Scratch My Back Cities
By Harish Bijoor
Mrs. Reddy came over the other day and gave a big bowl of Sambar just before dinnertime. Dinner was good. The wife is now thinking. What do I send back in that bowl?
And then there are wives and wives and wives. Some will want to send something of equal quantity back. Some will want to send something of equal value back. And then there will be the others who will want to send something of bigger quantity or bigger value back. Just to make a point. Ouch!
Living in a city is all about giving and taking. This is a give and take society. Sending an empty bowl back is not the done thing. It is against our culture of city living altogether. If someone gives, you must give as well.
This giving and taking is not all about the women in our lives alone. It is about the men as well. It is only decent to return favors. Someone paid a restaurant bill the last time round and now it is time to do the honors. Its time to fight to pay the bill. Its only decent.
This moves on. In corporate work life, the give and take syndrome transcends from paying a bill by turn to scratching someone’s back because they scratched yours sometime or the other. Favors make the world go round big time in corporate life. Somebody stood by someone some day and it is now time to stand by the person who did it for you the last time round. Never mind the issue. Never mind the situation. Ouch!
This give and take life has invaded our city lives completely. Corrupted it totally as well.
In comes Diwali and Christmas and Id and every other festival that dot our lives. It is time to give. And take. Ouch.
If you sent a box of sweets for Diwali to Mrs. Popat, and Mrs. Popat did not return a box, it is time to blacklist Mrs. Popat the next time round. Ouch!
Have you ever wondered about the dynamics of give and take?
If you are visiting the Tuntuns, it is time to check out what to take as a gift. And it sure is time to quickly calculate the value of the gift the Tuntuns brought home the last time round when they were over. Time to benchmark value and deliver it back. Give and take seems to make the world of city living go round and round. I sometimes wonder if people keep little black-books that record quantum, value and returns.
Give and take city living comes to such a pass that there sure are a whole lot of gift items that keep circulating from home to home, without ever being used by any of the homes they touch down upon. If there is a gift that lands at home which you don’t quite like, or have too many of(or whatever), it is time to buy fresh packing paper, check for engraved notations of name on the gift, and if you find nothing exists, time to pack it all up once again and set it going on its give and take routine.
I have often wondered whether something sent out two years ago by the Jalpaiguri family ever reaches them back as well. And if so, do they recognize it, or do they just set it going once again?
Why am I talking about all this give and take routine? Why am I belaboring the point this much?
Very simply because it is time we got back to be genuine and real. Time to sit up and literally cause tumult. Time to sit up and say that you will not simply return a gift because you were gifted something.
Time to get real and genuine once again in our city lives. Time to say that I will gift something to someone only f I feel like it. Not because I am forced to return a favor.
Time to stop this charade for sure. Time to get a little uncivil and break out of the ennui of the predictable.
But why?
Very simply because what starts out as simple exchanges of Sambar for Pindi Chhole, rather quickly morph to boxes of sweets and vases and chalices and favors as well, a bit too fast.
City living seems replete with favors that are not done, but favors that are exchanged. I have nothing against favors being done to people. What I have my hackles up is against the exchange of favors altogether. At times, one favor does not deserve a return favor. Unfortunately however, we tend to forget this all the time. And that is the crux of the issue.
If you scratched my back the last time round, I sure do have to scratch your back the next time round dude! Never mind what the issue is all about. I am obliged to. Touche!
The author is a brand-specialist & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email: harishbijoor@hotmail.com
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Bangalore Rage!
The Rage of Bangalore
By Harish Bijoor
Bangalore is an attitude.
A city is really an attitude. A reflection of the collective attitude of its people. In many ways Bangalore is not about this now sprawling BBMP area of 740 sq km. It is not about the eclectic mix of its people. It is not about the ethnographic mix. It is not about its varied food habits. Not about its varied dressing habits. Not about its many languages. Not about the 10,000 plus expatriates who have adopted the city as their own. Remember, the city boasts a third of the expatriate population in India. The highest single cluster of expatriates anywhere in India.
A city is really the aggregate of the attitude of its people. What is the mindset of the Bangalorean at large? What is her world-view? What is her civic-view? Is she inclusive in her mindset or exclusive? What is her social attitude? How is her economic attitude fashioned? And what of his Religious attitude? How is his political attitude?
It is therefore all about attitude. A city is defined by the attitude of its people. Attitude as reflected in behavior. Attitude as portrayed by the actions of its peoples. Attitude as displayed on the sleeves of the people who make up this city.
Who makes this city then? An eclectic mix of the haves and have-nots. Bangalore boasts of a large population of industrial workers. Textile workers even. Auto-rickshaw drivers (1, 21,000 at last count), drivers of every kind who make for the travel comfort of this city. Servants and cooks and home comfort-enablers of every kind. Sweepers in the formal sector, and indeed a whole host of rag-pickers and beggars and street-singers and street-acrobats in the informal sectors.
The city ticks on with its complement of tech-workers. A big chunk of the 16 lakh population of tech-workers in the country have made Bangalore their home. Add to this people from every part of the country who work within the confines of the many enterprises in end-to-end-services, the BPO industry, retail, marketing, manufacturing, aviation and more. Name a business vertical of significance, and we have it here in Bangalore.
If you speak a region, we have them all here. Literally every one of our many States is represented in this microcosm that is Bangalore. The languages are multifarious today. From the biggest non-local chunk contribution of Telugu (12% plus), every language that is spoken in India is here. As is the food of these many regions. Add to it the many foreign languages and cuisines. Sushi is now found in as many as 19 different restaurants in Bangalore. And Korean cuisine in as many as 11.
