Mayhem in Bangalore...
I saw it in front of my eyes...the sheer mayhem that was unleashed in Bangalore when Dr. Rajkumar died.
So far, I had seen only the after effects of crass violence, courtesy the Shiv Sena in Thane, near Mumbai. I still remember the sight of Singhania hospital which was burnt down by the Sainiks because one of their leaders died there. But this is the first time I have seen mob violence occurring in front of my eyes.
Dr. Rajkumar, passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 1.45 pm following a cardiac arrest. He was a very popular actor, and is equivalent to God for a large number of Kannada movie buffs. Personally, I too respect him for his versatile acting skills and more importantly, his humbleness.
My team members here in Mistral got to know of his death by around 2.30 pm. The guys started commenting that there is going to be some violence. But no one thought much of it, since Dr. Rajkumar had lived to a ripe old age of 78, and the death had been a natural once.
However, at around 3.30 pm, we got to know that violence had indeed broken out in some parts of Bangalore. We didn't take it seriously. We are located in a relatively upmarket part of town, Domlur, where we thought 'such stuff doesn't happen'. Instead, we started pulling the legs of some of our Tamilian engineers (many Kannadigas have serious issues with folks from neighboring Tamil Nadu, especially due to the fact that the Tamil outlaw Veerappan had once kidnapped Dr. Rajkumar). One Tamil engineer devised a method to temporarily hide his Tamil- add a 'lu' to the end of every word to make it sound like the Telugu language - it was hilarious :-)
However, some time later, there was a company-wide announcement asking all employees to pack their vehicles into the basement of the building. This was when we realized that things were not exactly hunky-dory in Domlur. Around half an hour later, there was another another announcement: “Due to the sad demise of Dr. Rajkumar, Mistral is being closed for the day. All employees are requested to leave immediately". That was it. People started to scram. We got to know that violence was erupting in several places.
Some of us wanted to finish off a bit of coding before leaving. I planned to put in just a wee of time, because I live at a place which is 10 minutes from office.
Then someone called us to the terrace. We went there, and that was when I saw it all:
There was a mob just a few metres from our building. They were burning tires, destroying shops, running around in a frenzy. For a moment, I froze in terror. There it was. Domlur had been struck.
I scrammed too. Just beat it. Vamoosed.
As I was heading home, a motorcycle gang crossed me at 100 Ft. Road, Indiranagar, and hurled abuses at the security guard of a nearby service apartment. I just looked straight ahead.
Reached home safe and sound. The next 32 hours were spent mostly indoors. Luckily, there is a mess service at the place I live, so food wasn't a problem. Some of the guys I know had a tough time arranging for dinner on Wednesday. Everything was closed. They ultimately went to neighboring buildings to request for food.
As for Thursday, April 13 - This day witnessed spectacular violence at the Kanteerava stadium where Dr. Rajkumar's body was kept for the public to pay their last respects. You must have read the gory details by now. If not:
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060414/1404001.htm
Today morning, everything had returned to normal. Staying indoors with nothing to do but watch TV had been pretty depressing for me. As I walked towards office, the birds were chirping, the sun shone pleasantly, and the streets had come alive again. The thought of working on that bug I left behind on Wednesday warmed me up inside.
No, Bangalore isn't a bad place. On the contrary, I feel it rocks. But sometimes, just sometimes, it goes insane.
So far, I had seen only the after effects of crass violence, courtesy the Shiv Sena in Thane, near Mumbai. I still remember the sight of Singhania hospital which was burnt down by the Sainiks because one of their leaders died there. But this is the first time I have seen mob violence occurring in front of my eyes.
Dr. Rajkumar, passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 1.45 pm following a cardiac arrest. He was a very popular actor, and is equivalent to God for a large number of Kannada movie buffs. Personally, I too respect him for his versatile acting skills and more importantly, his humbleness.
My team members here in Mistral got to know of his death by around 2.30 pm. The guys started commenting that there is going to be some violence. But no one thought much of it, since Dr. Rajkumar had lived to a ripe old age of 78, and the death had been a natural once.
However, at around 3.30 pm, we got to know that violence had indeed broken out in some parts of Bangalore. We didn't take it seriously. We are located in a relatively upmarket part of town, Domlur, where we thought 'such stuff doesn't happen'. Instead, we started pulling the legs of some of our Tamilian engineers (many Kannadigas have serious issues with folks from neighboring Tamil Nadu, especially due to the fact that the Tamil outlaw Veerappan had once kidnapped Dr. Rajkumar). One Tamil engineer devised a method to temporarily hide his Tamil- add a 'lu' to the end of every word to make it sound like the Telugu language - it was hilarious :-)
However, some time later, there was a company-wide announcement asking all employees to pack their vehicles into the basement of the building. This was when we realized that things were not exactly hunky-dory in Domlur. Around half an hour later, there was another another announcement: “Due to the sad demise of Dr. Rajkumar, Mistral is being closed for the day. All employees are requested to leave immediately". That was it. People started to scram. We got to know that violence was erupting in several places.
Some of us wanted to finish off a bit of coding before leaving. I planned to put in just a wee of time, because I live at a place which is 10 minutes from office.
Then someone called us to the terrace. We went there, and that was when I saw it all:
There was a mob just a few metres from our building. They were burning tires, destroying shops, running around in a frenzy. For a moment, I froze in terror. There it was. Domlur had been struck.
I scrammed too. Just beat it. Vamoosed.
As I was heading home, a motorcycle gang crossed me at 100 Ft. Road, Indiranagar, and hurled abuses at the security guard of a nearby service apartment. I just looked straight ahead.
Reached home safe and sound. The next 32 hours were spent mostly indoors. Luckily, there is a mess service at the place I live, so food wasn't a problem. Some of the guys I know had a tough time arranging for dinner on Wednesday. Everything was closed. They ultimately went to neighboring buildings to request for food.
As for Thursday, April 13 - This day witnessed spectacular violence at the Kanteerava stadium where Dr. Rajkumar's body was kept for the public to pay their last respects. You must have read the gory details by now. If not:
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060414/1404001.htm
Today morning, everything had returned to normal. Staying indoors with nothing to do but watch TV had been pretty depressing for me. As I walked towards office, the birds were chirping, the sun shone pleasantly, and the streets had come alive again. The thought of working on that bug I left behind on Wednesday warmed me up inside.
No, Bangalore isn't a bad place. On the contrary, I feel it rocks. But sometimes, just sometimes, it goes insane.