“The government of Karnataka cannot be the government of Bangalore. The government of Bangalore cannot be the government of the IT industry. That was the mistake the previous government [of S.M. Krishna] made. That overemphasis cost us three-and-a-half years of development [during the Dharam Singh and H.D. Kumaraswamy regimes]; in real terms maybe ten years of development…. There is no question the IT companies need to do more, but the multinational companies which are so well entrenched here also need to step in.”
Subroto Bagchi of Mindtree, in conversation with Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV, on a special election-eve program, Vote for Bangalore
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churumuri 
Well said Mr.Bagchi. One of the saner voices from the IT industry, when compared to land grabbers and impostors like Nani, Nilekani et al.
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If a CM is unable to deal with the entire state and can focus on only IT in Bangalore, then he will be out very soon. Remember Chandrababu Naidu , the CM of Hyderabad?
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Is Karnataka going to be the first state in the union to lose its capital? Is Karnataka going to be the first state in the union where the locals will eventually be the minority? This is what will happen if those lost ten years of development are recovered.
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Hi Kannadiga,
Just i want request please vote any party but Congress.
I don’t mind if you vote JD(S) OR BJP or other party except
Congress . Congressis the most corrupt party in India and as well as Karnataka. after Independance most of the year ruled by Congress and they should take major share of blame for karnataka problem than BJP or JD(S).
Please don’t vote congress.
Namaskar
Ram
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Well in the first place IT does not expect any favours from the goverment anymore. IT is well placed to grown on it own. As Nandan Neelekani said the other day, they soon want to take IT to the 2 tier cities of Karnataka in a big way which indicates the sectors commitment for the all round development of the state. What the IT sectors expects from the future goverments in better infrastructure and the benefeciaries of it will be people cutting across sectors.
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What makes this interesting is that SMK’s son-in-law happens to have a significant stake in MT
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When Top International cities are happy to attract talent from world wide ,it is a pity that we are not welcoming our cousins from other states into our city. I’m sure Kannada culture is strong enough to retain its identity despite the growing multi culturism. Bangalore is first in India and then in Karnataka.
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I am impressed. The prove of sane voices amidst the IT cacophony.
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Sid – what a joke? Who decides what is where first? in that logic, bengalooru should first be a world city. Or it should be a selfish city bothered about itself – forget, karnataka, india or the world.
the fact is there is a heirarchy – city is part of a state is part of a country …… to conveniently ignore one level and go one level one up only creates disharmony and nothing else. Sid kind of thoughts are more against harmony and integration than for it.
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I wonder how being good to all and loving fellow Indians can be against
harmony and integration.
Harmony as per the dictionary:
a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity
What I was pushing for is a pleasing arrangement of parts(People from different states) in Bengalooru.
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Yella not ok.you are entitled to have your own view. If one agrees to your view on the hierarchy, it can be top-up or bottom-up.Any ways the arguments remind me of some one saying …”Under the British we were all united. Only after that it all started, south vs north, Kannada vs non kannada”…
As Sid said I beleive in the Kannada culture’s strength to withstand on its own…..
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Problem occurs when people who are good all and love fellow Indians are provided with step motherly treatment by the same people who receive such kindnes and love. And occurs when protesting against such treatment is considered parochialism and chavunism.
Multi-cultarlism does not mean ignoring or condemning one (local) for the bettter of other which is what most “liberal” views in effect want to achieve in the couch of liberalism.
Such people should honestly ask themselves – have they been good and loving to people. land, cutlure and values of bengalooru and karnataka.; before adovcating such views to others.
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I have no doubts that Bengalooru is a world city. At least the hotel rates are as costly as in Lower Manhattan :))
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May be you had some forgettable experiences with outsiders. All outsiders I have met told me that Kannadigas are soft and good natured. If the whole world admires this trait then I feel we should preserve it.
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I am trying to get your point of view. If anyone condemns the culture of the other then it shud be condemned. But the same rule applies to us. We shud appraciate their culture…
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IT was a pleasant surprise that Bagchi (a non-Kannadiga) spoke much in favour of locals and why they have every reason to be unhappy. It is also an eye opener for many other companies and hopefully they take a cue from MT and set things right. But IT is only a small piece in the pie. Much depends on how much the elected reps (all locals) respect the local culture, heritage, et al and stop approving projects for the sake of making money. Else lakes, open spaces, green belt will vanish, and all these would eventually have a bearing on the limited infrastructure. Well, this is just one perspective, and there are hundred others that have ruined Bangalore. Over emphasis on infra, industries, ‘economic growth’ should stop. Let this Govt adopt people-centric approch, then the Bangalore would return, and Tier II cities of Karnataka will remain for the people.
On the NDTV show…am seeing the same set of people in all the shows on Bangalore. CNN-IBN too had almost the same cast plus URA.
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All those of you who dislike IT professionals or what IT professionals are doing to the precious Bangalore culture, REJOICE!!
According to this TOI article, Chennai will have the highest IT professionals in India, more than Bangalore.
http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2999789.cms
If we have a coalition government or a JD(S) govt again, it wouldn’t even take 3 years.
