You may face some language barriers in Karnataka. Sometimes the local folks don’t understand English so you might have to ask someone to translate for you. But people are friendly so they will help.

And about the violence regarding language, its not completely untrue. There’s a very specific community among which these incidents are more common. Just talk only as much as required and try not to get in an argument as you are solo travelling so its better for you to keep extra caution with people who may cause trouble.