Bangalore the Ideas City

Rodin In Cubbon Park

By Harish Bijoor

I live in Bangalore. I love Bangalore. But that’s not why I am saying what I am going to say right now.

I do believe, if New Delhi is the political capital of India, Mumbai the commercial and Kolkata the ‘kultural’, Bangalore is indeed the Intellectual capital of India.   We are a city of ideas. A city of thinking people who think the past with equal aplomb as we think the present and the future.

While most cities today are very besotted with the present, we straddle every aspect of the past, present and the future, in our own true-blue Bangalorean way. Never mind the fact that we live treadmill lives, like everyone in the bog cities does, but we get off at times as well. And that’s the time we think. And sometimes act.

Bangalore today is all of 87 lakh people living cheek to jowl with people from 25 different Indian states and some 39 nationalities that have made Bangalore India’s biggest expatriate island. Bangalore is therefore a true-blue amalgam city of sorts. We are the melting pot city in India, if there ever is to be one, where different cultures, tastes, and most importantly ideas mix, rub shoulders and blend. This then is an ideas-laboratory of sorts. A place where new things are thought out. A few ideas flourish and most die of course. In many ways an idea is a sperm. It lives like one and dies like one as well. Very few germinate.

Bangalore today is really an ideas city. It has been one for a while now. Only thing is we have not noticed enough of it, and not made enough of it as well. This is an innovative city. Innovative at every level. A city of entrepreneurs as well. A lot of credit for this entrepreneurship streak needs to be given to the lakhs of new settlers we have welcomed into this city from every part of India and the world at large.

Let’s first credit every land entrepreneur who came in from Andhra and indeed the immediate neighboring states around us. Lets credit every retailer, whether it be in the space of grocery ‘kirana’ or gold retail, many of whom came in from Kerala and again our very immediate neighbor states. I can go on listing out terrains that cover technology, ITES, IT-end to end services, Biotech, manufacturing, pharma and literally every other idea vertical that has made this city what it is. A city of ideas. A city that has encouraged idea start-ups from the realm of the humble Momo-cart to high end embedded systems that run nations and their many programs.

The basic DNA of this city, from the bottom end of the corner 'kirana' grocer to the top-end of the IT-preneur is a city that is led and bled by ideas.  Look around, and it is not difficult to spot an ‘ideapreneur’ on the prowl. This guy has been welcomed into the fold of this very accommodative city. Never mind where you are from, all are welcome. There is no jingoism here. If your idea is good, you will survive here. And thrive.

The ideas that run here are both small and big. Decades ago we started with Pub-entrepreneurships. The theme pub started in Bangalore really. A space pub called NASA, a car pub called Black Cadillac, and 485 other variants happened here. The food revolution is a reality in Bangalore today. Every food-entrepreneurship is an idea whose time has come. Koramangala today boasts of the highest density of restaurants per square kilometer in India for sure, with its 458 offerings. The Café started in Bangalore with VG Siddhartha’s Café Coffee Day, and now we have 2950 of them belonging to a myriad set of brands all over India. The IT end-to-end services enterprises happened here and sprouted, just as did the BPO outfits that litter our lives, From bottom end to top-end, this is surely an ideas city.

One downside though. The idea sperms are many, but few meet and mate the money that is needed to ramp up the humble idea. One wonders where the moneybags are burying their moneys. Let’s dig.

In a way, if I were to look for an image icon that would represent Bangalore for what it is, it would not be the Vidhana Soudha, which we use so profusely. Neither would it be the visual of the “Namma Metro”.

Instead, I would land up right in Paris, run into the Musee Rodin and fly out Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” and plant it out here right outside Cubbon Park! Sorry Parisians! This is the spanking new thinking city of the spanking new world. Bangalore!

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Harish Bijoor is a Brand-strategy specialist & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.

Twitter @harishbijoor

Email: harishbijoor@hotmail.com

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A Budget for Bangalore

Budget ethos for the city of Bengaluru


By Harish Bijoor


Bengaluru is a very vital part of Karnataka. The city is today not only the capital of Karnataka, but in many ways, is the Intellectual capital of India as well.

