A couple of incidents in the recent past have been brushed aside & not much is made of it. Are these not worthy of a discussion or a thought? Taking it as is can sometimes mean that we accept it. Do we accept it?

At a time when the world is looking towards Bangalore for reasons that are all positive, certain developments immediately following the Cauvery Tribunal’s verdict is not a positive way forward at all. Immediately post the verdict the tamil channels were taken off air & screening of tamil movies stopped. After a few days of tension when everyone thought things were back to normal again came the news that the screening of the tamil movie Pokiri was stopped at the Nataraj theatre.

Although it may not be correct to compare our Karnataka to Gujarat & Pokiri to Parzania such comparisons can crop up. Do we really want a Gujurat like situation to be played out here? Then just before the Cauvery Tribunal’s verdict the communal tension in a part of Bangalore saw windows of houses, window displays of shops & the glass exteriors of offices damaged. Vehicles torched & the normal life for the residents in the troubled area was thrown out of gear. What did these residents do?

This is not about the TV channels & a movie; this is much more than that. This is about few people dominating Bangalore & ordinary Bangaloreans not being able to do their routine thing.

Therefore it doesn’t make much sense here to get into things like brand Bangalore, investments getting affected & all that. All that is for the big guys to worry about. For an ordinary guy on the road end of the day what really matters is his life, his dreams & those of his immediate circle of friends & family. Let that be that way. Yes, being citizens of this city there are times when we need to do our bit in terms of supporting something or abstaining from something for the larger good of the city, but why the force & why target ordinary citizens who are just surviving & doing their routine things. Why should some people take away from this ordinary man his dose of entertainment?

It’s a well known fact that groups involving in such forced activities are doing it to benefit themselves. When a political party or its affiliated groups stop the screening of a movie they are doing it for themselves. Customary arrests are made in the media glare & when the cameras are switched off everyone is released.

End of the day Ordinary citizen is just that – ordinary and nobody really wants to safe guard his interests. And frankly the muscle that an ordinary citizen has against all such people & such forced compliances are fellow ordinary citizens. Its time we voiced out loud & clear against things that prohibit an ordinary man living his life.