IS BANGALORE FULL?

IS BANGALORE FULL?
There has been the odd voice against the influx of ‘outsiders’ into the city. But that doesn’t change Bangalore’s accommodating, cosmopolitan nature, finds BT
EDISON THOMAS & NIRMALA GOVINDARAJAN


AGROUP of techies mugged by locals for no reason other than that they were techies working in Bangalore; techies in a car relaxing outside their workplace on Sarjapur Road verbally abused; techies at a nightclub unwinding but still in their workclothes being laughed at; T-shirts that read ‘Bangalore’s full, go back’.
The undercurrents have become a little stronger of late. And one section of Bangalore is beginning to resent the influx of ‘outsiders’, blaming most of it on the IT industry. But is that a healthy mindset for a growing city? BT finds out.
IT has changed the very style of Bangalore, says ad man Joel Premkumar. “It has, in fact, closed the big divide between the affluent and the have-nots. It has created lakhpatis and crorepatis overnight. In a city that had a population of fifty lakhs at the time of the IT boom, you suddenly had a lakh of people earning close to Rs 1 lakh a month. That changed everything. You had real estate agents, shopping establishments, restaurants and nightclubs all creating a higher ceiling on prices aimed at milking the cash-rich IT worker. So while more people had more, the non-IT Bangalorean was pushed to the fringes of Bangalore life. Hence some unhappiness,” he says.
Those who see the influx of outsiders to work in the IT industry here as negative include high school teacher Francis S. “People have come here in droves, the
roads are choked and our trees gone,” he says, “Most young people here now chase the IT dream, ignoring other spheres and robbing the city of a solid grounding in art and culture. However, one has to agree that in return, Bangalore has become a cash-rich city able to take price hikes — in petrol or real estate — in its stride.”
But dancer Madhu Natraj prefers not to blame IT for all that’s wrong with the city, whether traffic problems or the loss of green cover. “It’s a general sense of non-ownership, neglect and nonchalance that we are all responsible for,” she says.
Madhu believes that IT has actually helped the arts become autonomous. “Every IT company has a budget for cultural events and this is what is sustaining the arts in the city. Artistic careers are balanced and the city gains at large. It’s true though that the identity of the city as an educational and cultural hub has been replaced by IT. This is only because IT grew really fast here.”
In fact, the multi-cultural backgrounds of migrants has a positive influence on work and living, say others. According to chief people officer and SVP, human resource in an IT services company C Mahalingam, “From a work perspective, the IT and ITES industries have helped organisations become melting pots of culture. IT companies are at the forefront of leveraging diversity, and have built on social capital with this multi-cultural influx. Research has proven how network and relationships have tremendous impact on collaboration and how diversity leads to creativity. Diversity is a necessity for business and several organisations have made participation inclusive.”
One must cope with the change, feels restaurateur Prem Koshy. “The extent of migration has completely changed the face of the city. But even though some people are very depressed about the congestion caused by this influx, Bangaloreans have the capacity to care and are very peaceful about it,” he says.
Mahalingam says, “Bangalore has always been cosmopolitan and welcomed people from the world over. How many people know that there are 150 Dutch families that have been living here for several years? It proves how accommodating Bangalore has been and continues to be so.”
Mahalingam adds, “Cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have become cosmopolitan because of migration and it has helped business growth, living standards and infrastructure development. Bangalore is also headed this way. Around 10 years ago international schools and nightclubs were unheard of. Bangalore is growing by showing tremendous resilience and acceptance of newer cultures.”