I know you’re probably really tired of traffic woes, but can I really help it?
Bangalore’s roads now resemble the moon’s surface – craters and all. Especially with the recent rain episode, whatever little we had in terms of roads has now become a figment of our imaginations. We will soon need moon buggies to get from one place to another. And we might even have to start from home the prior day to get to office on time, is what I am thinking.
My dad who was in town (and who I have earlier extolled Bangalore’s virtues to very profusely, I might add) pointed out to me the lack of pavements.
(Have you noticed that in many parts the pavements are so bad that you are forced to walk on the road, and that is really not a choice at all, because, you’d get the Nobel Prize for new discoveries if you actually find anything that resembles a road).
Getting back to my dad, he was talking about pavements and I said, “How can there be a pavement when there is hardly a road?!â€
So here we are, threatening to become a world superpower, but we haven’t figured out how to make a road that can survive the rains.
Amazing. I would think that all the engineering brains in India (and the world) hasn’t been able to work out that equation. So anyway, here we are going over about 50 million pot holed roads. It is of course, a wonderful state to arrive in office. Shaken and stirred. They should soon have doctors at all destinations making sure all our bones are intact, when (and if) we ever arrive.
Case to point. There are 2 approaches to my house. One of these has been under construction for the last one year, I kid you not! One year. How it can take one year to dig up a road, put cables under it and patch it up again is beyond every stretch of my imagination.
The other approach was also dug up and hastily reopened. At one point of time, I thought we’d have to actually get swings or large catapults to get across the large drain if they had closed both the roads at the same time.
Once they were done with the extensive digging and whatever it is they do when they have nothing to do, they decided to be kind to us and put in some form of a road. In the process, they put some rough stones (with really sharp edges too) and patched it up with mud.
So what do we have now? A joke for a road and craters the size of the Sahara desert and many sharp edges to navigate through each time we drive through. It’s surprising they haven’t opened a puncture shop there yet.
Hey, I know that we need some excitement in our life, but getting jolted and shaken up everytime I cross that path, is something I had not bargained for. After all, I get enough excitement during the one hour journey to work on Hosur Road, one of Bangalore’s most notorious stretches now in terms of traffic now I would say.
If you’ve been on this stretch recently, I think you’d tend to agree that excitement is something you will not lack. Cars, four wheelers, huge (and I mean huge) trucks, cement mixers, two wheelers, tempos, autos, call centre vans (and I think you’d know why they deserve their own category) and the nightmare of all drivers : cyclists and cows. If there’s something you can’t find on this stretch, please inform us immediately.
Last week I read an encouraging news report of a group touring Bangalore to find out which roads have been affected. Isn’t that amazing news? So by next month, they should have a committee ready to discuss these roads. By early next year, they will have their plan in place. By April/May, they will set up a committee to discuss and review it again. Then they will reconvene in about 2-3 months time. By this time, there would be additional bad roads to be considered, so the process will have to be repeated.
Anyway, by this calculation I would estimate that at least by 2050 they will have decided whether they are going to be kind enough to us citizens and give us roads.
After all we only pay 30+ plus percent of what we earn to the government to give us a semblance of a road.
I’m not sure all our money is going (and I have a suspicion that I won’t like where it’s going either) but it obviously doesn’t seem to be enough to give us decent roads.
On the subject of potholes, you have to check out this link:
Bangalore Potholes
I can understand your frustration. I lived on airport road and we faced the same problem with roads. The contractor who was meant to construct the road had a court case against him so the job was stopped. In the process of laying a better road they dug up the old one and left us with dug up road. It was a mess during rainy season. Yes Indian is trying to become a superpower but it sure will take time to do so (I hope not too long). I would love to go back to India as a first world country some day 🙂
I wont be surprised if the ‘Ex PM’ (read Mannina Maga) reads this post and goes to the press and say…”Let Anita go to moon and live there. We dont have any problems.”
Hey,
Welcome back! Yeah, pathetic state of infrastructure. Nonetheless, after a wonderful tour, I’m hoping home-coming’s still sweet.
Happy bouncing to work and back.
Dont understand why you cry all the time ? In any case none of your companies pay Income tax. you got land at sub market prices. Why is it that you cant be happy with what you have ? Is it an endaemic need to eat all resources and build your western dreams in India at the expense of poor who die a bad death ? Is it a cocky arrogance of the newly rich ? Maybe some of you should travel to bellary/bidar and look how the situation has been. Why should the IT roads or bangalore roads be given priority ? Why not roads outside of bangalore ? I think its time we get the IT guys onto the ground and tell them that this is no shangai and certainly no LA. This is namma karnataka and we like it this way.
We need more deve gowdas and Vattal nagarajs. We need to reclaim bangalore for the kannadiagas.
It really doesent matter what a few self centered IT workers who are mainly out of state think about bangalore. They can live in peace or leave in peace.
