Hyderabad: It’s a Babel-like situation, according to some out-of-state house-hunters who cannot speak Telugu.
“In some areas, if you do not know Telugu it is hard to find a place to rent,” says Shiva Nesaraj a student from Tamil Nadu. He lives in Ameerpet, which over the years emerged as a hub for preparing for competitive exams.
“When I came, it was difficult to deal with house owners as I could neither speak in Telugu nor Hindi. Attempts in English were also not of use as they could not understand,” he says.
Nesaraj relies on a friend who speaks both Telugu and Hindi. “I take him along whenever I have to talk to the owners. I also take his help if I go somewhere that would require the local language,” he says.
This is a challenge that non-Telugu speaking students who come to the city and search for a place in and around Ameerpet face. Even minor conversations with home-owners about electricity bills, water bills or even where to hang clothes for drying, become hurdles for them to cross repeatedly.
Vel Murugan, who is from Tamil Nadu and came six months ago, randomly picked the Dilsukhnagar-Nagole stretch for house-hunting.
“I found a first floor that I took on rent, but every now and then the landlord would tell me something in Telugu, a language I do not know. This situation went on for some time and resulted in confusion between us. One day, I was asked to vacate with the owners saying they do not want to rent to someone who cannot speak in Telugu,” he says.
Anjaneyulu Maroju, who owns a house in the same area where Murugan lived, says: “Generally, no one has an issue with tenants so long as the rent is paid on time. There was a time when we asked a tenant to move out because of the language barrier.”
