Bangalore: We started, they ending..

Last day I happen to hear two of my kannadiga colleagues talking. It went like this:

"I am very culture conscious. I can't stand other people coming here and thrashing the local culture. If they want to stay here, they should learn to respect the local culture. They think as if they are doing a favor to us by coming here. Actually they don’t realize that we are doing them a favor by letting them stay here..... "

I thought only the poor and uneducated used to think like this. I was startled to know that even the highly educated professionals also had such a mentality. So what is the truth?

Everyone knows that Bangalore is becoming the ‘Silicon Valley of India (rather already is!). There are more than 1000 software companies here, including leading MNCs and India's own giants. But why these companies are attracted by the lure of Bangalore? Well one thing I can say for sure, it is not the richness of local culture (no offense meant).

So what made Bangalore so popular? Let us see..

A brief history of Bangalore: Bangalore lies down south in Karnataka, a few kilometers and you are in Tamilnadu, the next state. Bangalore (Bengalooru) was once deep jungle, the favorite hunting grounds for the kings of Karnataka. In 1759, Bangalore came into the possession of Hyder Ali, father of Tippu Sultan. It was during these two heroes, Bangalore flourished with parks, gardens and palaces. When Tippu died, British restored Bangalore back to the Mysore rulers, the Wodeyars, but were not too sure of their entrepreneur abilities. So they ruled Bangalore directly. Under the British influence, Bangalore bloomed with modern facilities like the railways, telegraphs, postal and police departments. In 1881, the British returned the city to the Wodeyars. Diwans like Mirza Ismail, and sir Vishweshwarayya were the pioneers to help Bangalore attain its modern outlook.

For more info visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore
http://www.indiaexpress.com/bangalore/eureka/then.html

So how did Bangalore became India's supreme IT hub? IT firms in Bangalore employ about 30% of India's pool of 1 million IT professionals. But why Bangalore? In simple words, the attraction of Bangalore is
1) Climate
2) Government
3) The technical talent pool of 'India'

Out of the three prime reasons, only first two is local to Bangalore. If only Kannadigas were allowed to work and live in Bangalore, I wonder what would have been Bangalore now. So as far as the IT firms are concerned, they just found a good place to assemble and tap the immense potential of the tech brains of India.

Now: Quoting wikipedia: In August of 2005, however, the Bangalore Forum for IT (BFIT), which consists of 18 major multinational IT firms, threatened to boycott the Bangalore IT in convention. The proposed boycott was designed to send a loud signal to the city government that the infrastructure is in shambles and that it is becoming increasingly difficult for international standards to be maintained with the poor roads and traffic management problems. Increasingly new IT centers are being built away from this city based upon long commute times, poor infrastructure, high land and labor costs, increasing environmental problems, and due to labor retention issues.

Everyone who stays in Bangalore for a week would admit that the infrastructure of the city is not adequate enough to cater the increasing demands. Traffic congestions are very common. Development projects are crawling (Domlur flyover construction is more than 2 years old now!). Even the climate is getting affected by the increasing pollution and population. Bangalore days are now much hotter and nights are less cold. It is hard to walk or ride a two wheeler on a busy day. You might find yourself bathed in dust and exhaust smoke.

Well we can somehow win over the climate, nature or pollution. May be you can pull up the car windows or switch on AC at home. But what about the attitude problem of locals? Recently, increasing reports have sprung up that the locals are behaving without mutual respect and with a sense of hatred and a pitiable racist approach. I can understand the looters who don’t respect even own mother behaving so, but the educated are expected to show more professionalism and maturity. Hostility is seen where harmony is expected. Bangalore would have never been the silicon valley of India if not for the hard work, talent and efforts of the people from all over India. How could the locals get quick rich with astronomical rents and real estate prices if every one was originally from Bangalore itself? How would the hotels and restaurants flourish if every body could stay with their parents and eat homely food? Will there be so many jobs in IT for Kannadigas if the IT companies were not here? Will the other businesses and service industries grow thick if IT was not a hit? So it is India that made Bangalore a hit, not just the locals. Of course the local government and natives did a great job too, by making the right environment for the industry to flourish (then, not now!)

But even though the Banglorians are overreacting, they cannot be blamed completely too. Bangalore is not anymore a local town in Karnataka, but an ultra-metropolitan city in India, where people come and live from all places. Bangalore culture has become a mixture of all cultures in India. The increasing amount of call centers and these company's promoting foreign cultures to help their customers feel better when interacting with the call centre employees, has made Bangalore culture much forward or daring than traditional culture of India. Also recently read somewhere that Bangalore is the no: 1 city in Asia for density of youth population. There are so many youngsters here, either working or pursuing studies. This has made Bangalore a colorful city, with lot of active and energetic youngsters around, especially with great buying power. What is the impact of this on Bangaloreans?

They are afraid, alarmed and envious. Native Bangloreans have now become a minority. They are also afraid about the daring and modern youth. Now live-ins and pubs have become part of Bangalore culture. The young are wild and sassy. Common language has become English. The Kannadiga film industry has collapsed in the city. Even Kannadiga youth watch English or Hindi movies only. Nobody will give an ear for Kannadiga music. The local film songs have now become a mixture of Hindi and English. And the big salaries drawn by the software professionals (well after putting lot of effort with health and mental peace at stake… even potency) from other states have made the native envious. The tough competitions they have to face at workplace with the best brains in India are making them nervous.

So they want reservation in IT jobs now. They are afraid Kannadiga youth can’t survive the competition. Even in many companies Kannadiga lobby and favoritism is a wide spread secret. The uncivilized natives are attacking the outsiders (only!). The government officials and else where, treat non-Kannadigas with contempt. In some cases not even humanitarian consideration is shown. If you happen to have an accident, you are unlucky if the other party is a local. Even if everyone accepts it is not your fault, the police will never listen to you.

It is true that we have to be harmonious and accept as well as respect the local culture. The outsiders should not contempt or disrespect the local culture or people. We all know that some people are born foolish. Such people are there everywhere, and they will never improve. If the acts of one or two such people are misinterpreted as the behavior of a society, things will go haywire. So dear Kannadigas, accept the fact that Bangalore is what it is today because of a nation's effort and talents. Try to be hospitable and not hostile. Be tolerant to other cultures. After all, in these times, the whole world is becoming a global village! You will have to soon face lot of non-Indians in Bangalore too. Aren’t other countries protecting and nurturing Indians everywhere.

And a word to the non-Kannadigas, beware!