Actor Sahiba Bali offends Bengaluru with ‘English’ comment; netizens take dig at her ‘Oxford-based English’

Actor Sahiba Bali has drawn sharp criticism for her remarks on how people of Bengaluru speak English. She made this comment on the 'Untriggered' podcast with Amin Jazayeri.

This remark, however, left the city and its people irked.

“In India, everywhere you go, it is different English," the Laila Majnu actress said giving an example of how very different Bangalore English is.

“You are worried, it seems,” she said giving an example to support her comment.

Here is what she said:

The post has garnered over 8.6 million views and has become incredibly viral. This also led to a slew of reactions from the audience.

How did the netizens react?

“Really we speak way better English than you'll,” commented a Bengaluru user.

“Why do North Indians even come here?” another added.

One user also took a dig at Sahiba's English and asked if she thinks she has a British accent.

“Unlike some people who know only Hindi and a bit of English, we can speak more languages . What ya you think you have British accent ah,” the comment read.

“Gosh! Who even made these people a jury to give a verdict by watching a bunch of people in Bangalore? It's the IT capital of the country, and I don’t think Bangalore would have operated for long with on-site projects if this was everyone’s accent. This lame generalisation shows she knows nothing except being lame. PS - stop adding ‘ki’ and ‘woh’ in your Oxford-based English,” wrote another user.

“Being a Bangalorean, I can with certainty tell you that we don’t speak this way. I wonder whom they spoke to? Please don’t generalise things. It’s become cool to speak about accents of languages that need to stop,” added another.

However, some defended the actor, stating that she was not mocking the way English is spoken in the city.

“Not once have these people criticised the way English is spoken in Bangalore. On the contrary, they are expressing their love for the uniquely Bangalorean way it is spoken. Yet, most comments I read here are triggered people targeting North Indians for not knowing the language altogether. Why this sudden hatred, man? Why this sudden divide? It’s sad,” a user said.