with people for simple things," says Kumar who lives in upmarket Banjara Hills. This was not the end of the story for Kumar.
Considerable efforts had to be made by him to procure a Hindi-speaking driver for his car and to cap it all even the taxi that had been provided by his company in the interim did not have a chauffeur who really understood the national language.
Winds of change are blowing over Hyderabad. Even as the City of Nizams with its flawless 'tehzeeb' and 'Dakhani' transforms into a technological metropolis, a large influx of people is changing its lingua franca.
The change is slow and gradual, but nevertheless perceptible. Hyderabadi Hindi/Urdu as unique as the 'tapori' language of Mumbai is giving way to Telugu as spoken by the coastal migrants.
"Most of the migration into Hyderabad is by people from within the state like coastal Andhra. These migrants - though hardworking have no exposure to Dakhani - the Hyderabadi variation of Urdu - and know only Telugu," says M Bharathbhushan, a sociologist and former adviser to the state government.
Concurs sociologist from Hyderabad Central University Vinod Jairath: "Yes, Hyderabadi Hindi/Urdu is being gradually replaced by the dialect of the migrants. People from coastal Andhra are found in most jobs and they can't speak the local lingo."