Why dont they go to Bihar and UP and build their IT parks ? Why do north Indians come here and think that they own this place ? Why do they spread their stink everywhere ? These uncivilised biharis have screwed up their states and are spreading like locusts into other states. We cal them parasites. They are a disease.
Its time we did something about it and show who is the boss here. Its time we made IT contribute to the taxation of government before they ask anything in return. Its time we de-prioritised IT and drive their costs up so that they can stop stealing jobs both in the US and in India.
Its time the government stops subsidising the cost of business for IT companies.
http://bangalorepothole.com/
Ok, here you go!
Give ’em a break! The city just saw one of the heaviest rain in decades and here we have phoren returned madam suddenly finding roads are full of potholes. What next..comparing the cement of Vidhanasoudha with some French monument just to show you have been there done that?
Very frustrating (more than the roads ;-)) to read the responses to this post.
I think there are as many Kanadiga’s(and Tamils) in North(Mumbai, I rem chembur as Tamil heartland) and I never saw any comments towards them anywhere like I m seeing Kanadiga’s shouting about so called ‘outsiders’.
I come from a place where all festivals were celebrated with harmony and in peace and my best friends have been from chennai, coimbatore and Hospet and what not. I never had problems with anyone of them bcos I was from ‘North’.
I think in pursuit of regional aspirations and the petty politicians who never rise above the vote bank politics we have forgotten India and its solidarity.
Wanted to write more but Hosur Road awaits me..have to rush home 😉
Long live Karnataka, Long live other states, Long live India. Dont forget we have India captain from Karnataka and we are really proud.
yeah this subject has been beaten to death, if I may say so. Honestly the city’s taken on far too much than it can handle. The so called ‘poor infrastructure’ wasn’t designed to take this load. Sure, the roads are taking ages, the flyover’s dont seem to be happening, but heck, red tapism is prevalent all over in India?!
I guess we should look for means of doing something about it than just cribbing about it.
No offence, but it makes my blood boil to see every second person crib away endlessly about my city. C’mon its a city that’s begun to mean second home, if not home to so many! And more often than not, its them I see cribbing about it. How about focussing on the positives for a bit?!
Again, no offence , but I do hope you understand how I feel 🙂
Please visit my blog for a discussion on diversity and regionalism in Indian IT and some other issues in IT industry from the point of view of an IT worker.
I am expecting views from more people from what the current situation is and whether it needs improvement.
Forgot to thank you Anita for using your comment board.
THANKS.
One day, we might even have roads in the city!
One day, we might even have kannadigas believe that Bangalore is cosmopolitan.
One day, we might call ourselves Indians first rather than Kannadiga or Tamilian or ……. I am a Tamilian 🙂
One day, we might have the right uri to mannina maga!
One day, we might actually realize what the IT industry has done to Bangalore
Yes, appalling and everytime you think it cannot get worse, it surprises you. I get extremely depressed if I step out of the house – I guess this city was only meant for you to stay inside and enjoy the weather and do nothing. Remember it used to be called the “pensioner’s paradise”. May be it has not been able to cope with such a transformation in its personality into a vibrant, active city full of youth wanting to move about.
With all these death traps everywhere I worry about anyone who has taken a vehicle out and not returned within “reasonable” hours accounting for the traffic snarls and all.
As for suggestions about citizens doing something concrete, we residents of Bannerghatta road went on a rasta roko a year back and what we got was some hasty patchwork which did not survive the first drizzle.
As for those taking a self righteous stand and the Deve gowdas, they will be eating their words when IT industry shifts to Chennai and Gurgaon which are welcoming them with open arms.
The problem is obvious, there are plans and there is a budget- but what is coming out of all this? Well of course you are only allowed to pay your taxes and not question or you will be called an”outsider” or accused of being too critical.
The problem is bangalore has become a daemon of its own kind totally cut off from the issues of karnataka. When 100s of farmers were comitting suicide (@10 a day) you IT guys were busy entertaining Singapore PM, Russia President inside infosys… They made fools of all the people and no one dare say the emperor is naked.
Its a legend among many service providers the quickness and efficiency with which govt. money was spent for IT. Only that more farmers died because of neglect. Thanks to Krishna. I think people have to have respect for deve gowda and other politicians who atleast have credibility to talk. Atleast they dont sit in their cosy AC office and blog their mouths out.
I think IT has been the bane of India and this government spoon feeding is creating a frankenstein that many of us cant handle. Many people are in the edge and IT is doing nothing for them but pushing them off that edge.
Part of that issue is bangalore aspiring for global status without caring how its own sons (kannadigas) feel about it. North Indians coming to town and thinking they own this place and spitting on the same plate they eat from is extremely obnoxious.
These issues are entirely related and hey if tamilians were kicked out by shiv sena in mumbai whats wrong in kicking out north indians out of bangalore ? Go back to bihar.
It is a shame you have such views Mannina maga has such views.
How come your uri link does not rech anywhere? Is it just me?
“the quickness and efficiency with which govt. money was spent for IT”
Is the goverment made up of so called outsiders?
