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Stranger in the Homeland

When I was in one of those "hip" and popular places in the city (Hyderabad, India) a few days ago and I noticed something strange. I was there with a couple of friends of mine. We were talking casually in our mother tongue, Telugu.

A "high class" couple (yeah those people with their fake accents and goggles tucked up in their hair) started looking at us in a strange, condescending way. It seemed to me that they thought of me and my friends as lepers.

All this because we were speaking to each other in Telugu. But the high class couple speak only in English. They pronounce "h" as "aich". And Hyderabad is Hydra Bad for them.

I found this to be ridiculous and funny. This is Hyderabad! Telugu and Hindi are the native languages here. How can someone who speaks these languages be considered lowly? In fact it is those people who speak in fake accented English who should be considered lowly.

I like talking in Telugu. It is my native language and I'm not ashamed of using it in public. Just because I know how to speak English doesn't mean I have to show it off to all the people in a mall. I will use it when I have to .

But with all these show offs and so called "high class" people increasing by the day, I'm pretty sure most of the local languages will die. Now, that is something to be ashamed of.

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