Garden City. It’s an old name, but after I came back to live in Bangalore as an adult, and in 15 years of going to every corner of it, I’ve decided that this is more a city of lakes. Cubbon Park and Lalbagh were from another era. Today’s preferred green space is a walking path with a fence, a trimmed hedge, and lawns you mustn’t sit on. The lakes feel more natural, although they too now include fences and stone paths around them. One can shuffle along, letting the senses absorb things. The birds are a treat. I didn’t quite realise how many species were around until I began visiting the lakes. A small consolation for the sparrows that have long gone. Despite the real estate industry’s deeds, there are still nearly 200 lakes in the city. This is possibly the world’s largest city without a huge water body, but there’s plenty of potential waterfront. And the lakes add a lot more livability to the city than the parks.
There are more urban interventionists per square mile in Bangalore than elsewhere, says a friend. People have ideas about how the city should be improved and nudge the government to adopt them. The push to revive the lakes first came from citizens, who did part of the work. Eventually, the municipality decided to partner with them. Not long ago, most lakes were open sewage pits, but after a decade of joint stewardship, there are many pretty blue dots. Similarly, bus routes were rationalised, the traffic police went digital and road-widening was replaced by footpath-widening in a few places, all through such people-government collaborations. Some citizens appointed a Bicycle Mayor and began promoting safe cycling; the government joined in. A persistent theme has thus emerged—‘More than trying to solve our problems, we should increase the number of problem-solving people’. The Bengaluru Civic Leadership Incubation Program offers a 12-week course to those wanting to contest municipal polls. If you are going to represent the public, a little practice might help. A few of the graduates became councillors; one is an MLA.
None of this has got in the way of being able to stand up to bad ideas, including a recent proposal to build a tree park in a forest! The government had once wanted to build a steel flyover into the heart of the city, across its great heritage, with money that would have been far better spent on public transport. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets in protest.
The biggest protest was Saaku. The first anti-corruption rally in the city was launched at the height of the Lokayukta’s investigations in 2010. On a picturesque Sunday, thousands walked the streets around Cubbon Park demanding what the Constitution promised—a transparent, accountable government. Arvind Kejriwal was in town, so was civil servant-turned-activist Jaya Prakash Narayana. People chatted about how widespread anger against corruption must become a lever for change. India Against Corruption was just around the corner. Increasingly, people are comfortable travelling from activism to politics. For over 70 years, we’ve lived with government for the people. Its pace will pick up only when we get to government by the people too. Representation is good, participation is better.
The ‘IT City’--the other label that has stuck. Beginning with the rise of Infosys and Wipro, Bangalore became synonymous with information technology jobs. Those jobs are now aplenty in all other big cities. But in the minds of young people, this is still the place to be. Nearly a thousand people come daily. But there is another city here, which we barely see. One might call it the Garments City. By some estimates, there are more garment workers among us than IT workers. And many more across Karnataka. In factories and cooperatives, doing steady jobs and bit work, selling to high streets and sidewalks. They’ve never made it to the popular imagination of Namma Bengaluru.
There are others like them. Domestic workers. Gems cutters. Delivery boys. It’s their city too. But we have not made space for them in it. If Bangalore is an example of what the future could be, it is also a powerful reminder of what the past has been, and the present. We live with the delusion that India will first become a developed country, and after that we’ll be able to educate and nourish a billion-plus people. The cart is in front of the horse.