Bangalore’s innocence lost to chauvinism, petty politics

Bangalore’s innocence lost to chauvinism, petty politics
Asha Rai | TNN

Bangalore: Though the distinction of being the only Indian city to have become a verb rests with Bangalore, it has never been the ‘maximum’ city that Mumbai is or as brash as Delhi. For all its pretensions, Bangalore has been a professional, middle class city with its values and ethos drawn from that same strata of society. A city that has revelled in its small pleasures, especially the women. Eve teasing of the sort that makes travel in Delhi buses a nightmare and still non-existent here. Young girls in skinny jeans and tight tees hardly draw a second glance. It’s one of the very few places in India where a girl can walk alone into a restaurant or a pub and order a drink or a meal without attracting too many furtive glances.
Add to this the harmless rituals of Valentine’s Day. While Mumbai, Delhi and last year Lucknow fell prey to violent outbursts and protests by groups with narrow, sectarian ideologies, Bangaloreans went about exchanging cards, gifts and flowers on V-Day thinking such ridiculous stuff would never happen in their city. How things can change in a year, or for that matter in
weeks as the events unfolding in the state have shown?
Sri Rama Sene, which seems to have strategically modelled itself after Raj Thackeray’s MNS — the more rabid you talk and act the more publicity and terror you generate — has figured that hitching its wagon to Valentine’s Day will firmly keep it in the spotlight after the national furore the Mangalore pub attack generated and made Mutalik nationally infamous.
Given the highly cosmopolitan nature of Bangalore’s population, a disproportionate number of youngsters in this mix and a higher degree of western influence given the historically strong presence of the Cantonment and the globalised nature of the main business in town — information technology — it isn’t surprising that there many ardent followers of the Spanish count who like to mark the day with public displays of affection.
Bangalore has lost its innocence in the past few years. The euphoria of the heady IT days is a distant memory. Now the city makes news for its terrible infrastructure — clogged roads, chaotic traffic — than for great governance or growth. ‘Bangalore talibanised’ should not be the next set of headlines across the world. The government and the police should ensure that if some Bangloreans want to express their love and affection for their father, mother, girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or sibling on Feb. 14, they should be allowed to do so without it being portrayed as an affront to Indian society or its spirit. It isn’t as if next Saturday, Bangalore’s millions will be bathed in red and wildly party. The true ethos of democracy is letting that small minority which wants to have some harmless fun be able to do so without fear of the self-proclaimed moral guardians of society.