“Many people are in the edge and IT is doing nothing for them but pushing them off that edge.”
What do you expect? Whole of bangalore would be saved by the IT industry?
“North Indians coming to town and thinking they own this place”
Looks like you only want Kannidigas living in Karnataka!!!! may be then Kannidigas will watch the government sunsidised Kannada movies!
just to annoy you even more I would suggest Karnataka like before should be under Madras!
“spitting on the same plate they eat from.”
You are right but it is the so called outsiders that put food on the plate. Bangalore is only the plate.
any idea about total number of 4 wheelers in Bangalore
Seema
“We like it this way” – it’s interesting to see that some one is willing to accept status quo and is averse to any progression. Better roads will help Kannadigaas and non kannadigaas.
Farmers dying is because of govt negligence and not managing the finances properly. IT earnings could easily be diverted to rural development, since the earnings are much higher.
It is IT that has provided job opportunities like cab services, catering and several other spin off businesses.
This approach of my land, my home is narrow minded and is dangerous. If across the globe this kind of narrow minded approach is actioned upon , people from Karnataka soil too will get impacted. Maybe it is a good idea to check how many kannadigas are in the state of Bihar or Uttar Pradesh or US or Tamilnadu (bangalore iyengar bakery is very famous in Chennai and the udipi restaurants have been there for many many years)
Here are some of my responses.
If you are rich, IT is good.. If you are poor IT is bad.
you cant afford rent, you cant afford the ridiculous prices IT people pay for vegetables.
You cant afford travelling as almost everyone has a car.
You cant afford school as the IT kids pay higher and higher donation.
You cant afford healthcare as IT people pay higher and higer amounts to doctors making the doctors unaffordable to everyone else Unless ofcourse you happen to be a sick paki kid with a hole in the heart.
IT is good for the individual economy of the person and very very bad for the local economy.
Some facts about IT.
Infosys has more than 1000 acres of agri land, stolen from people using the govt. as a broker. A couple of years ago when farmers protested against it in a press conference, they were forcibly thrown out.
They have not even paid fully the current facility they are squatting on in E City.
They have not paid one paise as Income tax to central govt.
They have not yet cleared the arears for commercial taxes to the state. The outstanding amt is upwards of 500 cr.
The total people employed by IT in india is 2.5 million. The total number directly employed in garments are atleast 50 million. More people get jobs directly from garments than in IT.
IT jobs are a myth as the same set of people jump companies and very little new employment for the poor is created.
For the job potential in IT its not worth putting so much money…. ROCE (Return on capital employed) in terms of jobs created is very poor. poor than even mining or agriculture.
IT just manages to create more and more humungously rich individuals masquerading as holier then thou saints like NRN and ilk.
It also brings in labour from other cities into bangalore indiscriminately than employ more Kannadigas and dalits, backward and disadvantaged classes. We should force reservation in private sector or run these companies out of business.
Before others shoot their mouth off, they should verify all facts and quote with figures. I dont have the habit of crediting people with no figures with anything more than just ignorant fools.
I think like my tamil brothers did in the 60s we need to enforce kannada rule in bangalore before blood sucking leaches like NRN float around the idea of making bangalore a union territory. What happend in TN should happen in every region driving the hindi speaking people out.
The tamil brothers enforced tamil in TN which is why it is ahead in social developement and has a balanced outlook towards industry. Whereas what has karnataka got apart from IT ?
We should tax heavily the private sector and subsidise agriculture and create jobs in villages. We should drastically and quickly depopulate bangalore.
The kannadiga anger is near the brim and one day when it would explode all of you would know.
mannina maga
To Mannina Maga: It’s pathetic to know that such narrow minded and racist people like you exist in a city like Bangalore. Mind you Bangalore is for all Indians! And so is Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune or Hyderbad. If you can’t live in a cosmopolitan, multi cultural and united India why don’t you think of forming a community of narrow minded people like yourself on some another planet.. The reason being I am sure you will not be welcome in any other country on this earth!
To Mannina Maga: The most shameful ideology i have stumbled upon is yours.Is your age a thousand years by any chance, for the last time i checked we are living in 2005, where thought process like your is a bit uncommon in educated fraternity.Oh! I realise, you are possibly part of those uneducated literates who cannot understand of what it means to be a global citizen.
oh people, don’t bother with such small minds…
We have already seen how effective the humble farmer “Devegowda” (dont care if i got his name wrong) is at retaining people who are atleast willing change city for the better.
IT complexes need land to be built and if this simple face has escaped some of the posters on here, then I think they need to see some medic. Would you rather have an Info city constructed by demolishing your house instead?
No one is against farmers, but their betterment is not our onus, it’s the duty of the officials whom they ELECT to uplift them, not ours.
As for the regionalist comments some of the guys made on here, I am sure some of them must be sitting in Aamchi Mumbai with a view of the marine drive and keying those letters on a LapTop.
