'This is Talibanisation of Bangalore'

The old Bangaloreans are livid. They think the Bangalore of today is nothing compared to the city they grew up in. In fact, they feel the current state of the city is pretty pitiable. “Bangalore now a national joke. Everywhere we go, people express their condolences mockingly since we’re from Bangalore. It is quite shameful that we’re being dictated on what to do,” says designer Manoviraj Khosla, reminiscing about the good old days when Bangalore was up till dawn.

Fashion guru Prasad Bidapa thinks there are a lot of double standards at play. “Dancing and music are basic forms of human expression. And these are celebrated by all religions. When there’s live music during a jathre or procession, people automatically dance. Same is the case with temple utsavs. Why is it that a handful of people are looking at music and dance as sinful? The police out here seem to be more interested in sitting in clubs rather than curbing crime. No wonder chain snatchers have flourished to such an extent that they operate in cars,” he points out.

The current state of the city seems to have triggered extreme emotions from a lot of people. Manoviraj, who volunteers to be a champion for the nightlife cause, says, “The cops try to justify that they are shutting down the city at 11.30pm because the rest of India also has similar deadlines. I would readily volunteer to take them around to clubs in Delhi and Mumbai to show them the real scene. How can there be a different rule for Bangalore and them? Every big city has an active nightlife. It’s synonymous to tourism. Why will people want to come here otherwise? No one travels to sleep. The fact that a few people are dictating the whys and hows shows that this is the Talibanisation of Bangalore.”

Designer Ramesh Dembla thinks that Bangalore nightlife has gone to the dogs. “I was at a club a few days back and the DJ and staff were so scared that they wound up by 11pm itself. We need to breathe and unwind. None of us are doing anything obscene,” says he. Prasad adds, “It isn’t as though we’re wearing g-strings and gyrating in clubs and corrupting children. Where’s the solution to this problem?”