Getting Around in Kannada: Auto-Rickshaw Phrases for Bengaluru

Getting around in Kannada mostly means one thing in Bengaluru: taking an auto-rickshaw. A few spoken phrases will get you a driver, a fair fare and a drop-off at exactly the right gate. Below is everything you need for a full ride, written in English letters with the Kannada script alongside.

Spoken Kannada, not textbook Kannada

Before the phrases, one useful warning. Written Kannada and spoken Kannada are noticeably different, and what you hear at an auto stand is the spoken kind. Spoken forms are shorter.

You will see "Hoguttene" and "Aaguttade" in writing. They are correct in a newspaper, but nobody at an auto stand says them. If a phrase you find online sounds stiff, it is probably the written form.

Hailing an auto and naming your destination

Hailing really is that simple: wave and call out Auto!. The driver may ask Yelli hogbeku?, or you can get in first with your destination.

Majestic-ge barthira? is the most useful sentence in this article. Majestic is the city bus stand everyone knows, but you can swap in any place name. The -ge on the end means "to", so Majestic-ge is "to Majestic".

Baralla is what a driver says when your stop is out of his way. Don't take it personally; try the next one.

The meter and the fare

If the driver quotes a flat price, Meter haaki is the polite way to ask for the meter instead. If the meter isn't going on, ask Eshtu aagatte? before you get in, not after. You will often hear Nooru rupaayi quoted; if it seems high, Jaasti aaytu says so.

Polite requests end in -i

The bare verb is a blunt command. Haaku (ಹಾಕು) means "put it", which is fine for a child but rude to a driver. Change the ending to -i and it becomes a polite request: haaki, please put. This is the form to use with every driver, and you will see the same -i in nilsi, hogi and tirugisi below.

Left, right, straight, stop

-ge and -kke both mean "to"

You met -ge in Majestic-ge. Words that end in -a usually take -kke instead, so bala (right) becomes balakke, "to the right", and eda becomes edakke. Same job, different sound.

For "go straight" you will also hear plain "straight hogi". English mixes in freely, and nobody will mind if you do the same.

Swalpa munde edakke tirugisi shows how the pieces stack: a little ahead, to the left, turn please. The verb, as always in Kannada, comes last.

What the driver will ask you

Listen for the long -aa at the end of Balakka, edakka?. That long vowel turns a word into a question. Answer with a turn, such as Edakke tirugisi. When he asks Yelli nilsli?, reply with Swalpa munde if it is still ahead, or Illi nilsi if you have arrived.

Distance

Bega hogi is polite, but use it sparingly. In Bengaluru traffic, he knows.

Paying: change and UPI

The end-of-ride standoff over change is a Bengaluru classic. Skip it entirely with UPI maadthini. Then finish with Dhanyavada (thank you).

A quick conversation

Three autos have already said Baralla. The fourth driver looks at you with mild interest.

Common mistakes

• Using the blunt form. "Haaku" to a driver sounds rude. Always use the polite -i ending: Meter haaki, Illi nilsi.
• Thanking a high quote. Saying Dhanyavada to "Nooru rupaayi" accepts it. Ask for the meter, or say Jaasti aaytu.
• Saying "straight" when you mean stop. If he asks Illi? and it is your stop, say Illi nilsi. Neravagi hogi will take you right past it.
• Learning the written forms. "Hoguttene" and "Aaguttade" are textbook Kannada. Say Hogthini and Eshtu aagatte?.

Learn the destination question, the meter request and Illi nilsi first. With those three, getting around in Kannada is already within reach, and the rest will follow ride by ride.