Think before you open your mouth.
hey people,
this is it. I wish we had such deliberations and debate when we face the elections. There is nothing wrong in saying that the infrastructure is bad or IT taking priority over agriculture. Each of these sentiments have facts albiet big or small. The essence is to bridge the gap. The crux is to introspect and say “what have i done to make things better around me”. With our personal consumption reaching astronomical heights and our world shrinking (touching mach), its time we rise above regional fraternity and sectoral bigotism.
Itz time we vote by our feet….walk it.
The problem with Bangalore is during previous regime of Krishna, there was too much of emphasis on IT, Bangalore
(Especially south-east B’lore which had IT inds.)
Krishna neglected manufacturing,Agri,rural sector totally. As a Govt. his regime’s job was to concentrate on uniform devlpmt of entire state, infact giving priority to backward regions. But what happened? Even in B’lore he ignored Peenya indl. area which he was supposed to encourage more than IT, as it had thousands of small, medium manufacturing industries which provided jobs to all sections of the society . Even a 7 th pass would get a job, whereas in IT only the white – collared B.E. / M.TECH would get job. This is definitely undesirable. If he had not encouraged IT so much, heavens would not have fallen. But, due to neglect Peenya , which once used to be hub of indl activity now has become a sick region with lack of basic infrastructure. Many inds have shut the shop.
Again, by these IT inds we Kannadigas are not at all benefited. Rather we are suffering from ill effects of massive urbanisation o f Bangalore. Ordinary kannadigas’ life has become miserable. Cost of living is sky-rocketing. Kannadigas soft attitude made many outsiders take advantage and dump people from their states indescriminately in IT & NON-IT inds. Tamils, telugus,mallus & other non-kannadigas who were already there in key positions, just brought in more people in thousands. Merit has nothing to do as we know some of them can’t even speak basic English. They are coming here with fake experience, fake docs & with their friends in recruiting teams. These guys again bring in more people. Therefore, b’cause of so many outsiders thronging B’lore with localites difficulty increasing Krishna who was rated highly by national media was kicked out. The result is now no politician wants to even whisper abt Blore or IT and has resulted in bad infrastructure.
I hear lot abt Chennai,Hydbad,Pune – abt overtaking Blore. But why the hell these Tamilians & others throng Blore in hoardes. We will be the happiest people on earth if these cities overtake Blore, thereby moving a good population to these places. But infrstr or no infrstr, B’lore is attracting companies & people like never before.
Devegowda gets support on this count.
The entire state is disillusioned with this IT.
IT inds are talking abt merit for recruting Kannadigas . This we all know is ridiculous, as Karnataka is the capital of IT AND BT.
BIOCON says they get better talents in Pune & Madurai than in Karnataka. Well, then you please shift yr facilities to pune /Madurai. It’ll be easier for u to appoint.
Why govts. invite inds to setup shops? For fun? The main objective is employment genrn for the localites. If this is not happening why we need these inds? Let them move to places where they get good candidates.
And to speak abt status of kannadga language less said the better.
These outsiders who throng city behave as if they are in their home state.(In first place, why are they here in such large nos.?) With scant respect for Kannada & Culture.
Regarding cosmopolitan culture, have u seen Chennai, which boasts of major inds. There its only Tamil & Tamil,nothing else. Ditto Hyderabad, Cochin,Delhi,Kolkata,Pune.
So, please try to understand why no politician wants to touch Blore’s infrastr.
Now it is govt’s job to ensure proper representation of localites in IT – NON IT inds.
AVINASH K V
I have been living in Bangalore all my years, Now I am in Chennai(what a hell to live), the most stupidest place I have selected for my career, poeple hardly speak english, even if you get a call from ABN AMRO representatives, or from any other bank reps, they would not speak english. Roads!!, DAMN roads in chennai, except for some good areas, other industrial areas never had roads and will never have roads. The moment you think you are in a road, the next you are in a gutter, the whole city smells horrible, i cant even explain what kind of smell it is, from where its coming. Its everywhere in chennai. When it rains, the whole city would be under water. Believe me guys, you people are lucky to be working in Bangalore. The most beautyfull city. I spend all my weekends in bangalore and get back to work in chennai. I know the difference between these two cities.
I really do not understand why do people keep cribbing about bangalore all the time over the internet. bangalore has potholes, chennai has gutters, thousands of them, that too on the road. recent rains have shown what is chennai.
Just compare your own cities with bangalore, None of your own cities would provide you atleast 10% of what bangalore provides you.
” naanu kannadiganalla, aadre Kannadadavau, kannadadha Abhimani ” – I am not kannadiga, But I definetly belong to kannada, and I love kannada. I have been speaking kannada
I agree with Avinash, Can you believe that official meetings in IT industry of chennai happens in Tamil. They just ignore outsiders. they dont care whether you understood or not. I have seen people from north india wont even stay in chennai for more than 5 months. and You all talk rubbish about bangalore.
