Office Talk and Phone Calls in Kannada: Phrases for Work

If you work in Bengaluru, a handful of Kannada phrases for office talk and phone calls will carry you a surprisingly long way. Most of the day's small exchanges are the same few lines: who's calling, I'm in a meeting, I'll call you later, have you had lunch, let's go for coffee. Here they are in spoken Bengaluru Kannada, written in English letters, with the Kannada script alongside if you want it.

Answering the phone

The opening of a call is almost always the same. "Hello" is borrowed straight from English, and what follows is a simple "who is speaking?".

To say who you are, swap your own name in for Asha; the rest of the sentence stays the same. "Ondu nimisha" is the line you need when you have to find a pen, step out of a noisy room or check something before answering.

Busy, in a meeting, call you later

When a call comes at the wrong moment, these are the polite ways to say so.

-alli means "in" or "at"

Add -alli to a place to say where you are: office-alli, at the office; meeting-alli, in a meeting. Follow it with iddini, "I am", and you have one of the most useful phone sentences there is. Notice that English words like "office" and "meeting" slot straight in; that is completely normal in Bengaluru Kannada.

"Kelsa ide" is worth a second look. Literally it is "there is work", which is how you say you're busy. Don't confuse it with "Kelsa aaytu", which means the work is done (more on aaytu below).

When the line is bad

Basement car parks, lifts and the odd dead spot in a tech park make bad lines a daily event. Three phrases cover it.

"Kelisthilla" says the sound isn't reaching you; it isn't "I don't understand". "Swalpa joragi maathaadi" is gentle and polite: swalpa, a little, softens the request.

Lunch, coffee and finished work

Aaytu, and aayta?

Aaytu means something is done. Add -a for the question: aayta, is it done? So "kelsa aaytu" is the work is finished, and "oota aayta?" (literally "has the meal happened?") is how colleagues ask if you have eaten.

"Oota aayta?" is the standard Bengaluru office hello after noon. It is a greeting, not an invitation, so nobody expects you to stop and eat with them. The easy answer is "Aaytu, neevu?", which says yes and bounces the question back.

Let's go: the -ona ending

Put -ona on a verb to suggest doing it together: hogona, let's go; sigona, let's meet; maathaadona, let's talk. It is friendly and polite at once, and it ends half the conversations in an office.

A common mistake is to hear "hogona" as an order, "go now". It isn't: it always includes you. "Naale sigona" is the natural way to leave at the end of the day.

A quick conversation

Shruthi, who sits two desks away, rings from the basement car park, where the signal is famously terrible.

• Shruthi: Hello, yaaru maathaadthiddiri? — Hello, who's speaking?
• You: Naanu Asha maathaadthiddini — It's Asha speaking
• Shruthi: Oota aayta? — Have you had lunch?
• You: Kelisthilla — I can't hear you
• Shruthi: Network illa — There's no signal
• You: Swalpa joragi maathaadi — Please speak a bit louder
• Shruthi: Oota aayta? — Have you had lunch?
• You: Aaytu, neevu? — Yes, and you?
• Shruthi: Kelsa ide — I'm busy
• You: Sari — OK / Fine
• Shruthi: Kelsa aaytu — The work is done
• You: Coffee-ge hogona — Let's go for coffee
• Shruthi: Hogona — Let's go
• You: Sari — OK / Fine

Tips for using these at work

• Mix freely. "Meeting", "office", "call" and "network" are used as-is, so you don't need to hunt for pure Kannada words.
• Use "Ondu nimisha" generously. It buys you time politely, on the phone or at your desk.
• If you're caught mid-task, "Kelsa ide" followed by "Aamele maathaadona" is a kind way to postpone a chat.
• Treat "Oota aayta?" as a hello, not an invitation. It's a friendly check-in, and "Aaytu, neevu?" keeps it warm.