Red, orange, green at once. Which way? Monday blues seems to have affected a traffic signal near JC Road in Bangalore yesterday.

Crime-related incidents on a rise in Bangalore. Reason — the growing disparity (read frustration) between the unemployed or lowly-paid locals and the well-to-do professionals representing IT, FMCG, Media, and Hospitality-related industries.

The so-called ‘underprivileged’ have a wrong notion that the upwardly mobile are raking in all the moolah and having fun at their cost. While they have to lick their wounds and watch them in frustration. A quick scan in any of the happening malls, Brigade Road or CMH Road, is enough to gauge the mood or might of the people with spending capacity. Adding to the woes are swanky gizmos, barrage of ATM cards, fast cars, and five-star lifestyle.

I would like to narrate an incident which happened while I was in Bangalore around May this year. I engaged an autorickshaw from HAL to Ulsoor, and since I spoke to the auto driver in chaste Kannada, he went ga-ga on how he feels elated that he is talking to a Kannadiga.

He had something to confess too. The driver said when a passenger comes to him and speaks to him in Hindi, Tamil or any other languages except Kannada, he gets a mighty thrill by charging them extra or talking to them for a ride, quite literally. He said if a Kannada-knowing person steps in, he is well behaved. If an autorickshaw driver’s attitude is this, then imagine the behaviour of people from much weaker sections.

Bangalore shut down for a few days after vandalism broke out soon after Dr. Rajkumar’s death a few months back. Miscreants with all the pent up ire, damaged buildings housing IT firms, set fire to hotels, damaged public property and brought public life to a stand still. This action had nothing to do with the sympathy or love for the matinee idol, rather it was targeted at people who they think have ‘robbed’ Bangalore from their hands.

A few days back, I read a report which said mugging incidents were on a rise, and IT employees were forcibly taken to ATM centres and made to withdraw cash at knife-point. The fear is such that people fear to travel alone in ring roads, peripheral roads, and any road that wears a deserted look in the night.

When will Bangalore return to its old self?

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Last month, I had been to Bangalore with my family on a vacation. Nothing much has changed now. Except for key roads, rest of the roads still sport deep-rooted pot holes, choc-a-bloc traffic stifles you at peak hours, nauseating pollution chokes your breath. For some reason I had to travel between Indiranagar and Koramangala four times at a go, and the journey consumed three hours in an autorickshaw!

Bustling traffic off Airport Road.

Adding to the chaos was the flyover work at the Airport Road intersection. After staying in Muscat (Oman) for 1.6 years, I can vouch for the fact that Bangaloreans have little or absolutely no traffic sense. Much of the credit much be accredited to autorickshaw wallahs and two wheelers riders, who care two hoots about traffic and lane discipline. From left to right to centre, they are all over the place.

Airport Road flyvoer work on progress

When I first landed in Muscat, I was at awe looking at the traffic discipline and conduct. In the initial few months, I used to walk to office, and it came to me as a pleasant surprise that pedestrians were treated so well in this part of the world. I could never imagine that a majestic looking four-wheel drive could come into a screeching halt just to let me cross the road. Phew!