Last week we went out for dinner with 4 Bangaloreans currently in London. Three of them ( let's just call them K, C and D) were non-medical which is always nice. The conversation was great. We spoke about all the usual hangouts with friends, family, girl/boy friend- Picos+ various other pubs, Fanoos kebab stall, Imperial restaurant ( for all those late night outs) and Shreeraj Lassi bar.
The conversation predictably, turned towards the demise of Rajkumar. Rajkumar, those who haven't heard of the man, was an icon of the Kannadiga identity. I grew up watching his movies , listening to him sing on the radio and his pictures up everywhere in rural Karnataka (where my grandparents were - from a town near Mysore). We didn't speak Kannada at home but Rajkumar was very much part of my childhood. The man died recently and Bangalore, my dear city, burned. Why? This was the theme of our discussion. Anyway, K,C and D in various ways spoke of how it was so bad that people went crazy, it was bad for Bangalore's image and other such thoughts. I had read this article by Mahesh Dattani in a local weekly and it made sense to me. Here is part of what he said-
I read many posts about how it was a shame that Bangalore disintegrated 'just because' Rajkumar died. There were articles that raised the issue of the millions lost by companies and buisness establishmenst because of the riots in the city. But, the mainstream coverage of what led to the riots was not as extensive. Dattani's article were among the few that tried to trace the roots of the problem and he was criticised- that he was trying to somehow blame all non-Kannadigas who have made Bangalore their home following the software boom. I didn't see it that way. I saw it in a fairly global perspective, the basis of which lies the politics of identity.This wasn’t an outpouring of grief that we witnessed. Perhaps this is the shape of things to come. Violence as an outpouring of anger and frustration. What else can it be? Forcing the city to close down was actually a very perverse act, but a cry for justice nevertheless. Dr Rajkumar, unknowingly, became a mascot for the oppressed indigenous people who feel their language and identity are slowly being eroded by the winds of globalisation. The IT industry is not the villain. The villain is Time. And no one can fight Time. You wake up one day and find that your neighbour speaks a strange language; your job is taken over by someone who moved into town last month and has an utter dislike for all things south Indian. Your job in a government office as a peon was a matter of pride and achievement, until the office boy working for an MNC boasts of a pay five times more than you earn because his English is better. It just seems so unfair. Maybe it is. But it is to the credit of the indigenous people that they tolerated this unfairness for a very long time.
The last straw that broke the coolie’s back was when the entire city was indifferent to the passing away of Dr Rajkumar. To a newly recruited trainee from Haryana, Rajkumar was a Hindi film hero who had passed away long ago. In a globalised economy, shutting a call centre for three days was unthinkable. There were important calls to be answered from Americans who had lost their baggage or had a problem with their new washing machine. We all need to do a reality check for ourselves. How much respect do we have for the human beings who suffer on account of our success? Can we recognise acts of terror as a battle cry of the oppressed? Are we going to allow politicians to feed on poverty, anger and frustration like vultures on a carcass? We better find the answers real quick. Time is vicious. It doesn’t even spare us who are on the right side of globalisation. As for law, order and peaceful co-existence—that is the price of a burger and a milkshake.
Of course, what I am writing about is not rocket science. We just have to see our post independence history from the perspective of urban India and you will see the rise of conflict, alarming ones at that, consistently. The rise of parties such as the Shiv Sena ( with a local Marathi identity base) and the 'Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha' ( with a local Kannadiga identity base) ran parallel to the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (with a global Hindu identity base). We would be kidding ourselves if we said that this doesn't address the issue of the why there are regional riots so often in India. Identity appeals to all of us. The rapid spread of globalisation, has threatened basic notions of identity. Those who benefit from the change globilisation has bought are quite different from those who have been left behind. The slow disntegration of what is percieved as 'our culture' is placed in the background of the rapid appearance of ' their culture'. I am interested in the behaviour changes globalisation is bringing to developing countries. I have seen the steady rise of problems such as suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and depression. These are no more Western issues.
Bangalore didn't have to burn. If there was a some sort of communication between the people and the Government, and a sensitivity to local sentiments, it could have been avoided. I find it hard to believe that this riots were not expected. When Rajkumar was kidnapped I remember there was a 1-2 day 'bandh' ( shutdown) in the city. He represented the Kannadiga identity. The popular sentiment he evoked should have been respected. The millions of MNCs be damned.
My Bangalore-Londoners said that it was shameful it happened. Bangalore represented India in the world and the riots had tarnished that image. Sure, I felt awful it happened. But, I am not so bothered about what the West thinks of us. Bangalore as a brand can be dumped for all I care. Anything that increases inequalities has to be reexamined not embraced with open arms. My fear for the city and many such in India where change is occuring rapidly is that we will face problems for which there will be no answers from globalisation itself.
To be continued...
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