[hrman]

Very sad that you had to face this. I have moved here from Mumbai over 11 years ago. I can fully empathize with you. The situation in Bangalore has clearly gotten out of hand in the past few years. There are goons among the yellow cab drivers who will take every opportunity to make money out of decent and well educated commuters. My friend had to face a similar thing a few years back and was beaten up for no fault of his. Not knowing the local language only aggravated matters.

Perhaps these scum get an ego boost as being locals, uneducated and from the lower strata of society, the only way they feel can get back at the educated lot is through fist fights. They cannot otherwise compete with us in terms of education, upbringing, respect in society or quality of life, neither can they aspire to be where we are. These worms in the dirty drain will remain where they are.

Sorry for what you and your wife had to go through man!! And I am glad you beat him black and blue. Thanks to the BSF folks who helped you out, my already high respect for the defense services has gone up a few notches.

[starter]

Every city/place would have the good and the bad. For one bad experience, calling an entire city or the people bad is a bit illogical. But if it is so, staying there would only get tougher.
I travel a lot in my own car and i have done multiple trips across the country and the key is to maintain a defensive driving style. More so in a state where you do not know the local language.
I have had my share of bad experiences in Bhutan, Himachal, Maharashtra and more... But it cannot be generalized to the place or the people.
The city has seen a lot of change in the last 20 years. Today, in Bangalore, there is as much or maybe more population from outside than locals.
Yet, this is no excuse for what happened to you. Being a Bangalorean, i feel sorry for what you went through.

PS: Since this is your personal opinion, i respect it. To each their own.

[ShivrajG]

Originally Posted by am1m

Am very sorry to hear of your experience.

Thanks AM1M We are fine with some bruises and as I said sometimes it the apathy of people which makes a bad impression in one's mind and you cannot get it out. Maybe Over time I would start to love the city.

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

This sucks. I don't know when will people understand that is no fun for people like you and me to leave their homes/cities/countries to move to an entirely new & unknown place.

You can call me a homesick person but yes we have to move to different cities to make our livelihood be it a software guy like me or a cab driver like the rowdie.

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Having said that, I would not generalize entire population based on your one experience. I am from Rajasthan & have been living in Pune since last 7 years. I have not had this kind of experience so far thankfully but I have had my fair share of bad experiences because of my origin.

I am totally against generalization and have quite a good bunch of friends who hail from this beautiful state.so its not that I have some grudge, I have seen fights I have also seen mob fights but I have never seen People beating up a guy for fun. "Arrey Bhai ladai band karwaoge ya jo akela hai uspe hi do teen lagake nikal loge?" cops too! Come on man! thats not civilized.

Originally Posted by hrman

Very sad that you had to face this.

Thanks. Me and My wife both belong from Defense Background and always praise the might armed forces of India. They have always given us a reason to cherish and this will also go down a long way in the memory.

Originally Posted by starter

Every city/place would have the good and the bad. For one bad experience, calling an entire city or the people bad is a bit illogical. Being a Bangalorean, i feel sorry for what you went through.

PS: Since this is your personal opinion, i respect it. To each their own.

Thanks. I respect your opinion . What happened with the crowd made me have that bad impression however as I said the BSF guys were also local and they were the reason we got out of there safely.

[ghodlur]

I feel really sad for you and your wife that you had to go through such a traumatic experience. Fact that the local law makers did not support you was even more perplexing. Hope you will recover from this incident ASAP.

Now this is making me think whether I should move to Bangalore for the new job. Even though Kannada is my mother tongue and can speak fluently, my wife and son don't speak the local language. I did see the miserable traffic conditions during my recent Bangalore trip which has got me thinking but that's the case with almost all metros and tier 2 cities. Sad to see the city once renowned for a peaceful retirement destination has turned out to be a mushrooming place for law breakers.

[sushantr5]

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

Hello Everyon ....
Regards
Shivraj S Ghorpade

Exactly this the scene which gives nightmares to me. I always pray I should not be in this situation, I am not good at physical confrontations or verbal as well.

What worries me more that even if we face this confrontation, the situation afterwards is not sign of good law and order. FIR registration and bringing culprits to the docks is lot of painful process in India. I do not even have any idea how to do this. The day it becomes possible and feasible the things will start improving. But as we see situation is worsening day by day.

