BENGALURU: A city may first draw people with the promise of work or opportunity, but the connections they build along the way make it home. For those who came to Karnataka from different parts of the country, settling here has meant more than finding a place to live or work. It has meant learning Kannada, embracing local traditions, forming friendships with Kannadigas and becoming part of the neighbourhoods they call home. Though they arrived with different languages and cultural backgrounds, they have found ways to connect with the city and make its culture a part of their own lives.
Originally from Thrissur and born in Dubai, artist Indu Antony’s relationship with Bengaluru goes beyond simply living in the city. Having arrived in 2002, she says the city gave her the independence and space to shape her own life. Learning Kannada became an important part of that connection. While studying dentistry, she realised she needed to learn the language to communicate with her Kannada-speaking patients. She believes that if someone decides to make a place their home, learning its language is the bare minimum.
For her, speaking Kannada opened the door to a deeper understanding of the city’s culture and helped her connect with people beyond her immediate circle. She made an effort to know her neighbours, local shopkeepers, auto drivers and even the Anganwadis and civic institutions in her neighbourhood. Her curiosity about the city’s identity also led to Vasane, a project documenting Bengaluru through its smells. Through conversations with residents and explorations of different neighbourhoods, she captured memories associated with old shops, familiar streets and places that have changed over time.
She also founded Namma Katte, a space where women can come together, socialise, rest and simply do nothing without feeling the pressure to be productive. The initiative grew from her observation that while men often have informal spaces to gather and spend time, women rarely have similar opportunities.
For Indu, creating such a space was a way of strengthening the sense of community she believes Bengaluru is gradually losing. She feels that people need to step out of their homes, engage with their neighbourhoods and build relationships beyond their digital lives. Her connection with Bengaluru, she says, has been shaped not just by the freedom it offered her but also by the people, stories and everyday experiences that make the city unique.
For Tamil Nadu-born Sampath Ramanujam, Kannada became a way of bringing people closer. Recognising the communication gap between newcomers and local residents, he and his wife, Sridevi Shetty, started Kannada Kaliyona, a free Kannada-learning initiative around 2016. What began as an effort to help non-Kannadigas communicate with local residents has grown into a programme that has reached approximately 4,200 learners.
The couple have borne the expenses of the classes themselves. Ramanujam believes that learning Kannada encourages newcomers to step beyond their workplaces and interact with the communities they live in. His own involvement in civic activities, including work with local residents and government schools, has further strengthened his connection with the city.
Hyderabad-born Rajani Rekha has found her place in Karnataka through art, crafts and cultural initiatives during the 25 years she has lived in Bengaluru. An artist since childhood, she has explored traditional art forms such as Nirmal and Tanjore paintings. She later set up an art gallery named Reves in Bengaluru to provide a platform for artists from different backgrounds, including teachers, doctors and other professionals who pursue art alongside their careers. Through the gallery, she has organised exhibitions that connect art with the state’s people and heritage. Khaki Chronicles, for instance, showcased artworks by Karnataka Police personnel, while another exhibition focused on Hampi and its heritage.
Her engagement with Karnataka’s cultural identity extends beyond the gallery. She has worked with Khadi weavers in Belagavi and Chikkaballapur, exploring ways to bring their traditional textiles into contemporary styling, and collaborated with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission on Mysuru Dasara initiatives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she also converted her manufacturing unit to produce PPE kits for hospitals in Karnataka. Kannada has become part of her family life, with her children speaking the language as well. For Rajani, embracing a place means going beyond living in it to understanding its traditions, respecting its people and contributing to its cultural life.
In Mohammed Rafeeq’s case who is from Kerala, Bengaluru became home through the everyday relationships he built over nearly three decades. Having arrived in search of employment, he began working at a small shop, which gradually became the foundation of his life in the city. Over the years, he has become a familiar face in the neighbourhood, with regular customers dropping by not just to purchase things but also to exchange greetings, talk and catch up.
The shop has become a meeting point of sorts, where conversations and familiar faces are part of everyday life. His family, too, has grown up in Bengaluru, building its own roots in the city. Although he continues to visit Kerala to meet his relatives, it is Bengaluru, with its familiar neighbourhood and people, that he returns to.
Originally from Mumbai, entrepreneur Prathibha Nakil, who moved to Bengaluru in 1991 during the IT boom, believes learning Kannada is essential to building meaningful relationships. Her professional journey, along with her involvement in social initiatives and organisations supporting women entrepreneurs, brought her into close interaction with people across different sections of society.
This also made her realise the importance of learning Kannada, initially to communicate in everyday situations but eventually to feel more included in conversations and the local community. Having started with basic Kannada, she enrolled in language classes last year and has gradually begun understanding the language, although she is still working on becoming more fluent in speaking it.
She believes that learning Kannada goes beyond everyday communication, as it helps build stronger personal and professional relationships, reduces dependence on others and offers a deeper understanding of Karnataka’s rich cultural heritage. For her, learning the local language is ultimately about connecting with people, respecting their culture and truly feeling at home.
Born in Uttar Pradesh, actor Pooja Gandhi’s journey with Karnataka began in 2006 when she came to Karnataka for the movie ‘Mungaru Male’. The immense love, respect and recognition she received from Kannadigas made the city her home, she said. Her efforts to learn Kannada began on the film’s sets, picking up words and phrases from colleagues and staff.
Despite being laughed at and misunderstood for her mistakes, she never gave up. Around four years ago, she began formally learning to read and write Kannada, and today takes immense pride in reading Kannada books. For Pooja, embracing the language is her way of expressing gratitude to a land that gave her identity, opportunities and the wings to fulfil her dreams. She encourages newcomers to respect local culture and make an effort to learn Kannada. “My roots may be somewhere else, but Karnataka gave me the wings to fly,” she says.
For singer Jaskaran Singh, from Punjab, his journey with Kannada began unexpectedly when he came to Bengaluru to participate in a singing reality show, drawn partly by his admiration for music director Arjun Janya. Having initially known only one Kannada song, he gradually began understanding the language and its nuances.
He believes that learning a language is particularly important for a singer, as it helps understand the emotions behind the lyrics, get the pronunciation right and do justice to the song. Over time, his growing familiarity with Kannada has helped him connect more deeply with the music he performs. Describing Karnataka as a welcoming place, he says newcomers should not hesitate to come, as the warmth of its people makes one feel at home rather than like an outsider.
Together, their stories reflect a larger idea of belonging, one that is built through everyday interactions, shared experiences and a willingness to understand the place one calls home. Whether through learning Kannada, preserving local traditions, supporting communities or simply building friendships with neighbours, each has found a way to become part of the state’s social and cultural fabric.