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What defines our city?

With tags like Silicon Valley and Little Singapore taking over, Bangalore doesn't seem to exist in its own right, says Sujata Varadarajan

I have spent some part of my childhood and a reasonable part of my youth in Bangalore. And in the past several years, the city seems to have lost its right to exist in its own right. It is called by several names, from Silicon Valley to Little Singapore, depending on who's doing the defining. While these traits are all very well for a city to possess, it becomes sadly limiting if they are mistaken for its very essence.

Intangible, subjective

What, after all, is the essence of Bangalore? An intangible, undoubtedly subjective quality. But to me, personally, Bangalore seemed till recently like a fairly happy-go-lucky place, where one made friends just by walking down the streets in certain parts of town. People were relaxed (sometime too relaxed) being fervent believers in the swalpa adjust maadi philosphy.

Now, of course, there appears to be no place to adjust, physically as well as metaphorically. We seem to be told by planners of all varieties what our city is aiming to become or how lucky we are to be able to live here but feel as though we were elsewhere. Why on earth should this be so important?

Planning is an essential part of development and aspiring has never hurt anyone. But while doing so, it is important not to lose sight of one's objectives. The aim of a positively growing city is not to become a replica of another city that is geographically, socially and culturally completely different from it.

It may sound good to some on paper or in speeches (words that are easy to print and easier to read than to relate to), but apart from that I doubt if these phrases achieve much. A lot of money is being spent (and made) in the process.

It is very easy to talk of per capita income and the growing middle class. But these seem somewhat unrealistic (or insufficient) indices of measuring social prosperity. Instead of hearing the same numbers and clichéd analyses, it would be interesting to discover whether people's sense of security (indicated possibly by the change in numbers of security agencies over time, crime rates, numbers of elderly people or women on the road alone, etc.) has altered with time. Likewise to gauge if stress-related or lifestyle-induced diseases are on the rise or decline or whether other factors affecting health or environmental safety have undergone any changes qualitatively or quantitatively.

Rather than force an identity on the city, it is important to realise that Bangalore, like any other place, has its own identity which has evolved over many years in its very own rambling way. It has a distinct terrain, climate, a particular (even though changing) demographic pattern and a cultural style of its own. These are aspects of the city that imbue it with its own subtle but essential character. It is an interplay of all these factors that we relate to and assume as being an intrinsic part of our lives without giving a specific name to them. These characteristics do alter with time, but they need not be forced to move along lines that are unnatural or inadvisable for the city merely because "it sounds good" or "feels good".

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