Why Bangalore is not a metropolitan ???

It pains me as I write this. I wonder a 100 times if I do want to write this but then to "call a spade a spade" is no crime and here I let go.
It is said that travel broadens horizons, and how. Lately, I have been doing some amount of travelling ( to the extent of bankruptcy) to the 2 truly metropolitan cities in the country, Mumbai and Delhi, with the effect that I decided to sit back and take stock of the situation prevalent on home turf.
People may argue that I am no authority to talk about Bangalore, being a "outsider" and of course, the fact that grass is always greener on the other side. I cant get into a justification mode, just read the post and decide for yourself.
Bangalore was always the retired man's paradise. With lush gardens and laid back lifestyle, you couldn't ask for more at the age of 60 to rest till you are handed back to nature. But then something happened. With the economic forces of globalisation and cheap skills coming into play, it was but obvious that Bangalore, with its strong educational framework, will be the fulcrum of activity for all knowledge based industries. Bangalore rose, and how, in the books of all corporate houses and with the government all the more happy to oblige, we witnessed a growth unheralded, unbelievable and most importantly, unplanned.
With the increase in economic brawn, Bangalore witnessed a strong influx of people from all parts of the country. Not that the city wont welcome us with open arms, it did but what it lost in return was its tranquility and innate serenity. Soon Bangalore was bustling, not in the arms of traditional theatre and drama but in the sweaty pubs and discos.
The scene with Mumbai and Delhi has been different. They have been the big cities, always. The growth of these cities had little to do with a cost-cutting phenomenon in the West and more with the genuine surge in economic and political rise of the country. As such, the growth story of these two cities has been more organic and as a result, more planned.
The present day Bangalore is a picture perfect example of what can go wrong in urban planning and development. The overcrowded roads, the new airport controversy and the haphazard construction of the metro are only aggravating the agony of old-timers in Bangalore.
Bangalore suddenly looks like the illegitimate child of the Indian growth story, trying to earn brownie points with one and all through cheap labour and cheap liquor, while the "real" family is the toast of many a high-society dinners. This is not to blame the city for its current state nor am I taking any credit away from the stupendous IT story that has become synonymous with Bangalore. I , like many others , have been the beneficiary of the boom that's Bangalore and am positive that Bangalore deserves its place in the echelons of the high and mighty but its still a long way from the home run in that race.
And so here I left my story a month back... time to pick up the threads again...
Lot has changed in the period though, I am destined to go to Mumbai in a couple of months and now my observations on the city will be derided as a parting admonition and act of selfish what-might-have-been stories... but as I stated before I cant afford to get into justification mode.
Adding to the turmoil, the political environment has displayed a distinct distaste for public welfare (don't get me started on the Airport thing...reeks of small town conman ship). They have been distant from ground realities and mud-headed in planning. The resultant of their hubris is the dislike exhibited by old-timers, or should i say Bangaloreans, towards the breed that is us ... the new entrants or the immigrants ( isn't that the truth!!!).
That just about brings me to the actual reason for penning my thoughts here. I started at the time when MNS was wrecking Mumbai with a Nazi-like temperament and one day a colleague actually narrated a story about his friend being harassed by some locals. It seems the local people were not interested in robbing him, their only intention was to cause harm to the person amid almost violent chants of "you IT people". That really set my engine running... why are we being blamed for all this ? What is my fault if I am asked to report to office along with another 40 thousand people .. leading to traffic jams and packed buses ? Is it my fault that the flight costs have come down so I want to fly back home for vacation and hence the resultant high load on the old airport, has "forced" the government to shift the airport to a new place, which takes me more time to reach than probably the air journey itself ? Please tell me if it appears that I am having fun shelling out extra money for each and every auto trip, when funnily the trip costs more because of my profession rather than the distance travelled.. ?
A metropolitan is a term used very loosely these days... population has, for all practical purposes, been used as criteria. But then at the rate India is growing in numbers we can look forward to many metropolitan cities can't we ? A metropolitan is a microcosm, which when we enter showcases the whole country for us...
Bangalore, unfortunately, is going nowhere with that. If it is truly representative of the country then it can be worrying for India. It shows a cluttered country where the old-order dislikes the new and the new could care less... where the host is distrustful of the guest and the guest has become indifferent, a feeling arising from the fact that no amount of persuasion will work with the host. The life goes on with a under current of distrust, which will one day find expression under some stupid pretext. And till such day we'll pretend that we live in the country's coolest metropolitan...
The staunch believers ( and I hope there are many) will refute me stating the recent events in Mumbai... so should Mumbai be stripped off the metropolitan status too ? Maybe yes, that would obviously depend on the level of involvement of the real Mumbaikar in these protests, which in turn tells us how much the real Mumbai believes in the cause and thus we can gauge whether the same under current, that I talked about here, exists there too. In that that unfortunate case, we can sadly label Mumbai too as an impostor. Maybe someday I would sit and analyse Mumbai as a metro after I have spent some considerable time there.
But even then I would love to come back to Bangalore and check out if it has outgrown its regionalist robes and donned the real colors of a metropolitan city...

