A city that was once vibrant with music and culture; a city we once thought would keep pace with the changing times but some how would still manage to retain its old world charm (Venice in Italy, Bath in Britain have all achieved that balance, so why not our mahisha mandala?) - but, every time I visit Mysore, I find that the city has just moved one step closer towards becoming another clone of Bangalore. What an urban disaster Bangalore has become - why is Mysore not learning any lessons from it? Some of my fond memories of Mysore - standing mesmerised with hundreds of others listening to Shehnai wizard Bismillah Khan, it was a Dasara concert in the Durbar Hall; a kavi sammelana where Gopalakrishna Adiga recited some of his great poems; a lecture where Shivarama Karantha kept us , students, spellbound for hours with his encyclopaedic knowledge of everything from Yakshagana to medicine ....... the memories are endless.
Sadly, most Mysoreans (original/long time inhabitants, esp) have sold out their land/houses and have migrated to Mysore outskirts/Bangalore/America/elsewhere. When they sell, the only people who could/can afford the rates were/are Marwaris, neo-marwaris (all the narayana murthis, software jana) who care two hoots about mysore's culture, heritage, environment, etc.
Everybody who have bought (nay... invested) now wants to build (nay... develop) mysore. They build commercial complexes with huge spaces (not shops) which only MNCs, liquor/hotel barons, big businesses can afford. Now, to recover their money, they sell pizza, food, *develop* saftweear, clothes which can be afforded only by the other rich migrants.
Now, suddenly Mysore becomes a "happening place". The cost of everything goes up. Including the environment, peace, heritage preservation.
But, everybody is happy as Mysore is now on the *development* path. Everybody is making money. Everybody wins.
Mankuthimma,you are absolutely right. So far the long term residents of Mysore had to deal only with corrupt politicians and a municipal corporation which has become a byword for inefficiency - now, the 'invasion' of IT companies will only make things worse. With the demigod status that Narayanamurthy & Co have acquired in Karnataka, the govt. will go out of its way to help these guys *develop* Mysore.
When will we move on????? The ones who look into thes blogs and reply are mostly the ones who are not in Mysore. We want all the luxuries we enjoyed while growing up or whenever we visited. Why are we not thinking about the people who still live in Mysore and try to make a living out of mysore. I know most of us would like to go back one day and enjoy the 'Pensioner's Paradise' as it is today as we care very little for the career opportunities for the ones who cannot come out of Mysore for whatever personal reasons.
If a IT company comes up, it is going to make the city expensive
If a heavy industry comes up, it is going to pollute the city
If a Large scale industry comes up, it is going to make the city crowded
If a pizza place comes up it is going to invade the culture...
the list goes on....
But there are people who are waiting for the opportunities to come their way so that they can make a living out of it. So for some other's sake please accept change. Let our city grow...
It is totally understandable that we don't want it to go the Bangalore way but for that we need to plan not be skeptic about the companies who want to come to bangalore.