We are a mixed city then. A healthy mix from everywhere. A mix that has found Bangalore a pleasant place to be, sans the jingoism that mars many a city elsewhere. The Kannadiga is the most hospitable and inclusive person there is. Embracing everyone into the myriad folds of the city. Bangalore is a ‘bisi-bele-baath’ all of its own. A very tasty one at that.
As I write, the city remains what it was, inclusive. What worries me though are incidents that seem to come up every now and then on our roads. Road-rage for a start. These incidents are small in number but deep in the anguish they cause among those exposed to it.
If the city is an attitude, road-rage is a stress-induced manifestation of the attitude of a city as well. There was a time when road-rage manifested itself rather politely in this city. I have personally seen instances where people have gotten out of their cars with folded hands and apologized to those who they have upset. Gone are those days. This is getting to be an angrier city. Why?
Road-rage seems to be inversely proportional to the education of its peoples. We are a reasonably well-educated city. The most educated seem to get the most angry on our roads. And road-rage seems to be a vent-point. A point where the issue of the “outsider” and the “insider” seems to manifest itself suddenly. When someone gets angry, very angry, the first shout that seems to emerge is in the mother-tongue of choice. And this is where it all starts. This is where language comes in, one opposing the other. And this is where the status of the “insider” and “outsider” comes in. And this is precisely where the government machinery and its possible biases come in as well. To the chagrin of the affected.
The attitude of the city needs a balm on the roads, particularly as our traffic-snarls increase. The snarl is really in us. We need to very consciously control this animal. Shall we make a conscious effort? And let’s educate one other person on this. Just for a start.
We need a public program that educates us about road rage. Any takers?
Harish Bijoor is a brand-expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email: ceo@harishbijoorconsults.com
By Harish Bijoor
Bangalore is an attitude.
A city is really an attitude. A reflection of the collective attitude of its people. In many ways Bangalore is not about this now sprawling BBMP area of 740 sq km. It is not about the eclectic mix of its people. It is not about the ethnographic mix. It is not about its varied food habits. Not about its varied dressing habits. Not about its many languages. Not about the 10,000 plus expatriates who have adopted the city as their own. Remember, the city boasts a third of the expatriate population in India. The highest single cluster of expatriates anywhere in India.
A city is really the aggregate of the attitude of its people. What is the mindset of the Bangalorean at large? What is her world-view? What is her civic-view? Is she inclusive in her mindset or exclusive? What is her social attitude? How is her economic attitude fashioned? And what of his Religious attitude? How is his political attitude?
It is therefore all about attitude. A city is defined by the attitude of its people. Attitude as reflected in behavior. Attitude as portrayed by the actions of its peoples. Attitude as displayed on the sleeves of the people who make up this city.
Who makes this city then? An eclectic mix of the haves and have-nots. Bangalore boasts of a large population of industrial workers. Textile workers even. Auto-rickshaw drivers (1, 21,000 at last count), drivers of every kind who make for the travel comfort of this city. Servants and cooks and home comfort-enablers of every kind. Sweepers in the formal sector, and indeed a whole host of rag-pickers and beggars and street-singers and street-acrobats in the informal sectors.
The city ticks on with its complement of tech-workers. A big chunk of the 16 lakh population of tech-workers in the country have made Bangalore their home. Add to this people from every part of the country who work within the confines of the many enterprises in end-to-end-services, the BPO industry, retail, marketing, manufacturing, aviation and more. Name a business vertical of significance, and we have it here in Bangalore.
If you speak a region, we have them all here. Literally every one of our many States is represented in this microcosm that is Bangalore. The languages are multifarious today. From the biggest non-local chunk contribution of Telugu (12% plus), every language that is spoken in India is here. As is the food of these many regions. Add to it the many foreign languages and cuisines. Sushi is now found in as many as 19 different restaurants in Bangalore. And Korean cuisine in as many as 11.
We are a mixed city then. A healthy mix from everywhere. A mix that has found Bangalore a pleasant place to be, sans the jingoism that mars many a city elsewhere. The Kannadiga is the most hospitable and inclusive person there is. Embracing everyone into the myriad folds of the city. Bangalore is a ‘bisi-bele-baath’ all of its own. A very tasty one at that.
As I write, the city remains what it was, inclusive. What worries me though are incidents that seem to come up every now and then on our roads. Road-rage for a start. These incidents are small in number but deep in the anguish they cause among those exposed to it.
If the city is an attitude, road-rage is a stress-induced manifestation of the attitude of a city as well. There was a time when road-rage manifested itself rather politely in this city. I have personally seen instances where people have gotten out of their cars with folded hands and apologized to those who they have upset. Gone are those days. This is getting to be an angrier city. Why?
Road-rage seems to be inversely proportional to the education of its peoples. We are a reasonably well-educated city. The most educated seem to get the most angry on our roads. And road-rage seems to be a vent-point. A point where the issue of the “outsider” and the “insider” seems to manifest itself suddenly. When someone gets angry, very angry, the first shout that seems to emerge is in the mother-tongue of choice. And this is where it all starts. This is where language comes in, one opposing the other. And this is where the status of the “insider” and “outsider” comes in. And this is precisely where the government machinery and its possible biases come in as well. To the chagrin of the affected.
The attitude of the city needs a balm on the roads, particularly as our traffic-snarls increase. The snarl is really in us. We need to very consciously control this animal. Shall we make a conscious effort? And let’s educate one other person on this. Just for a start.
We need a public program that educates us about road rage. Any takers?
Harish Bijoor is a brand-expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email: ceo@harishbijoorconsults.com
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