Nostalgic about the 90’s
Those who moved to Bangalore a decade or so back feel a generation older than the newcomers. They even talk like that. “You know, those days Bangalore was not so crowded. No traffic at all, I could get to MG road in 10 minutes…. All these IT companies have contributed to the worsening situation…”
The city was quite nice during the last century! When I first landed in Bangalore, we stayed a week in Koramangala. It was a dark and lonely place. Really! Just one restaurant at the nearby BDA complex.
It felt so cool in summer, we wore sweaters in July. And the roads, they were so clean, I used to admire the BMP pourakarmikas doing a thorough job, early in the morning.
Some things are the same, the beautiful trees still cover the roads with flowers every spring. There are still lots of beautiful parks. Vendors on carts selling hot bhuttas or fresh vegetables…just that we don’t have the time to notice those anymore.
Meera,
I’m a Bangalorean since my birth here and I’ve been lucky to even enjoy the Bangalore of the 70’s & 80’s (yes, I am THAT old!). Imagine the depth of my feeling & loss for that period?! That said, we cannot wish away change. But I do wish that our so called city administrators were forward looking and made some attempts at managing change for the good of everybody! Tall order, eh?
Cheers,
Ravi
Meera,
The first time I visited Bangalore was in 2000 and I can echo your feelings. Having just landed in Bangalore from Chennai, I remember telling my friend, “How come this city is soooo clean??”. That was just a weekend visit. Three years later, I moved to Bangalore for my education, and I was like, “Hello.. Is this the same place??”. The place was soo dirty, at some places dirtier than Chennai.
However, every time this topic comes up, the blame is put on the IT companies and their workforce. However, Bangalore’s industrialization has primariluy been due to this workforce and there is no denying that. The real problem is with the Mahanagara Palike which lost the plot. They should have been more pro-active in whatever they did. Let me cite a few instances…
I am not sure where you are from, but as an IT guy working in Whitefield, I have been burdened by the Marathalli Railway overbridge ever since I moved to Bangalore. The problem was soo obvious and the traffic jams happened everyday. Yet, the administration acted only late last year to build a new bridge. Yet, the construction has not finished.
Another point in case is the fact that the reason that the bridge is overcrowded is because most of the people from Whitefield use that road to get to the outer ring road. What many people dont know is that there is a road from Whitefield going to Outer Ring road which joins near Malgudi restaruant. However, the road is in a pathetic (really pathetic) state and there is a railway crossing there. If the road was developed and a bridge was constructed over the level crossing, the pressure on the Marathalli junction can be substantially reduced. Ofcourse, the Govt wont do this….
Well, Looks like my comment became longer than ur post :)
Vikram,
Whitefield.
Hi, nice first post! But there is nostalgia for the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, 60’s….depending on the age of the nostalgic person!
…and most of us have no clue how to start action to set things right…
Hi, nice first post! But there is nostalgia for the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, 60’s….depending on the age of the nostalgic person!
…and most of us have no clue how to start action to set things right…
Well, since we are currently visiting in Bangalore pending a move here (husband’s job in IT industry) I guess I can comment on this. I feel for the changes that I am sure are happening here. I saw this happen in my home as well, Santa Clara Valley, California -more commonly known as Silicon Valley. We used to have orchards, greenhouses, quiet tree lined streets and far less traffic. Things have slowed down there in the last few years because of the dot-com bust but now people find it hard to find work, and yet the cost of living is much the same. This creates a very bad situation for young people. While you are seeing it from a Bangalore perspective, I think really you are describing something that is happening all over the world. Infrastructure is important in keeping the living conditions workable for the residents, but in the long run it just might contribute to more growth, more traffic, more population. We see this in the US. You widen a freeway or intersection and traffic eases for a while, but a year later it isn’t all that different than what it was at the start. Sometimes I think we (all global citizens) are in for some hard times in the future as I am not sure there are any easy answers.
Good start Meera, nice post.
Intersting to know point raised by Deepa, depending on the age the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s perspective, i feel these levels of nostalgia makes it still so wonderful to walk through the periods and linger around those beautiful feeling, why so late, in 2004 when I moved in 100 ft road walk was a pleasure in evening’s with far less trafic and lot many trees to walk beneth it used to be fun. Now that the trafic noise steals the show and one has to wait till late night to enjoy the walk!!
Thanks everybody for your interesting feedback.
Deepa/Ravi, one question: One would have felt that 5 to 10 years is too short to get nostalgic about. For example, in the 80’s, did you see as much change as to miss the 70’s? Perhaps because Bangalore’s change has been so drastic, the sense of loss or disorientation is that much more?
I thought that maybe if the infrastructure were better and if we had a super public transportation that kept order on the roads, we wouldn’t feel so strongly….
But Cindy’s point is valid too that improving infrastructure alone is not enough. Then there has to be a proactive plan for alternatives…especially if we are in this state of intertia that growth is happening automatically. Which are the cities that has dealt with these issues in better ways?
People still dont use car pooling or employee transport services (if one feels that public transport is not good). The irony these (well, not all) are the people complaining! Shouldnt we do our part first?
meeraavare… thanks for the post.
as deepaavaru and rajeshraayru pointed out, nostalgia is a sense of personal time. I think it is also similar to yayati’s search for mumukshatva. The quest for eternal youth.
Cindyavare, many many many thanks for saying this. This has been my personal agenda and rant for a long while.
The problem of traffic is so intense and we are so frustrated about that, that most of us are willing to destroy one of the few things that we have going for us – trees especially to widen roads. This is where your post comes in. There is no guarantee that widened roads will ease congestion. Thanks.
“We see this in the US. You widen a freeway or intersection and traffic eases for a while, but a year later it isn’t all that different than what it was at the start. Sometimes I think we (all global citizens) are in for some hard times in the future as I am not sure there are any easy answers.”