If Mumbai is the financial capital, Delhi the political capital and Kolkata the cultural capital, Bengaluru is surely the Intellectual capital of India.

In many parts of the world where I travel, I have had cab drivers ask with awe about the mystique of Brand Bangalore. Many flatteringly mistake the city to be the capital of India as well. This has happened to me equally in Singapore as it has happened in Addis Ababa and Ankara alike.

Bengaluru is therefore a city with a significance index for the nation, which is larger than life. The city in many ways belongs to each and every one of us in India who believes in the power of knowledge and the power of technology and technology enabled services.

If I am to look at the Budget ethos for a city such as Bengaluru, I do believe attention needs to be disproportionate, futuristic, global and of a cutting-edge variety. The city needs all of this and more.

Let me start on the allocations side. The budget for Bengaluru for a start must look at an outlay that is significantly larger than the INR 3000 Crore that was allocated in the Karnataka Budget for 2009-10. There is a demand that seeks a minimum INR 5000 Crore need. Bengaluru needs the attention of funds that are disproportionate to the total outlay on the Urban Development initiatives in the Budget. The last budget saw 40.7 percentage of the Urban Development budget kitty go to Bengaluru. This year, for a start , the need lies in a deeper percentage as the budget allocation to Urban Development initiatives deepen all across.
I would list the following basic ethos that the budget document needs to follow and use as a beacon light:

1. Infrastructure spending has been earmarked well budget after budget. This time round, there needs to be investments in the maintenance and sensible enhancement of the infrastructure that has been put into place. There is a need to allocate moneys on the soft side of infrastructure as well. It is important not only to build the flyovers and under-passes, it is important to invest in educating the public on the proper use of roads and the sensible use of infrastructure as well. Lane driving for one is a forgotten aspect on Bangalore roads.
2. Bengaluru is a really big city today under the BBMP limits. This mega-city produces a lot of waste. There is little expenditure that goes into waste-management. It is important to focus on this. Recycling of water and recycling of non-bio degradable waste is an important imperative the budget needs to allocate moneys to. Garbage is the biggest issue staring at us. Creative use of garbage needs the application of minds and moneys. I do believe the budget has a role to play here by upping allocations to recycling expenditures.
3. Slum rehabilitation is an important city need. As the city spreads and as consumptiveness becomes more and more vulgar in its orientation, it is important to manage the needs and wants of those who live in our city slums. It is important to invest in infrastructure development to provide for decent houses with drainage and water facilities. The city cannot cater only to the needs of the haves. It needs to look after the needs of those who have very little. The polarization of wealth is a big issue in a city like Bengaluru. This is a powder keg that acts as a crucible for the development of crime and simmering social discontent that waits for an opportunity to erupt.
4. The Language of GREEN is important to back. It is important to look at showcasing Bengaluru as a green-city that believes in green initiatives that are eco-friendly. Investment in building a nodal body that spearheads this and showcase Bengaluru to the world as a leader among all cities going green is an initiative that is needed. Bengaluru has up-rooted many trees in the last two years. It is important to focus on re-greening Bengaluru back. It needs to be disproportionate to need. Budget allocations on this count is what I look forward to.
5. Bengaluru can be an excellent tourist destination. We need the allocation of moneys for the re-invention of the tourist route of Bengaluru. The last budget saw an excellent allocation of INR 180 Crores for Tourism initiatives. In this budget ahead, I look forward to see a healthier still allocation with a focus on Bengaluru as well. Properties such as Nandi Hills are screaming for the need of attention. Let’s give it that.


Lastly, as a parting note to this budget-need piece, I do believe it is time for Bengaluru to invest in the creation of a logo of its own. We need a symbol the city can own and nurture. Bangalore is already a brand. The brand now needs a symbol. Progressive cities of the world own symbols of their own. I think Bengaluru has arrived enough to ask for one its own. Let’s start the debate on this at least now in this budget with a small allocation that helps put together an eco-system to make it happen.
The author is a brand-expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email: ceo@harishbijoorconsults.com