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Sid,
The outsiders be condemned to hell. As a Kannadiga, I want my Kannadiga bretheren to improve economically and through the social ladder. The north indian pimps and whores can very well croak on their own paan.
If me saying this is wrong, then we should also ask ourselves, why should we try to make India the numero uno country in the world. Perhaps, we should sip tea and let the world overtake us.
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sumne neeve , if you want mediocrity to be recognised then the quota system can be introduced.as of now , i dont see any KANNADIGA denied a JOB on Linguistic Grounds.If you and the fanatcial KRV want Jobs and FAT salaries JUST for sitting at home and Participating in violence and street protests , you are no better than the hitlers and Mussolinis.
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papu@yahoo
Sir, hoping that my Kannadiga brethern should do better than the rest is no prelude for motivating improvement through reservations. I dont understand, how you got that idea.
Thanks for the hitler and mussoloni remark. Look up on Wiki over “Godwins law”. You just proved him right. :)
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Sumneneeve,
Read “Godwins law”…very funny and correct in most situations :))
About the Northern crowd getting high handed at times, even I am a witness to it.
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I feel let down when Deve Gowda says 30% of job reservation will be for kannadigas. He is following the shivasena pattern to win votes.
This from a former prime minister of the country is a great let down. I also belong to India first and then to karnataka.
Discrimination with a regional basis is not good for the kannadigas also in the long run.
Please vote for a party that will not be corrupt. Congress is a party with no principles or scruples. It is a one woman & her family show.
RAS
London
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BRC – You are right. Against Britishers, we stand united and now we have various divisions. And that is how it should be. We cannot be all only Indians always all the time. One has to wear different hats at different points of time. I am an individual, a family man, part of a community, city, state, country, world at different points of time. There is a time and place to wear each of these hats. So, wearing a Karnataka hat doesnt necessarily mean one is wearing an anti-India hat. What is good for Karnataka and kannadigas is good for the nation, most of the times. And definitely in the debate of migrants to bengalooru. What everyone forgets is people are migrating because some other place sucks. It is better to question why that other place sucks than why kannadigas sulk. Kannadigas sulk because there is no other place to go to and their heaven is being converted into hell.
Experiences like these in Karnataka would only make other city/states less cosmopolitan and liberal (in the true sense of the word) and not otherwise.
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The city’s infrastructure got screwed due to political mismanagement and the same rascals are now whipping up rationalistic politics. All IT companies in Bangalore should shift to tier 2 cities and build housing for their employees and maintain them.
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Bengaluru can never be regained from IT-BT. Without the money extorted from our new hidden rulers, the technocrat-capitalists, the heirs of the monopolist Birlas and Tatas, none of the three parties can function the way they do now. The life blood of the poor has been sucked dry, so much so that they have to do without a meal or two in order to be able to offer a simple bribe. Vast tracts of their precious land, suddenly worth crores, now belong mostly to the looters who live luxuriously in Sadashivanagara, Padmanabha Nagara, and such upscale SEZ areas. Without illegal tribute from the IT-BT complex there will be no money in government coffers to offer us all TVs, free meals, bicycles, healthcare, housing, and, ultimately, burial or cremation at a “Rudrabhoomi” of our choice.
That NICE is nowhere completing the corridor between Bengaluru and Maisuru is an example of how things work. How many millions of pounds, not rupees, did Kheni have to deposit into the illegal accounts of our selfless leaders before making sure that absurd clause that litigation about the project could take place only in London was included in the contract signed by him and Devegowda? Now unless he agrees to share at least half of the alleged thirty thousand acres he has artfully acquired with the Gowdas, the Yediyurappas, the Krishnas, and such assorted protectors of the poor, we will continue to stare at the few miles black-topped surface near Bengaluru. This strategy is a good way of holding the IT-BT complex at bay. the equivalent of saying, “Unless you stuff our pockets more than you so far have, we will not allow Mysuru to become another Bengaluru.” A world class airport is built in Bengaluru; it is to all intents and purposes owned by non-Kannadigas of various shapes and hues. But IT-BT will not have a smoothly paved way to it until more money flows into the pockets of those on the third floor of the Vidhaanasoudha.
I am not one for quotas in areas which require unimpeachable talent. However, I wonder if there were more of Kannada techies in Bengaluru, they would find a way to curb the excesses of our politicians using their extraordinary foreseeing minds. I certainly am not thinking about those at the apex like N. Murthy and N. Nilekani because their indifference to the well being of Kannada people cannot be more impregnable. (I know they have set up foundations which throw a morsel here and there at us.) I am thinking about Kannadigas who are attached to the land, the language, and the people in a rational, life-promoting way, unlike the fanatical Kannada outfits which are willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder. That I am dreaming of help from this exalted region is an indication of how desperate our situation is.
Another dream is there will be at least two hundred vidhanasabha members who mean what Ravi Krishna Reddy has been saying for a while. Such a conglomeration can teach the leeches that corruption won’t pay.
