BENGALURU: The Tulu language gained some publicity a couple of days ago, thanks to an Indigo pilot who chose to make an announcement in Tulu onboard a flight.
First Officer, Pradeep Padmashali, offered this surprise to flyers on December 24 night onboard flight no. 6E 6051. The flight was on its way from Mumbai to Mangaluru. The announcement came in just before it departed Mumbai at 6.56 pm.
In a 26-second announcement, Padmashali welcomed onboard the flyers and wished them a comfortable journey during the trip that will last an hour and 5 minutes. He then switched to English and remarked the previous short announcement was in his mother tongue, which was spoken in Dakshina Kannada.
An anonymous individual popularised the video clip on social media. He expressed his delight on hearing an announcement in Tulu, “We usually hear pilots making announcements in Hindi and English. It was really nice to hear something in Tulu. “
Tulu is primarily spoken in Dakshina Kannada and Udipi and is known for its oral literature. Efforts have been taken in the last two decades to popularise the language.
Murali Padmanabhan, who describes himself as a former Ship Captain on his Twitter profile lauded him stating “A regional language and English anywhere in the country. That’s what we should be doing.”
An Indigo spokesperson confirmed the incident and told TNIE, “Pilot Pradeep Padmashali is a native of Mangaluru. Indigo is taking regular steps to connect with its flyers and using regional languages is just one of such initiatives. Last month, one of our pilots used Bhojpuri on board and it was received very well. Such gestures are really accepted very well by the public.”
The airline hoped to continue such initiatives, she added.