And whats more… people who dont belong bangalore, comment on bangalore. Tamilians- who are just slaves brought in to bangalore by british, who dont even care to keep their own city clean, talk about bangalore potholes. What the hell is happening. look at yourselves and your homes, your hometowns before talking about bangalore. Are you clean!!! Mr stewells. Look at your tamilnadu before commenting on bangalore. or simply look at your “Tamil accupied Bangalore” areas, pity that they are so dirty, seeing all these things, What I think is that you want an environment just like chennai, and you do have them in bangalore, then why you are cribbing. Go and live in srirampuram or prakashnagar.
Mr Stewells, whatever your name is, maybe you are looking at bangalore as a state, Its the karnataka which is a state, no outsiders are feeding bangalore. Karnataka is rich, Very RICH, we dont need you, You are a tamilian, You are just a slave brought into bangalore for labour jobs. BE a SLAVE. That what you and your forefathers have been doing right from the British. Dont act as if you are ruling Karnataka. And moreover you cant rule karnataka. What if Bangalore has less kannadigas, I promise that you cant even land in Mandya.
Like Avinash said, and after reading all your comments, I really dont want Bangalore to be IT Captol, let it be Chennai, Hyderabad, or Pune. Iam happy if bangalore looses IT industries. Atleast poeple will stop commenting on My Beautyfull Bangalore.
Hope that government will continue to ignore IT and infrastructure development. Good job Deve Gowda!!!!! Keep it going. You are the real Mannina Maga!!!!!
I really dont want DELL, IBM, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, yahoo, and thousands of other companies to be in Bangalore, MOVE OUT, as people say, it has bad infrastructure, its not a place for you big companies. Come to chennai and live long in gutters. I promise that you will forget English. I will promise that you will forget the sweet smell of green leaves and grass in gardens. WELCOME to CHENNAI, the “ARMPIT of INDIA”.
All this “mannina maga” business is just empty talk. Kannadigas are a lazy bunch and willing to hang on to anybody’s coattails or “panchey-tails” as long as they don’t have to do the work. The Kannada slogan should now be changed to “Sirigannadam Gallige” not “Gelge”. Most of theses idiots (includes the HD family, Rajkumar fans, etc.) can’t even speak or write decent Kannada. What in the world are they talking about Kannada Nadu? I’m a Kannadiga myself and it’s pathetic that in this day and age, some relics of the past (AKA Rajkumar or Annavru fans) are showing pathetic signs of intolerance and frustration.
Some people who know nothing abt Kannada, Karnataka call themselves kannadigas. It is not just Rajkumar, or other regular kannada activists, this time all sections are coming together to resist this outsiders(read beggars) menace.
The message is clear.
Whatever the infrstr of Blore, whether these outsiders are happy with it or not makes no difference for Kannadigas. For us the priority now is 75% JOBS FOR KANNADIGAS IN IT , NON IT Inds & status of Kannada.Later on we can think abt infrstr.
In Karnataka, Kannada is the king. People who move to Bangalore for making a living should participate in fostering our cultural and linguistic structure. Afterall, our states in India are based on languages we speak. The language survive based on the useage.
North Indians should realize this fact and begin learning and respecting Kannada rather than begging or arguing with an arrogant statement like “hindi hamara rastrabhasha hain”. We also love Hindi, but the point is not that.
Hindi belt must learn to give up linguistic chauvinism
By M V Kamath
We might fret and fume at what the British had done for India and we might quote everyone from Dadabhai Naoroji to Jawaharlal Nehru to show how what they did to impoverish our country, but for one thing we might as well be grateful to our erstwhile rulers: they taught us English and probably that has done more to unify the country than many are willing to admit, let alone admire. At this point in time more Indians speak English than the citizens of the British Isles.
Article 345 of our Constitution says that “until the Legislature of the state otherwise provides by law, the English language shall continue to be used for those official purposes within the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of this Constitution”. And Article 348 says that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court the authoritative tests shall be in the English language. Hindi, of course, is India’s official language.
Article 351 says that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India. What steps the Union has taken in this regard is a matter of opinions, but probably Bollywood has done more to spread Hindi or, perhaps, Hindustani throughout the country than any government agency. Which is just as well.
There is no question but that Hindi is a beautiful language, but then so are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam among the so-called `Dravidian’ languages and Marathi, Gujarati or Bengali among the so-called “Atyan” languages derived largely from Sanskrit. Large numbers of South Indians those especially living the down side of the Vindhya Mountains are conversant with Hindi, in part because the language is taught in many schools but in part also because South Indians want to be part of the larger Indian economy and realise only too well that without an adequate knowledge of Hindi they cannot make it elsewhere in India.
It is not patriotism alone that makes them learn Hindi; it is sound economic sense. But the reverse is just not true. Hardly any North Indian bothers to learn any of the South Indian languages. Hardly any school makes the study of a South Indian language compulsory. Patriotism, it would seem, is a one-way street. Heads I win, tails you lose. This is not only not fair, but it is unjust.
