‘Why we should always adjust’: the viral position in fourth partners triggers the northern debate against the south in Bengaluru

On a quiet night in a Bengaluru shelter, a student in southern India turned to Reddit to vent. What began as a personal diatribe about roommates quickly became a broader debate about language, identity and respect in shared spaces, a failures that many in the big cities of India know very well.

The anonymous publication, entitled “The fourths of northern India are unbearable”It was more than a simple complaint about university life. He detailed feelings of exclusion when two Hindi roommates talked only in their language, even after the poster tried to respond in English. A young man from Punjab, the student wrote: “He refuses to speak anything except Hindi,” and the director allegedly asked others in the room to accommodate speaking in Hindi.

But for the writer, the problem went beyond the language. They said that every attempt to talk in Hindi led to the mockery of having a “accent from southern India.” Casual insults, “the South Indians are ugly because they are not fair” – deepened resentment. “Why should I do everything possible to accommodate people who have no effort to meet me halfway?” The student asked, noting that the majority of southern Indians grow bilingual or trilingual, while many northern Indians expect others to be adjusted.

Under anger, the post reflects a larger anxiety that develops in the cities of India. Bangalore, a magnet for migrants from all over the country, has proud to be cosmopolitan. But that opening, the Redditor suggested, is taken for granted more and more. “Kannadigas has been too helpful for too long. At least in Tamil Nadu, people defend their identity,” said the publication.

The publication hit an online nerve, attracting an avalanche of comments from Internet users who shared similar experiences. “I know people who live for years in Mumbai but do not bother to learn Marathi. Simply because they are never forced,” a user wrote, adding that linguistic apathy is not new in Indian cities.

Another commented: “The northern Indians have big problems to adapt to people. If they see, come out and fit because they know that it is not an option or option for them. But in the south, because people are educated and empathic, they are gently intimidated.”