How a Chennai woman dodged ex-boss's fury in Bengaluru with a clever 'no Hindi' ploy

A former employee of a Bengaluru-based company shared an anecdote from her last company, which she quit. (Representational)

Language often becomes more than just a medium of communication—it can serve as an unexpected ally in the workplace in the diverse linguistic landscape of India. A recent tweet from a former employee of a Bengaluru-based company, has sparked a conversation about how language dynamics influence corporate culture and employee experiences.

A woman shared her unique strategy to cope with a hostile work environment where the company's founder frequently yelled at employees in Hindi. Being a Tamilian from Chennai, she leveraged her limited knowledge of Hindi to her advantage.

"The founder of the previous company I worked for used to yell at everybody in Hindi. So I told them I didn’t know Hindi cause I’m from Chennai (Tamilian). So they had to switch to English to yell at me each time and I got yelled at way lesser than other folks because of this," she tweeted.

Working in Bengaluru, she understood Kannada but had a limited grasp of Hindi. This linguistic barrier inadvertently provided her with some respite from the founder's outbursts.

Despite her eventual resignation after seven months, her anecdote highlights a fascinating aspect of workplace dynamics in multilingual environments.

The founder of the previous company I worked for used to yell at everybody in Hindi. So I told them I didn’t know Hindi cause I’m from Chennai (Tamilian). So they had to switch to English to yell at me each time and I got yelled at way lesser than other folks because of this.

— Akshita (@akshita1520) May 31, 2024

Her tweet resonated with many, eliciting responses from individuals who shared similar experiences. One user recounted their time in Chennai, where they pretended not to understand Tamil.

"I did the reverse. Folks assumed I didn’t know Tamil when I was working in Chennai. I didn’t bother to correct them. Had fun listening to the inside scoop from the on-site team (they’d put it on speaker and chitchat) and full gossip for over 3-4 months before they figured out," the user shared.

Another user mentioned using language as a strategic delay tactic. "I do this every day. I patiently wait for people to completely explain the requirements. Once they finish, I tell them I don't understand their language and they'll have to repeat it in English," they revealed.

The discussion highlighted the concept of the "lesser-known language defense," a term coined by a commenter to describe the deliberate use of language barriers to mitigate workplace stress or gather insider information. "Divided by language, united by ideas," another user quipped.

In a humorous take, one user speculated, "In another world they probably also recruited someone who spoke Tamil to yell at their employees."

Her tweet has over 2 lakh views and over 4,400 likes.