Delhi founder almost rejected a candidate for 'terrible' English, then came the twist

A Delhi-based founder said he nearly rejected a candidate for poor English before hiring him for his technical ability. His post sparked debate over whether fluency is unfairly treated as a marker of competence in India.Delhi founder almost rejected a candidate for ‘terrible’ English, then came the twist (Photo: Representational Image from Pexels)A Delhi-based founder shared how he nearly rejected a candidate because of his poor English, only to realise that his technical abilities made him one of the best hires he had ever made.Kanan Bahl, founder of Fingrowth Media, shared the experience on X, where he spoke about how English fluency can sometimes become an unfair measure of someone's professional ability.Kanan said he had interviewed a candidate from a Tier-2 city whose English was “terrible”, but whose performance on the sample task was exceptional. Despite being impressed by his technical skills, Kanan admitted that he hesitated because the role involved interacting with clients.He eventually decided to hire him. Kanan then said that the decision paid off. He said he had grown tired of hiring candidates who were excellent at communicating in English but struggled when it came to the technical side of their work.The candidate, whom Kanan referred to as Kumar, eventually became his “best hire”. Instead of expecting him to communicate with clients exclusively in English, Kanan said he asked him to speak confidently in Hindi.He then compared this with public speakers such as Kumar Vishwas, pointing out that the Hindi poet and speaker attracts large audiences without relying on English to establish his credibility.Kanan also pointed to countries such as Japan, China and South Korea, where professionals often communicate primarily in their native languages despite having limited English proficiency.He acknowledged that speaking good English was important in many professional settings, but argued that fluency should not be treated as a measure of someone's intelligence or capabilities.Take a look at the post here:The post sparked a discussion about how English is often treated differently in India's professional landscape, with several users arguing that fluency can become a shortcut for judging competence.One commenter said India's hiring culture had historically used English proficiency as a proxy for polish and ability, particularly for client-facing and leadership roles, potentially filtering out people who were actually capable of doing the work.Another user said Kanan Bahl's decision gave them hope, while someone else pointed out that in many countries English was simply considered a language, whereas in India it was often treated as a professional skill.The discussion ultimately raised a broader question about how much weight employers should give language proficiency when evaluating candidates, and whether strong English should really determine who gets a seat at the table.- EndsPublished By: Yashna TalwarPublished On: Aug 20, 2026 20:13 IST