Bangalore’s traffic problem has become every opportunist’s major project to exploit or experiment with no sense of accountability. Firstly, the progressives, then crony capitalists, and now the fundamentalists are at the helm of it. You can read about them here, here and here.
It is already three months since the Son of the Boiled Beans, the messiah of the Original Bangaloreans, commenced his new dispensation with the inauguration of a great monument and placed himself as its high priest. It is the tallest beanstalk structure that signifies the glory of Bengaluru, which in its original name is known as the ‘town of boiled beans’.
The support for him from the Original Bangaloreans (who, by the way, claim to be the original inhabitants of the city) is tremendous. They believe that in him, there is no trace of corruption and he is the only one who can restore their past glory and eliminate the outsiders. They are in full agreement to grant sole authority to him.
He shamelessly shut down many government institutions that did not help this vision and replaced all bureaucracy with chauvinists and charlatans since that seemed the best way forward. Any criticism against him may lead to lynching or imprisonment.
In his bold vision of solving the traffic problem, he began to erase all the old roads and started to build new ones with ancient beanstalk technology. It is not just about relaying the road. He wants to carve out new roads pointing to the monument at the heart of the city. You may ask why. He believes all the roads built by outsiders must be erased and built locally to display their superior wisdom.
Since most skilled workers were forced to leave Bengaluru, the city is barely functioning. Schools, hospitals, and businesses are severely impacted. Fortunately, due to remote work possibilities, a few companies are continuing their operations. But it is uncertain how long they could sustain.
However, the Original Bangaloreans continue to celebrate the leaving of non-locals. They are even more convinced that Bengaluru’s golden age is around the corner. But, on the contrary, most of them do not live in Bengaluru anymore, nor take part in their so-called noble work of restoring their city. They have found greener pastures outside and their enthusiasm is nothing more than their ego booster. It is also not surprising that many of their children are leaving the city for better education.
As an outsider but a resident for three decades, I had to vacate my house and move to another city within an hour’s drive outside Bengaluru.
Although the road construction appears to be progressing, there is hardly enough labour and also capital. Despite the situation, the Son of the Boiled Beans is pretending to be in control. With the absolute power he now enjoys, he hatched a great plan for acquiring resources.
The master manipulator made local companies like Infosys, Biocon, Wipro, and many others fund his road project. A handful of big businesses surrendered to him as they saw that it was the only way to survive or face the fate of the other businesses that closed shop. In return for their support, he made sure all successful small companies surrendered their business to these corporations for some meagre sum.
However, the blind locals continued to be enthralled by their messiah and his oligarchy until the employees of these companies were not paid their salaries. Yet no one protested against this as it may lead to losing their employment.
Imagine, when almost all the roads in your city are not commutable anymore when almost all retail stores are shut down due to lack of access, and when basic services like schools and hospitals are also not accessible, all the prices of all commodities have skyrocketed, and Original Bangaloreans, policing their way, what would it be like living in Bengaluru?
Sensing the growing unrest among the poor and the working class, the Son of the Boiled Beans cleverly introduced a Paid Lockdown order which he had planned long before. Many fell for it and praised his generosity, saying that no leader in the history of Bengaluru has ever taken such a bold step.
What does this order mean? From now on, people are not allowed to go out of their residential compounds except for their pilgrimage to the monument. The messiah will provide essential provisions to every household periodically at their home. The privileged and the affluent could even get medical services at their doorstep at a price. Any other purchases need to be requested through a formal application. Sadly, the homeless and poor are moved outside the city to large camps with some basic food and shelter facilities.
Only police, delivery personnel, a few health and emergency workers, and those working in government funding companies can step out of their houses for work. While those working from home can continue to do so, most of their income is taxed.
The state took over Bengaluru-based Swiggy and Dunzo and scaled their operations by 10x to deliver goods across the city. Jio is the only network provider connecting every building with free internet to provide propaganda broadcast 24/7 and surveillance.
It looked like the Original Bangaloreans’ dream was coming to life. Their traffic problem is solved, they don’t have to work and all their needs are taken care of by the Son of the Boiled Beans.
Well, the Son of the Boiled Beans promised that the roads would soon be functional for the ‘right purposes’, businesses would return, the lockdown lifted, and Bengaluru’s name would be praised internationally again. But his actual plan is to continue this lockdown as long as possible to hold total control. He has plans to take over all private property in exchange for better privileges and segregate people by their ancient trades.
Is Bengaluru’s golden age around the corner? Or have these arrogant and supremacist Original Bangaloreans foolishly traded their city for false glory to satisfy their ego?
Can the technology capital of India harness its tech power, or at least a responsible minority organize themselves and fight back to reclaim the city?
Bangalore Traffic series
