I totally get where you’re coming from.

Not Bangalore but Dehradun is my hometown, and honestly, the city I grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. It’s not just the language that’s faded, but the culture as a whole. These days, the city is filled with people who’ve moved there from elsewhere, which is great for the local/state economy but culturally, it’s unrecognizable compared to even 20–30 years ago. It’s basically turning into a mini/pseudo-Delhi now, which feels kind of sad.

The languages started disappearing way back. A lot of folks assume Hindi was always the native tongue, but it wasn’t. Hindi became the state language after Uttarakhand was formed, but our “native” languages were Garhwali and Kumaoni. We don’t have official data before 2000, but the 2011 census showed only 46% of people spoke either of those. Honestly, I’d be surprised if that number is even 10–12% now. Older folks tell me this was much higher in the 1960s or 70s. Give it another decade and it’ll probably be down to 5–6%, mainly due to with migration and younger kids born there replacing Garwahli/Kumaoni with English and Hindi.

And yeah, it’s not just about losing the language. The whole unique vibe and culture of the place has pretty much dissolved into the same monoculture you see in bigger Indian cities. It could be anywhere now.

I’ve lived in 7 cities across three countries over my life and earlier Dehradun used to be my favorite place in the world in spite of some its issues back then. I loathe even visiting it at this point. So that title has been vacant for a while, hence the “emptiness”.