All Quiet on Airport Road

Today Bangalore was quiet. A statewide bandh, or one day strike, in our home state of Karnataka resulted in stores being shuttered, schools closed and office workers getting an unscheduled day off. The outward cause for the bandh was a political response to a territorial dispute with our northern neighboring state of Maharashtra. The deeper root of the bandh is a language identity battle between the Kannada speaking state of Karnataka and the Marathi speaking state of Maharashtra.

The bandh scheduled to last from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm was widely honored. An eerie silence descended upon our normally chaotic life. We live off busy Airport Road which is the main east – west artery that brings goods and people in and out of Bangalore daily. At any given moment on any given day, Airport Road is a snarled and congested motor way. Today, the road provided ample maneuvering room for the few bicycles, two wheelers or cars that were lazily plying their way along the newly re-surfaced asphalt surface of Airport Road.

Other roads in Bangalore that regularly underpin the dominance of motorized vehicles gave way to silence. In the heart of the shopping district, the typical commotion on Commercial Street failed to appear, allowing a game of cricket to be played.

Cable broadcasts of non-Kannada language programming was banned as well. It was a rare glimpse for us to distinguish without doubt Kannada language programs. We are never quite sure in our channel surfing whether we have encountered a Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi or Malayalam broadcast. Today’s cable Kannada programming was a menu of synchronized dancing and poorly executed soap operas. Really no different from any other day.

The global economy of Bangalore, however, could not pause for the bandh. Many BPO and Call Center employees were requested to spend the previous night at their offices to avoid travel during the bandh. With city and private bus services banned and the threat from Kannada activists to disrupt private travel, an evening spent at the office was a safe alternative. Many global offices have male and female dormitories as a standard facility. Jay’s IT office was closed as were many other IT software businesses. But work must continue and Saturday will become an extended work day.

For all its disruption, the bandh gave a glimpse of a quieter, gentler Bangalore. The city emerged from its normal chaos to offer a view of its once vaulted claim to be the Garden City of India. If only we could have this wonderful peace and English language HBO on cable TV all the time!