By
Sushma Shashidhara
Bengaluru has its own way of making you fall in love with it. My fascination began since my childhood when I used to visit with my granny to her brother's house in Basavanagudi. The gardens, the MTR, the temples and the parks at every corner always amused me. I was awed how the city could strike a balance between a mixed crowd of modern generation getting along with their older generation, acknowledging each others boundaries and liberty. But this is not about my research on the hotspots in Bangalore or the youth culture. This is about discovering the other side of this growing metro city- almost extinct 'cycle-wallahs' or the chai wallahs (tea sellers)!!!
I began my career in Bengaluru (then Bangalore) and this city still continues to amuse me. She has one of the most amiable personas than most of the cities I have visited across India. During my initial days as an intern in a newspaper organization, I took a keen interest in volunteering for assignments so I could learn during the period.
The cold wave of winter and monsoon in this "Garden city" makes everyone crave for a hot cup of tea or coffee. But a strong journalistic nose, along with tea, also looks out for interesting beats. During one such exploration for tea, my best friend and I found few of the cycle-wallahs around Symphony and MG road. This went on to become a hub for me and my friends to hang out and simultaneously building a cord of friendship with the chai-bhaiyyas.
The conversation was very casual and all of us enjoyed this late night outing before we went home. The tea bhaiyyas used to discuss how the late night job was not fetching them any profits. We laughed at those comments as we could see the streets getting queued up for a cup of tea and home made nibattus (fried munchies). We teased the bhaiyyas for indirectly proposing a hike. But all that ended with a stream of laughter and none of us giving too much serious consideration on the talks over a cup of tea.
As the years passed by, most of us got busy in building our careers and it was the once-in-a- while weekends or late night occasions that gave us a chance to gather for the usual street tea-party. But to our surprise we couldn't find our regular chai bhaiyyas. Disappearing Chai Wallahs!!! A good beat for a human interest story.
Another night we found our chai bhaiyyas. But to our astonishment, the casual conversations were no more there and we could only hear- 'how many cups of tea or how many cigarettes are required? His eyes were constantly on the roads and were alert every time a vehicle passed around, as if anticipating something any moment. Next weekend we didn't find him anywhere. We were surprised watching these dim prospects for our upcoming tea party. Something was bothering him, made him shift his stand whenever a vehicle came or even when Police patrol vehicle passed by.
The situation didn't improve much when we came out for tea after a month. We saw fewer chai bhaiyyas in the street. All of us wondered what was the reason for this disappearance? We thought it was the monsoon playing the devil only to discover how Bengaluru was getting deep into the most cursed structure of this country-Corruption in every strata and Exploitation of the underprivileged.
Eventually we found that these Chai Wallahs were selling tea/ cigarette/ biscuits at the busiest streets to earn some extra income. This un-hourly business was not entertained by the city managing organization which has issued a circular that all business establishments were to be closed in the city after a given time by the system. But as these chai wallahs were out to make some easy money and escape any actions by the patrolling team, they took to bribing the inspecting team. As the business increased the latter started demanding more money and this created a tense situation for business. Neither was polite with each other. It was a messy situation and we were no strangers to corruption in the Indian system.
This is one of the incidents, but I am sure there may be numerous such incidents and observations that many of you have come across. India ranks 84th among 180 countries, as per the Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index. In 2009, India climbed one spot up from 85th to 84th. India's integrity score this year is 3.4, down from 3.5 in 2007.
Do these statistics and the rise in list give us a reason to celebrate or put in our efforts on eliminating the name of India from the list?
India is pacing towards progress and trying to set fine example to all the developing nations to becoming a global identity. But what we are still lagging in handling crisis in any way. We always try to adjust instead of confronting a situation.
A Utopia has been self imposed where corruption and escaping reality through just "setting things right in our way" which is mainly through bribery and trying to silence the voices that opposes- is normal. If things continue this way, then our dream of joining the elite list of developed countries will soon be shattered. But again, none of us will bother to stop by and pick up those pieces. After all, we can always chase another dream!!!
Best Regards,
Sushma Shashidhara
