What is happening to my Bangalore :(

From the past two weekends I have had relatives coming home (Which is a rare occurance as we live atleast 2000kms from our nearest relatives). First it was my cousin Vishal Rana from Milwaukee, USA and then my Aunt Promila Kanwar from Palampur,India. As a result I have been going out a lot with them and have noticed that my beloved Bangalore has changed for the worse. It is not the same Bangalore I adored for so many years. Here are a list of incidents other than the Blinding Headlights incident.

Restaurant Hunting

Getting a reservation at a restaurant is like getting a job during an economic slowdown. All decent restaurants are completely booked during weekends. I wanted to take my Aunt out to Copper Chimney, which is a restaurant with good food and a great view.


I always sit outside on the table in the corner, to soak in the sights and sounds of Bangalore. The view is really good and I wanted to spend some time there with my family. The restaurant was completely booked for Friday so I made a reservation at 8:15 PM on Saturday. When I reached there I was shocked to learn that our table was given to someone else. I checked with the staff and the manager. They said we had the table and these guys had the adjacent table. They didnt like the table so they moved here. What the bloody F***, how stupid can you get. I booked a day in advance and they gave the table away to someone else. And I asked them to ask the folks there (they still had not even placed their order) to move as we had the reservation. The morons who were sitting there refused to move even after realizing that we had a reservation. This really pissed me off.
I dont completely blame the morons sitting on our table. A part of the blame is also with Copper Chimney, They should have placed a reservation plate on the table and asked them not to move over to our table as it was reserved. I was so pissed off that I decided not to take another table there and made a last minute reservation at Sikandar, a restaurant close by with much better food than Copper Chimney but a view that is not as good as Copper Chimney.

It is not like these restaurants are cheap, the meal costs around 400 Rupees per person. But the place being upscale doesn't mean that the people visiting them would behave in the same manner. I feel it was very cheap by the people who refused to move knowing that my Aunt came to bangalore after 6 years and would be moving the next day. Had it been Bangalore 15 years ago the people would have given up their reservation to let us sit if they knew that my Aunt would be leaving the next day. And clearly it was unprofessional behaviour from the restaurant staff. They do not care as much about their customers because they know that they are always booked and one unhappy customer can not make a big difference. But I think otherwise.

Lift Ettiquete

We were waiting for the lift on the 5th floor(the topmost floor) in Bangalore Central to take us to the ground floor (coz we now had a reservation at Sikandar @ garuda mall). After waiting for what looked like a million years the lift comes to the 5th floor. The lift is jam packed and just one person gets off the lift. The thought that came across my mind was "Isn't this the top floor? Why aren't people getting off the lift?". But as soon as I saw some shopping carts in the lift I realized what just happened. These folks were going to the parking and just to be sure that they get space in the lift got into the lift going up to the last floor. Then they ride all the way down to the parking. Does this make sense? Shouldnt they just board the lift going down and go to the parking. There were seven people waiting on the top floor but could not get into the lift because these guys (who thought they were really smart) jam packed the lift with their shopping carts. Man!!!!!!!!!!!! Where are the lift ettiquettes ? (Not sure if there is any such thing.) Ok, thenwhere is the common sense and courtesy?
Ok. I see what you are thinking. Why am I making such a big fuss over the lift issue. Maybe this was the straw that broke the Camel's back. There have been many many instances where I have ignored the wrong doings of people. A sick one was people almost throwing their children inside the bus from the windows to grab seats for them (Sick Sick Sick). Well getting back to the point, I think it is getting pointless to try and fix what Bangalore is turning into. From a society of courteous people to a wild jungle with selfish people.

Traffic

Look what the traffic in Bangalore is like nowadays. It is not uncommon to see mile long traffic jams. On one hand you have huge cars and SUVs and just one person in driving them, on the other hand you have overcrowded buses with people literally hanging out of buses. We also have lots of dare devil bikes who ride on the road, footpath and sometimes even jump over medians. Roadrage is a common occurance nowadays with people abusing others for the most trivial reasons. People fighting for parking spaces is also a common sight. Thank god I started taking a cab to work, I feel so realxed while working now. Before I used to be tense and angry when I came to work because of the way other people drive their vehicles. I had a very bad accident because of someone else thinking that the road is a circus ring and was cutting in and out of the traffic at will (What a jerk). Even today while coming to the office our cab had to stop on the left and we had the indicator on. There was this guy who was trying to overtake us from the left (which is the wrong side to overtake in India) and nearly hit us. I asked our driver to slow down and take evasive action so as to not side swipe him, and the jerk gives us a stare and still overtakes from the left. It was almost like him saying "Don't you know, my dad owns this road. I can overtake when, where and how I want!".

Last weekend's violence

Bangalore turned violent last weekend. (The first time I have seen Bangalore getting violent in 24 years). On Friday people were protesting the way Saddam Hussein was executed and there was some violence then. Also yesterday there was a procession which was stoned by some anti social elements trying to spark of communal riots. And we all know what happens when riots stop, everyone tries to settle their score. Everyone has a personal vendetta. The politicians need political milage, the unsocial elements get paid for creating nuisance, the poor and jobless vandalize to get what they cant afford. What is the end result, smashed up vehicles, burnt autos and buses and loss of property and life. There was a curfew imposed in parts of Bangalore yesterday night and the worst thing was the story our cab driver told us today. He had a duty at an exhibition of Machines and Industrial tools yesterday. Delegates from over 25 countries had come to the exhibition. On the way back a cab left just before his cab with some foreign delegates. This cab was caught by the mob. They threatened to kill the driver and burn the cab if he did not cooperate with them. They pulled out the foreign delegates and started hitting them. The mob said "These guys are Americans and Americans hanged Saddam". The delegates ran for their lives and got into an auto rickshaw and escaped(Thank god atleast some auto drivers are courteous to save the lives of people). (The first and only racist attack I have heard of in Bangalore)
(NOTE: I just heard this story from my cab driver and cannot verify the source and whether or not it actually happened)


My parting remarks. Is this the brand Bangalore that we want to project in the world. I dont think so. This is not the Bangalore that I lived in for the good part of my life. This seems like an alien land to me nowadays. People in Bangalore were always so polite and courteous, I still remember the tree canopies covering roads, the courteous and law abiding people, a place which was heaven for retired people. I really miss the old Bangalore and doubt I will ever get it back.