The South Indian, if only as a matter of survival, will learn Hindi, but the Hindi belt does not in any way feel obligated to learn a South Indian language any of the five. It was at one time presumed that students will be taught three languages: One’s mother-tongue, English and Hindi and it was presumed that where one’s mother tongue was Hindi, the student would be taught one of the Dravidian languages. This has never happened.
The third language taught has invariably been Sanskrit. Insistence on learning Hindi has led to disturbances in past years especially in Tamil Nadu. That has been taken as an `imposition’ which has been silently endured.
But isn’t it time for the northern states to change their approach to the study of languages? They have five languages to choose from and it will be a unique contribution to the genuine enhancement of integration if the millions of school children doing their high school graduation in North India are familiarised with a South Indian language. And may it be remembered that South Indian states are rapidly making their mark in the field of industrialisation and technology.
It is not Allahabad or Lucknow or for that matter even Kolkata that is making ways in Information Technology. The two cities that are increasingly getting into the news are Bangalore and Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu says: “if I get re-elected, I will turn my state into another Singapore” and for all one knows, he will do so and what is more, he’ll beat Singapore, considering that there is more technical talent available in Andhra Pradesh than in little Singapore. Singapore’s prosperity has its limits because of its size. For Andhra Pradesh as for Karnataka it is the sky that is the limit. And the more firms in the United States, Britain and elsewhere decide to outsource their accounting and allied work, the more Bangalore will burst in prosperity, leaving the citizens of the Hindi belt to bite their nails. This is not to say that north Indian citizens will not catch up.
Intelligence is not the monopoly of South Indians but the fact is that they have made a good start and are at an advantage. The Hindi belt is still wallowing in casteism and has such mindless leaders as Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mayavati. What kind of progress can we expect under the leadership of such casteist nonentities? They are a standing menace to the future of the country. National unity comes through frequent inter-mixing of people, differing to language, ethnicity and religion. Today practically the only thing that binds India is Hinduism. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari there is not one who does not know Siva, Vishnu and Brahma, Laxmi or Saraswati, Hanuman or Ganesh. But that is not enough. There is need for linguistic assimilation.
An average Maharashtrian with a high school leaving certificate would know Marathi, some English and surely some Hindi. In many ways Andhra Pradesh has been lucky. During the reign of the Nizams, study of Urdu had been compulsory in schools with the result that most educated Andhra-ites of an earlier generation were familiar with English, Telugu and Urdu. A typical example is P. V. Narasimha Rao who is credited with being a multi-linguist. But can one name one North Indian leader familiar with a South Indian language?
The first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was blissfully ignorant of a South Indian language. And not one of India’s north Indian Prime Ministers had a better record. Neither Indira Gandhi nor Rajiv Gandhi, neither Lal Bahadur Shastri nor I. K. Gujaral, neither Chandrashekhar nor Charan Singh knew a word of any South Indian language. What does that convey? Atal Behari Vajpayee is a great orator in Hindi; he is a poet, besides. But if only he could speak a smattering of Tamil or Telugu, Malayalam or Kannada, how much would that not be appreciated? Poor Deve Gowda didn’t know a word of Hindi but at least he had the good sense to say that he was going to learn Hindi and before long would dare to address an audience assembly at the Red Fort in Hindi. He may not have got the opportunity, but there is a different story. But one frequently hears the question being asked in the Hindi belt: how many languages can a child possibly learn? Truth to say a child can learn many languages.
A Dutch student will get to learn not only his own language but German, French and English as well. There are people in the Kanara district of Karnataka who speak Konkani, Tulu, Kannada and English with equal felicity. There are students in cosmopolitan Mumbai who can speak Malayalam (or Tamil or Kannada) at home but outside their homes speak just as fluently in Marathi, Hindi and English. What is needed is the will. In the Hindi belt that will is totally lacking. In part, one suspects, the season why is that the Hindiwallah seldom seeks a job outside his territory. Therefore he sees no need to learn a south Indian language. He is culturally isolated. It is easier to find a Tamilian or a Kannadiga in Varanasi or Patna than a Bihari or an Uttar Pradeshi in Mysore or Tinnevelli. The South Indian is enterprising, generally speaking. The Hindiwallah is more often not. And there’s the rub.
There are of course, always exceptions to the rule. Marwadis, for instance, are to be seen practically anywhere in the country where business opportunities present themselves for exploitation. There are large and influential numbers of them in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai or Bangalore and they quickly make themselves at home wherever they settle down. But, as has been said, one swallow does not make the summer. And, at any rate, it does not question the importance of an insistence of teaching a south Indian language at the high school level in north Indian schools.
Gandhi was frequently aware of the need to know more than just Hindi. At least he is known to have taken the trouble to learn the Tamil and Kannada scripts and sign his name in them. India is multi-lingual and it is humanly impossible for Indians to speak in more than two or three languages though some one like George Fernandes or P. V. Narasimha Rao are exceptions. George, for instance can speak in Konkani, Kannada, Tulu, Hindi, Marathi and English and possibly in Tamil and Gujarati as well.
