A Kannada-speaking man recently sparked controversy by criticizing the online delivery platform Blinkit for sending him a notification in Hindi. The incident gained attention after the man shared screenshots of his interaction with Blinkit’s customer care on X, labeling Hindi as an “alien language.”
Blinkit sent a harmful notification and wished me “Gaya,” which means “wound” in Kannada. I told them, if I received one more threatening notification, I would lodge a police complaint. After that they stopped sending nonsense in alien languages. That’s how we need to deal! pic.twitter.com/yPtvFdfhIV
— ಕಣಾದ (@Metikurke) July 15, 2024
The uproar began when the man received an app notification in Hindi, which read, “Dekho ye order 12 minutes mein deliver ho bhi gaya” (See, this order was delivered in just 12 minutes). Offended by the use of Hindi, he contacted Blinkit’s support team, threatening to file a police complaint for receiving notifications in what he termed an “alien language.”
The man’s post, which stated that Blinkit had wished him “Gaya,” interpreting it as “wound” in Kannada, quickly went viral. Following his complaint, he observed that Blinkit switched to sending notifications in English, which he highlighted in his subsequent posts.
However, his strong stance against Hindi drew significant backlash. Netizens trolled him for his exaggerated reaction, suggesting that he could have simply requested a language change or adjusted the settings himself. Comments mocked him for writing the post in English while promoting Kannada, prompting him to eventually post in Kannada as well.
The incident led to a flurry of memes and criticism directed at the man for his extreme response to a language issue.