I am not entirely convinced that the kind of miasmic existence we are living is limited to Karnataka. Nationally, it is time to revise the Constitution, to create a fail-safe system of checks and balances soon. Corrupt public life and the burgeoning overpopulation both need to be checked, NOW.
My well-heeled Kannada brothers and sisters all over the world, any responses?
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Bottom line is whicever political party comes nothing good is going to happen unless people of Bangalore/Karnataka march towards Political center of Capital Bangalore and throw out the govt and install a person of repute as CM..the way europeans did after the collapse of Russia in places like Romania etc..The question is can we(we includes me too..)
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Subroto Bagchi is a bigwig at Mindtree, an IT company based off Bangalore.
Mindtree’s biggest investor is SM Krishna’s son in law Siddartha.
The major Mindtree campus sits on a huge plot off Mysore road. The land is probably bigger than the microsoft or google campus in the US. And all acquired for a song just like many other deals that happened during SMK’s rule. Land-grab or acquisition call it what you will. But acres upon acres of prime land given away for a song (and which is the biggest ‘asset’ for such companies).
So if Bagchi goes and speaks in a sycophantic manner for his benefactors – it is no big deal. Just more self-serving talk from yet another outsider who has got a lot from Bangalore, Karnataka, its culture and its people and has given little in return.
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PTL – It is a pity that your thoughts are always hidden away in the comments section. Why dont you write directly on the blog such that more people read your comments.
Sumne Neeve, Doddi Buddi, etc – request you take note of this as well.
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Of late it has become an in thing or fashion to bash IT for all the ills of Bangalore and Karnataka as well. When IT industry asks for motorable roads, does that mean those roads are reserved for IT industries only? It is a shame that we call Bangalore as a city in its current state.
Bannerghatta Road is smelling like the famous coum river of Chennai. Open drains on either side of this road flow with sewage, some times flowing on to the road. I am not an IT guy nor connected with it. I use a bus stop on this road to commute daily to my work. This bus stop smells like sewage pit. People waiting for the bus waddle through a big pool of sewage just in front of the bus stop. Children and elders end up getting communicable diseases like amebiosis etc, associated with human excreta. Just because some IT industries happen to be on this road (Honeywell or whatever), the Deve Gowdas want the road to smell like shit and on top of it you people supporting it by “equations”. Its a shame. You guys walk along (don’t drive in your A/c cars) the open drains on this road and smell for yourself all the excretal flavors emanating from there.
Don’t bash IT. Instead bash the BWSSB, Health Dept, PWD, Town planning or whoever is responsible for this which you call Bangalore City and its great culture. At least villages in Karnataka are spared from this shit.
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Rather than being bashed or abashed, IT-BT is held hostage by politicians who do not a have a fraction of intelligence an everyday programmer possesses. Let the scientists, math wizs, computer geniuses become thinkers and assert their power for the good of all. Science is not just knowledge, but a means of improving the material quality of life.
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Yella OK, thank you.
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Bangalore is capital of Karnataka. Kannadigas’ capital. Resources for building this city is used from entire karnataka. Therefore, all Kannadigas should decide how to build bangalore and what they want out of bangalore. The primary thing is jobs. Reservation should be given as there is no other alternative. People have taken advantage of locals’ soft nature. From nineties onwards, there is a heavy influx of outsiders. And all sorts of frauds r happening in recruitments. As we can see thousands of people from neighbouring states r flocking with fake resumes. They have secured jobs by virtue of their friend’s presence in IT companies. So, Blore has bcome a dharmashala. But this will continue. As we can see there r agitations going on on a weekly basis for Kannadigas’ rights. We want our language and culture in our capital city. We want maximum no of jobs to our people. Else why we need these industries here? just to employ outsiders? using resources of the state? I feel disturbed when I see hundreds of people from other states enjoying swanky atmosphre in IT and NON it companies, trying to find atleast feeble kannada voices. No, hardly can I find that. Go to any company. You find all tamils, telugus, mallus and northies. But this cannot continue anymore. As the youth of this state may go to any extreme to achieve their goals of total kannada & jobs in bangalore . BJP has won just lest than 50% seats. I see some outsiders very happy abt the victory, thinking they can do what ever in this city. But the fact of the matter is, it was caste election where a particular community voted overwhelmingly to avenge gowda & family’s betrayal. Life has become hell for local kannadigas who stayed here for long. Pollution, traffic, crime, cost of living has made ordinary kanndigas’ life a hell. One more thing I noticed is for these outsiders, only bangalore’s infrastructure seems to be more important. An english daily which is mostly a mouthpiece of outsider and IT, has used tons of news print writing only abt connectiviy to airport and infrastructure of blore. Why shud govt provide that? when they r not giving jobs to locals? Therefore, IT and Non IT shud provide jobs to locals, else leave the state immediately. We don’t need you. Go to other states,develop those cities. I hear lot abt companies moving to other cities. But this threatening has no substance, as kannadigas r saying in chorus “please do that first .bye bye “. But we don’t see that happening. Infact, we will be the happiest ppl on earth if we get rid of all these IT comanies.
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