It is important to know Hindi. That is readily conceded, just as it is even more important to know English which is rapidly becoming an international language and the language of commerce. If so much work is being outsourced to India by American firms, it is because Indians know English and are better placed, for instance, than the Chinese or the Japanese. Indians, it may even be said, have a natural talent to learn languages. And the more India’s literati are literate in interregional languages the greater the prospects of national integration.
South India is making giant strides. As a matter of fact in many ways it outperforms the so-called South East Asian tigers and can take on any country. Somewhere down the line the Hindi belt must learn to give up its linguistic chauvinism, for its own good as for the good of the entire country.
I do agree that one cannot learn all the south indian laguages, but what I feel is when people come here, they
should atleast try to learn the language.It is not just north indians but many Tamilians who are living here for decades cannot speak a decent Kannada.
The problem in Bangalore is unique.Here the attitude of outsiders is “chalta hai”. Here it is not just the question of Language. The employment issue. Kannadigas are employed in negligible numbers in all the sectors.
I don’t find any city in north or south so large hearted to accommodate outsiders in such large nos in lucrative employment. Are they? I doubt.
Finally, what I feel is Kannada and culture should get the prominence. I do agree Blore is an International brand today and nobody can stop/object outsiders coming here. But let there be give and take policy. We are not asking for reservation for non-merits. But let these inds make sure that more and more Kannadigas are recruited in these inds with other indians also, thereby paving the way for a harmonious atmosphere.
Otherwise these issues will cause more harm.
Today everyone is looking at India with awe.Bcause we are fastest growing economy next to China.(IN some aspects better )
Everyone should think for the prosperity of the country and the city they live in.
Sharath ! S U P E R .. I am your fan. I just could not stop nodding in agreement while I was reading your comments. I am in IT and I was pro-IT & infrastructure blah blah. BUt you have made me think..
I have either been / have friends in Big IT companies like Wipro, TCS, CTS and Infosys. The top people(especially HRs who recruit) are all either Mallus (mostly)/ Telugus / Tamilians. They make every effort to recruit people speaking their langauge.
I am surprised and ashamed to see very few kannadigas as colleagues in my work place at bangalore. Reservation for localites at least is a must in IT ind. not based on caste / community.
Also Good work Avinash !But I am very disappointed and fuming at this Perry Naik. The talk was all about Bangalore and may be mr Deve Gowda. Where does an artist like Raj Kumar whoe never bothers anybody come into the picture ? People like Perry should leave alone great people Like Raj who are an asset to the entire state on their own . If he/she does not like him, leave him alone. Long live Bangalore ! Kudos Sharath & Avinash. Keep fighting for our land and our pride. We are all with you.
Anita Bora, Moderator, You have deleted my last post which had justified critisism on Kannadigas but have retained post # 24 (and so many more) that foolishly downgrades Tamilians as slaves!
If you are moderating, just do it properly. Do not promote racism in your site!!
Some Fanatic Kannadigas to this day have not changed. Blaming Tamilians and North Indians of “snatching†their jobs they themselves didn’t bother to do a true analysis of the situation. One guy above went to the extent of saying HRs are Mallus or Telugus or Tamilians who only favor these ppl when recruiting. Any sensible person knows, you are not going to blindly put a person on a job just because he is a Tamilian or a Telugu. For that matter I even known a couple of HRs that are kannadigas. Tamil Nadu apparently has some of the best Education standards in India (THE best I dare say) and no wonder the Indian software industry is full of them. Sharath, why are you complaining abt usage of Tamil in Chennai for official meetings? In all Asian and European countries (except UK) but India the standard language for office communication is not English but Chinese or Japanese or German etc. What is _your_ problem in Tamilians using Tamil in work communication? In my opinion the Tamilians are better at speaking in English compared to average Kannadiga but they have preferred usage of Tamil in all fields from day one due to their comfort with their language. In the meantime if you really need a job in Chennai learn Tamil else come to Bangalore. No SINGLE IT company will have their meetings in Kannada and EVERYTHING is strictly (!) in English (as if Bangalore like America was a piece of land uninhabited before :D)
Sharath, you dare say Chennai is a stupid place? The most stupidest place could not have produced India’s greatest mathematicians, scientists and nobel prize winners like CV Raman, Srivivasa Ramanujan, Chadrashekar or the current chess master Vishwanthan Anand. The list is endless. The success and the capability of the Tamilians speaks for itself
Anyways I will stop here, in the meantime I suggest you checkout the Education standards of karnataka compared to TN or other South Indian states and do something in that area if you can That is probably the THE ONLY way to get kannadigas in good numbers into IT field. And stop bitching and complaining abt ppl who deserve it
Hi
First i would request you to stop giving such a remark or comments only on TAMIL
am not supporting them, but why do you need to pin-point only them?
