Cosmopolitan, Metro, Big City????

It was the British who gave our country an unified homogeneous look and divided it into different presidencies to ease the difficulties of administering a country, many times their own in terms of both area and people. Thus were born the presidencies of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras apart from the capital at Delhi. None of the cities thus thrust to prominence, had had any glorious past, apart from Delhi – which had been a witness to the many vagaries of history and culture, old and new, organic and inorganic, peaceful and the terrible; right from the mythical times of the Mahabharata.

Indeed, the emergence of these cities as the principal urban agglomerations in India was a gradual and hence, well-cured process. Art, culture, science, literature, polemics – the various fruits of wisdom established their roots in a sustained manner over the years. And then they percolated down to the lowest strata in society – the plebeian route to equanimity of success and well-being.

Each city became the focal point of their respective part of the country and attracted acolytes from all around. Sindhis, Gujaratis and Parsis flocked to Bombay – the capital of a Presidency that counted all these disparate people as its subjects. Calcutta became the melting pot of an even more diverse set of people – ethnic Chinese, Biharis and Oriyas – members of the Bengal Presidency just like the native Bengalis, Jews, the Dutch in Chinsurah, the Danes in Serampore, the French in Chandernagore, Gurkhas and Assamese. Naturally ecumenical in their constitution, these cities strode to the forefront of the modern India at the beginning of the 20^th century.

Independent India borrowed its concept of metros from this legacy of the British.

Indeed, for a long time, post independence, we were happy with the status quo – with a closed economy, India trudged along the path to modernity and prosperity at a snail's pace. Circa 1990s – and Manmohanomics meant that India will never be the same again. New claimants arose for the coveted title of metros as newer sectors of the industry came into their own and blazed a trail of glory across the global rostrum. Hyderabad and Bangalore became the darlings of this new wave of Indian optimism and gung-ho and were duly admitted into the elite league of Indian megapolises.

And on the fateful dates of 12^th and 13^th April, 2006 – Bangalore exposed the folly that had induced thousands to believe that they were residing in a cosmopolitan urban Indian metro.

Rajkumar had stridden across the world of Kannada movies as a peerless colossus for decades and had duly attained the status of a demi-god in the eyes of his admirers. But he surely would have been heart-stricken to see the way his memory was vandalized by those who claimed to be the custodians of his legacy. As its Annavaru departed for his heavenly abode, Bangalore erupted in unprecedented and mind-boggling ferocity to perpetrate an act of diabolical cowardice on innocent people.

The showcase city of India's rapid stride towards modernity and prosperity decided to exhibit its hidden streak on unsuspecting outsiders – I was a victim of a xenophobic backlash as my office car was trapped near Sankey Road in Sadashivnagar. Sensing that the occupants (myself included) were not conversant in the local language, the crowd decided to smash the car as best as it could, shattered the wind shield and finally torched it, with all its contents inside. In what seemed an eternity of a time, I was dragged out of the car, asked a few questions in Kannada and then summarily abused by all and sundry for daring to come and earn my living in Bangalore. The city was not ours, I was told – it was for the exclusive use of the sons of the soil. We were rapacious marauders, defiling the city of the natives. Kicks and blows rained in before the crowd spotted another potential victim in the car behind us and I managed to make good my escape.

Not all were so lucky however. A few people lost their lives, policemen were brutally bashed up and the city's denizens let loose a reign of terror for a full 2 days.

In the eyes of many, the bubble had burst. Some cities still have a long way to go before they can call themselves metropolitan and cosmopolitan.