IPL and wat it means to me...

I never had the patience to blog... restless as I am. But then I have put my head down for this and will talk abt something close to my heart. Cricket !!!

The Indian Premier League... BCCI's fiefdom, has left many ppl, like me, smacking lips at the prospects on offer. The plethora of talent, the star power involved and finally the sheer pull of Indian cricket's latest darling T20 cricket.
While many a debate have raged on about the management of the event, about the money and how it will cement India's place as the high lord of global cricketing arena, I will steer clear of all this and talk about what it means to a simple guy who will switch on Set Max on 18th April.
For long we have been living under the heady influence of the English Premier League ( or is it BPL ??) wat with our footballers coming to naughts at more places than one. Now is our turn to give it back. Funny it might seem but how dearly would I love to see the Barmy Army glued to their TV sets in some sports bar in London, cheering for the Mumbai team just like we go gaga over Man Utd ( thats just a personal choice!!!). Will some guy in Sydney swear by Dhoni's hard hitting just like a Bangalorean singing hosanna's to Christiano Ronaldo or will we see a guy in Cape Town wearing a Jaipur team jersey just like we see Arsenal T-shirts with Thierry Henry's name ?
And what about the Indian viewer, so paranoid and yet, eternally supportive of the Indian national team. Suddenly, its not about the country anymore. Its not playing for pride but for big bucks and bigger hoopla. Interesting to see how will this country welcome Andrew Symonds, undoubtedly the biggest villian in recent Indian history(personal views may vary !!).
Imagine a scenario, when Symonds smacks Bhajji for a last ball six to win a match for my team. Should I cheer for Symonds and my IPL team or should I go on to rue the fact that Aussie dominance has been proved once again, and that too against India's eptiome of racial equality and loose language ??
My mother has never understood how a guy from Portugal can play for an English club, more so when he was instrumental in the sending-off his club mate in a crucial match between the national teams. The case in point being, Ronaldo and his Man Utd team mate Wayne Rooney. Imagine IPL had started a year back. Now will I welcome back Symonds into my IPL fold with open arms after the racism row. Will I boo him or will I root for him so that he takes my IPL team to victory??
Will I stand among thousands in the Eden Gardens and sing the anthem of Kolkata Knight Riders just as the Theater of Dreams reverberates with "Glory Glory Man U" ?? I have only questions and no answers yet. One day I'll surely know, whether dads in India pass on IPL heritage in their genes, whether people take up cudgels for their teams and whether we are ready as a nation of cricket hungry people to accept the valiant efforts of gladiators, irrespective of their nationalities.
Maybe the answers to all these questions and many more will decide the future of the IPL and for a better part, of world cricket. Till then I luv Man Utd and I continue to cheer for the Red Devils, all the while hoping I will have my very own cricketing anthem to chant...
Ohh if only time could fly and April 18th could just be now....!!!!