To the fact chennai is also cosmopolitan city.. you know the same as tamilians
are there in bangalore.. there are twice or more percentage of teluguians are
there in chennai.. there are many sign boards-hotel boards-shop boards are written in telugu
are these chennaites oppossing this ????? no teluguians and chennaites
are more friendlier.. has ever chennaites complained that they are being
dominated by telugu people? no…never….
we are indians.. pls dont make such comments and make kannadigas and tamilians
as india and pakistan..
If u still need to make an issue :
1.Just ask all tamilians in bangalore to vacate bangalore
2.vacate all kannadigas from chennai and make a BIG fence and have
a border securtiy… for both the states will that be a solution ???
3.Stop all the trade between karnataka and TN
4.Fine or prison anyone who talks or writes tamil in bangalore or kannada in
chennai
This can be a GREAT solution to the above issue, so everyone can live in
their own culture and close the doors!
My simple request would be pls stop this kind of division between kannadigas
marathis..teluguians..particularly tamilians
We are all humans!
Why fight among ourselves like stray dogs? Are we not Indians first and last? or are we sheep from some terror land. We must leave like broth and kiss like sist. It is a bloody disgrace that in 21 st century that we are fighting like mad bulls in a ring.
It is time we wake up and do our beauty for keeping our cities and country clean and green and ever beautiful. that means stop digging roads, follow traffic rules, stop peeing/ spitting and stop keeping manholes open for the world to be swallowed.
with such a ancient history and such a vibrant future, we should kiss up and make up . Else we will fold up like our carket/hockey team does in pedda championships.
All you buddies , stop being like chuddies and be like fuddies and make our beautiful nation strong and porwerful equal to Bangaldesh / Zimbabwe …or is it USA ? what di ya say?
you people are just creating useless hype on this issue.
not only in bangalore.
even even chennai is musch cosmopoliton.
chennai has 35 % telugu speaking people. telugus and tamil always co existed.
from the borders of A.P to chennai you can find lots of telugus.
most of the I.T companies in chenani have a sizable telugus.
dozens of engineering colleges in chennai have majority telugus like R.M.K college,S.R.M,satyabama colleges.
this all didnt create tensions among tamils and telugus.they are always friendsly.
if u go to T. nagar chennai it has 50 % telugus.
most of the shopping malls in T.nagar are occupied by telugus.
most of the sign boards in T.nagar are tri lingual written in tamil,telugu and english.
this didnt lead to tensions.they dont rub the sign boards.
tamils and telugus are freindly.
you know vijaya hospitals in chenani at vadapalani ,all the doctors there are telugu ,most of the patients who come there are telugus.once when you enter the hospital u feel u are in hyderabad .
such is the bong between telugus and tamils.
telugu films do release in chennai .
even more number of tamil films are dubbed to telugu .
appolo hospitals, saytam cinemas etc etc are owned by telugus in chennai.
where ever telguus go they repect the locals and their language.
even in bangalore telugus presence in bangalore didnot lead to tensions.
there may be tensions between kannadigas and tamils,mallus,northies.
but no chance of tensions between telugus and kannadigas.
that is the bond between kannada and telugus.
they are just twins.
kannada kasturi == telugu theyta.
“no chance of tensions between telugus and kannadigas”bcoz telugu people are not arrogant,they know to give respect to local people and culture.even if two telugu people are there in a group,they will communicate in local launguage.But have u seen the attitude of Tamil and Hindi people.if two r there in a group they will chatt loudly ignoring others as is they r in their home.Even a labouer from TN show so much attitude.Even in Bengaluru they want all the facilities as in Chennai
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The whole of south india was earlier dominated by Madras Presidency. If you are not willing to be in chennai, then why you people are coming to chennai. Why do u require your own restaurant in chennai. Those who dont want to save their own mother tounge should keep their toungue within their limit. If the people who are not really satisfied to be in chennai please get out and search job in your own place. Just because of the nearby state peoples we are really frustated and getting unemployed. Only the fools who are getting fake experiences from other states are dominating in chennai. Please dont come to chennai,we are not welcoming idiots and the people acting smart. Our place is enough occupied with our own tamilians, then why we want to welcome others. Its only because of gultes we are pushed to move to other states for labour. People from other states who resides in chennai give way to the seniors but wont respect the juniors or tamilians, then why they want to be here in chennai. If chennai is hot please get back to hyderabad or bangalore and search job there. Please never come to chennai. If possible please take back your forefathers who resides here. We have enough politicians and our generations has to live. We are dominant in our own language, we are good in english and not in hindhi, ofcourse we dont require either hindhi nor english. Why you godess son has to come to chennai and insist us to speak hindhi or english. Better try to facilitate your own place and improve speaking your own language. If you are not willing to be in the hot sun in chennai why do you require to stay back here better leave to your own place, speak your own language, make your environment comfortable.
If ways are created to move back the other south indians, we as tamilians wont dominate or occupy in other states….Please understand