“Tharabethi vahana”

I was glad to see a training bus, with many drivers sitting in it, going past with one learner driver at the wheel:

l bus 270910

However, I was not sure if this was a training vehicle, and having seen the words "Tharabethi Vahana" on the bus, tried to google for the meaning of the word "tharabethi"…but could not find any free Kannada-translation website.

Google does not translate from Kannada to English or vice-versa…but I am still amazed that in the home of the software industry, no one has yet designed a good Kannada-to-English translation site.

Comments:

  1. Deepa Mohan says:

    If anyone could either correctly translate “tharabethi” for me, or point me to a good Kannada translation site…I’d be grateful!

  2. Siddharth S says:

    If you see the front of the vehicle you can find the red letters saying “Chalakaru Tarabethiyallidhare) and L sign down- so it would very well mean a training vehicle!

  3. Deepa Mohan says:

    Ah, I didn’t get to see the front of the vehicle…I just snapped it as it passed me! Thank you.

  4. Arun Bhat says:

    Tharabethi is training.

    There is no translation tool, but there is a dictionary at kannadakasturi.com, which might serve some purpose. I just checked and the site wasn’t functional. I am not sure if it is temporary or gone for good. You could look back again.

  5. Sreedhar Govindarao says:

    Hi interesting to see interest in Kannada.. I was born and brought up in Tamil Nadu but mother tongue was kannada..but our kannada was interspersed with Tamil vocabulary

    Moved to Bangalore in 2002 and from then on it has been a learning experience.. but I am amazed to see simple kannada words like Vechcha (expense)or not being used… instead the hindi version of karch is used…some of the words in day to day use are also not the pure kannada ones,,,eg Saaru is always Rasam in Bangalore,,I really do not understand why? In the kannada that we spoke at home Kampu meant odour but I understand its real meaning is Fragrance…I am interested in learing kannada..I can read and write now in Kannada (the othaksharas are a real cahallenge)..can some one guide me to easy ways of learning Kannanda

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Similar Story

Chennai’s ₹697 crore electric buses: Do they serve people who need it most?

While Chennai has invested crores in cleaner buses, public documents do not show if this deployment has improved mobility in high-density wards.

When Chief Minister M K Stalin flagged off Chennai's first batch of low-floor electric buses in June 2025, the programme was presented as a major step towards cleaner and more modern public transport. The first phase alone involves acquring 625 electric buses at a reported cost of ₹697 crore. The fleet includes 400 non-air-conditioned and 225 air-conditioned buses and is being operated from five depots: Vyasarpadi, Perumbakkam, Central, Tondiarpet-I and Poonamallee. The investment is substantial. Chennai has not inducted a fleet of this size in years. The buses are low-floor, wheelchair accessible and equipped with passenger information systems, CCTV cameras…

Similar Story

Riding the Chennai Metro is a breeze, but last-mile connectivity remains a worry

Chennai needs a unified transit system to ensure seamless travel for metro commuters on either side of the journey.

Stepping off the Thirumangalam metro at 6.45 pm, the train ride seemed effortless. It was cool, fast, and on time, taking just fifteen minutes from the office. Now comes the hard part. Standing at the station exit, finding a ride home is a struggle, as I switch between three apps to book an auto. The metro feeder bus only runs every 40 minutes and has just left. By the time I reach home, the "fast" metro trip has cost an extra half-hour and ₹120 in surge-priced rides, a last-mile problem the metro itself was built to solve. This is the…