Whither Bengaluru??

Your India, My India. India for some, Bharat for others. Tweak the theme a little, and you see it being played, down south, in your own backyard. Your Bangalore. Our Bengaluru. Silicon City for some, Silly Con city for others.

It's not just play of words, but a passion play. The kind of passion it stokes depends from where you come from. If you are part of Generation-Y, it's a cool city, getting hotter by the day. No need to point out that we are not talking about the rising mercury.

If you are Generation-Ex, the oldies, or the also-rans, to put it bluntly, it's a hot city, too hot to get on. And no need to point out that we are not talking merely about the rising mercury.

The chaos on the roads, the road rage of the perpetually in a hurry traffic, the rising cost of living, the islands of prosperity, the deserts of poverty, and the lifeless space in between, where the middle class is squeezed into the margins, eking out a life that has little meaning beyond the daily drudgery and survival by the clock.

Who wants to live here, says a senior citizen, who has grown up in this city. We, scream the twenty-somethings with more money than they can handle, who don't seem to have enough of malls, movies and magic on the streets.

The dress code, the body language, the lingo, the aspirational modes, the cultural mores, the landscape, everything but everything is not the same anymore in namma Bengaluru.