Note: I have since learned that the riots following Dr. Rajkumar's death were incited by politicians with the help of their cronies, and the actor's fans didn't, in reality, have anything to do with it. I apologise for the allegation.
I have regretted most of the time spent outside my office here in Bangalore. The roads are bad (this is worth repeating), the traffic is worse, and there is no public transportation system worth its name (the proposed Metro is going to be operational by 2008 at the earliest, though I feel that's being overly optimistic), and the city goes to sleep at 9 p.m.!!
The day before yesterday, the popular Kannada actor, "Dr." Rajkumar, passed away due to a cardiac failure that's not uncommon for someone of his age. Going by the way the people of this city reacted to it, you'd think that the Chief Minister of the State or the Prime Minister of the country was assassinated. There was violence on the streets (several vehicles were burnt), shopowners all over the city drew their shutters down at 4:30 p.m. fearing the rampaging mob, and bus services within the city ground to a halt. Why, every mode of transport coming into and going out of Bangalore (except the airways) stopped functioning. It was not until this morning that normalcy of life resumed.
My friend, who kindly provided me shelter for that night (since there was no way I could have reached my hotel amidst the riots) knew enough about the people to realize that the bus ticket that he had purchased for travelling back to his hometown would not be worth the paper it was printed on, and took the earliest flight out of the city yesterday, paying such a huge sum that I felt aghast! All because the pusillanimous Chief Minister and the city's finest couldn't come down hard on the rioters and tell them that their favourite star may have died but that's no reason for life in the city to come to a standstill!
IT capital of India? Puh-lease!
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