The "Garden city of India" has rapidly transformed into the "Silicon Valley of India" and may emerge as the first city in India with wireless broadband Internet connectivity in about two years.

Bangalore (or Bengalooru, new name since November 2006), which used to be a quiet, green, beautiful south Indian city with a temperate climate until the early 80s, is now polluted with hot climate, chaotic with poor and overburdened infrastructure, influx of MNCs (Multinational Companies), ITs (Information Technology), BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing), a population that seems to be growing in hundreds by the day and suffering the pressure to be the best in the global race. Home to well over 7 million people, and a base for multiple industries, Bangalore is India's fifth largest city with other nicknames of "Fashion Capital", "The Pub City of India", "Stone City" for its granite deposits.

The past 2 decades witnessed a major technology boom of more than 250 high tech multi-national and 1500 IT software companies that have brought more problems than solutions for the local population. On the one hand the boom provides for more job opportunities in various sectors, is a symbol of prestige for the city, increases purchasing power, increases investment, economic growth and development. On the other hand cost of living has more than doubled, intense competition in employment and education, severe traffic congestion, overpopulation, insufficient public transport and public health services, adverse environmental impacts due to industrial development, are among the many problems that the city faces.

The idea behind the influx of MNCs is to have a direct plunge into the talent pool, save costs for moving technical experts back and forth from Western States, to be the first to choose from the best and to benefit from the surplus workforce. Bangalore has the highest number of engineering colleges in India ensuring a continuous supply of fresh graduates for the thriving service sector. High competition provides the very best of talent and experienced knowledge workers are hot property for product companies. And this factor attracts professionals from all over India seeking their share in the limelight.

The apparent competition has a strong psychological impact on the younger generation, whose damage goes unnoticed and hence cannot be estimated. The entry level expectations of MNCs are demanding and exert maximum pressure on the youngsters to perform beyond their limits, creating imbalances in their lives which no one seems to care about in the race to reach the top. The pressure and expectation of a perfect performance is not only from companies and universities, but from the entire status driven society that pushes a person to give its very best, in most cases more than their capability. Parents, teachers, friends, relatives, neighbours, the vegetable vendor, hairdresser and everyone possible have a say in the lives of a normal middle class person, the only person who has no say is the individual himself/herself.

Bangalore has reached a point where there are hardly vacancies for engineers and doctors. These professionals have to look for jobs in one of the hundreds of call centres mushrooming all over the city, which employ fresh graduates for a pay package that is much higher than the average salary of an entry level engineer, doctor or public employee. The BPOs on the one hand provide for more job vacancies and means to earn a decent living, but on the other hand create a situation of dilemma and frustration for highly educated professionals who have to work in call centres to make a living, because there are no vacancies in their fields of work or because they are not among the top class that the MNCs are looking for.

India as the growing world economic power and Bangalore as the IT hub of the world is more than the high buildings, technology parks, and European standard shopping malls. It is a creation of a wannabe hip population produced by call centres that train their employees to speak and possibly think like Americans in order to give their clients on the other side of the globe the illusion of being served by a fellow citizen. The new financial and cultural means enabling part of the young generation to live away from the disapproving glares of their elders and to enjoy cafes, malls and bars in an almost European/American setting, create a strong tension in the still conservative society with its deep rooted values like arranged marriage, dowry (bride price) and caste system. This friction has created confusion, frustration and identity problems among today's society, where the older generation is convinced that they are loosing their good old culture to a vulgar and unworthy lifestyle.

Despite the country's success in knowledge-based industries, around 60% of Indians depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. And while the country's universities crank out more than 1 million engineers and programmers each year, primary education is lacking, particularly for rural residents and women. About forty percent of Indian adults are illiterate and more than half the population lives in poverty. There still exist strong restrictions to freedom of thought and religion.

Bangalore's society is highly unequal. The educated middle class is basking in the bliss of competitive salaries and new found freedom (as they perceive it), the companies are profiting from the abundance of quality labour, the poor are more suppressed with no chance of a better living, creating an even stronger gap between rich and poor. Globalisation in Bangalore as in the rest of India has reached only a handful of Indians who can afford it, the opportunities are there only for those who are already up on their feet.

The majority of the state population is still illiterate or less educated, ignorant, stuck in caste systems, poor, exploited, with no basic facilities and a home in one of the many city slums that decorate parts of Bangalore like any other metropolitan city of India. 

10.01.07

Farah Fahim Tarsia