Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Bangalore Closes
Received word in the afternoon that a famous Kannada actor, Dr. Rajkumar, had passed away. This information, however, was prefaced and epilogued with warnings that one must be wary of Bangalore today and tomorrow.
Most of us from Northern parts of India were stunned. The man, a legend in his own right, I am sure, had passed away of natural causes. There was no reason, we thought for people to express their sorrow on the city. Their city.
Alas, we were wrong. Soon reports trickled in off riots in the city. Incidents of stone throwing were reported. Then we heard about buses being burnt. Roads were closed.
In no mood to work, considering the state of affairs in the city, my colleagues and I pushed off to the canteen to have some tea. Panicky people everywhere. All wondering what was happening. We even heard dialogues from people explaining the situation to their friends. One such gem was," Yaar, South India mein to aise hi hota hai!" (In South India, this is how it happens)
Back to our desks, and an email from our trusty HR awaits us. Buses leaving work have been indefinitely postponed. Apparently the security head at work had received word from the cops that all the crosses in the city were blocked. All traffic into the city had been stopped.
It seemed the office gates were open, so four of us (basically my colleagues at work) decided to venture out in the car. Headed out, and saw that company buses had started plying.
The journey was thankfully not very eventful. We did not see any of the violent protests that were talked about. A few ppl did, however, stop their vehicles to indulge in a public display of fighting by the road sides. And of course traffic bad, but then thats the Bangalore way, after all.
Reached home, and words of Bangalore being closed reached me. Turns out, as of now, that these words are true. Will check with higher ups tho. So that means no work tomorrow. We'l compensate for it I'm sure.
I still cant believe this is how this city functions. It touts itself as the new silicon valley, India's IT industry is practically headquartered here. Yet all these companies vacated their employees. True, they must be wary of our safety. Also true, the common public of Karnataka see us as the outsiders who stole and spoilt their city. And its not like anything good has happened here because of the IT industry. Traffic has gone up, pollution has gone up, tempartures have soared, and its become unliveable for the common public. But i digress.
An unscheduled long weekend is now upon us.. just wish this was not why it has bestowed upon us. What do we do?
Most of us from Northern parts of India were stunned. The man, a legend in his own right, I am sure, had passed away of natural causes. There was no reason, we thought for people to express their sorrow on the city. Their city.
Alas, we were wrong. Soon reports trickled in off riots in the city. Incidents of stone throwing were reported. Then we heard about buses being burnt. Roads were closed.
In no mood to work, considering the state of affairs in the city, my colleagues and I pushed off to the canteen to have some tea. Panicky people everywhere. All wondering what was happening. We even heard dialogues from people explaining the situation to their friends. One such gem was," Yaar, South India mein to aise hi hota hai!" (In South India, this is how it happens)
Back to our desks, and an email from our trusty HR awaits us. Buses leaving work have been indefinitely postponed. Apparently the security head at work had received word from the cops that all the crosses in the city were blocked. All traffic into the city had been stopped.
It seemed the office gates were open, so four of us (basically my colleagues at work) decided to venture out in the car. Headed out, and saw that company buses had started plying.
The journey was thankfully not very eventful. We did not see any of the violent protests that were talked about. A few ppl did, however, stop their vehicles to indulge in a public display of fighting by the road sides. And of course traffic bad, but then thats the Bangalore way, after all.
Reached home, and words of Bangalore being closed reached me. Turns out, as of now, that these words are true. Will check with higher ups tho. So that means no work tomorrow. We'l compensate for it I'm sure.
I still cant believe this is how this city functions. It touts itself as the new silicon valley, India's IT industry is practically headquartered here. Yet all these companies vacated their employees. True, they must be wary of our safety. Also true, the common public of Karnataka see us as the outsiders who stole and spoilt their city. And its not like anything good has happened here because of the IT industry. Traffic has gone up, pollution has gone up, tempartures have soared, and its become unliveable for the common public. But i digress.
An unscheduled long weekend is now upon us.. just wish this was not why it has bestowed upon us. What do we do?
"South India mein to aise hi hota hai!"
posted by zoxcleb @ 08:00 
Comments:
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GPS,
I totally agree with you on everything u said.I agree that whatever they did in the name of Raj was totally insane & no sensible person will support such deeds.
But this statement of yours
>the common public of Karnataka see us as the outsiders who stole and spoilt their city.
Isn't it a broad generalisation?
And who is this 'us' who is outsider here? You are in a state which is integral part of India.
I guess that 'outsider' feeling creeps when the locals feel that these 'outsiders' are not sensitive to local feelings..
Check out my blog, for my views on Raj & events there after..May be u were wondering why the heck these people are so crazy about that person.
Hav a nice day
PS:I dont want to misspell ur name again,so to be safe I'm using GPS :))
I totally agree with you on everything u said.I agree that whatever they did in the name of Raj was totally insane & no sensible person will support such deeds.
But this statement of yours
>the common public of Karnataka see us as the outsiders who stole and spoilt their city.
Isn't it a broad generalisation?
And who is this 'us' who is outsider here? You are in a state which is integral part of India.
I guess that 'outsider' feeling creeps when the locals feel that these 'outsiders' are not sensitive to local feelings..
Check out my blog, for my views on Raj & events there after..May be u were wondering why the heck these people are so crazy about that person.
Hav a nice day
PS:I dont want to misspell ur name again,so to be safe I'm using GPS :))
@Shiv
I was just giving air to some thoughts on the way i perceive the general public here. The shop-keepers, the auto drivers et al. I know that otherwise, there is no such animosity in that regard. Dont worry :-)
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I was just giving air to some thoughts on the way i perceive the general public here. The shop-keepers, the auto drivers et al. I know that otherwise, there is no such animosity in that regard. Dont worry :-)
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