It is really difficult to teach human values in society. Only law and order can prevent society from such fall.

Once our company CEO was driving with reputed and biggest client from Germany, in Hinjewadi Pune. And exactly in front of his car, few village goons were beating helpless poor IT guy, with helmet, belts, rods. I cannot imagine what thought might have gone through the minds of Foreigners in the car.

A small narrative/thread on TeamBHP from the person who has been through the situation and brought all the culprits to the docks successfully would be encouraging to read.

[Ohh!Oxygen]

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

Hello Everyone,
Mods: Please move to appropriate thread if this has been discussed.///

@ShivrajG I feel very sorry to hear about the whole incident. Luckily it got resolved before going too far.

Being an outsider living here for more than a decade, I can connect with your situation. But remember in a situation like this, think of who has got more to loose. Many of the cabbies come from dubious backgrounds and many of them are hardcore criminals. You might be aware of a recent incident near airport.

Those guys being drunk and you not knowing the local language probably aggravated the matter. You never know what cooked up story they would have presented to the traffic and PCR van guys.

You handled it pretty well for sure. I had been in a similar jam before and I feel one incidents like this and it teaches you all Dos and Don'ts. Its adds to your driving experience.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Fact that the local law makers did not support you was even more perplexing.

Not perplexing at all. If an FIR is registered, the case and the file will have to be tracked, there will be a record in the system. Statistics of open FIRs/cases will be counted against a police station and they will have to answer to higher ups. Hence, unless it is a very serious offence like murder, cops in Bangalore (and probably all over the country) will push for 'parties to go for settlement', also this 'both parties say sorry', is very common.

I understand that the police force is understaffed and underpaid. But what they should realize is that letting such matters go is encouraging lawlessness in the long-run and the guilty party, in this case, the cab guys will be emboldened to do worse next time. Plus cops, like everyone else, also have their regional/linguistic biases. Being able to speak the local language matters when dealing with them. I've seen this change in attitude in a couple of instances. A couple of times when dealing with cops and idiots on the road, the initial attitude is pretty aggressive, when they realize I can speak Kannada, they back off. The language bias is undeniably there. (Yes, I'm sure it exists in other cities in the country and around the World too, but that doesn't make it ok!)

What perplexes me is when educated Bangaloreans also support/exhibit this sort of anti-immigrant bias. (Actually, the word 'immigrant' is also wrong here, Indians are just moving to another city in their own country!)

[libranof1987]

A couple of things:
1) This could happen to someone speaking the local language
2) This could/does happen in other cities

Absolutely terrible that such things routinely take place and it happened to you, especially the misbehavior towards your wife. Nothing more to add really; just a small rotten reality of our society.

PS: Dashcam.

[deehunk]

Shivraj, you are still learning the first steps in Bangalore. I as a localite have been pissed off with the behavior of students who come to Bangalore in the name of education. I was living in a peaceful area till the invasion came, the students of certain country and one of our neighbouring state often get close to each other because of their religious belief. In one year they have created a hell, police cannot act against them, their influence has spread to nearby places around Peenya, Mahalakshmi layout, Hesaraghatta and Rajajinagar. The areas around Thanisandra, LR Puram, Horamavu, Kammanahalli are the worst affected areas. Their modus operandi is sell drugs, prostitution, modify bikes and cars, drink heavily and roam the streets at midnight, create all kinds of nuisance and abuse neighbours. This is the other side of Bangalore, though I am sorry about your experience, Bangalore is no longer a place of only Kannada speaking people. I am sure within a month you will realise how people drive all over you in Bangalore. These drivers are Indians, no discrimination on the basis of state and language.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

I hope this phase gets over quickly and I am back to my place in Pune.

Unfortunately, Pune is also fast degenerating into a Bengaluru like situation w.r.t traffic, and it won't be long before we see such mayhem on a regular basis here too.

Another thread on how apathetic we as a people have become:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ple-india.html (Apathy of people in India)

Cheers,
Vikram

[pkulkarni.2106]

That's terrible. I feel sorry to hear that.

But I also feel that this is just another bitter experience. You may start to love the city one day.

I feel it's better to let go some times. Do not confront unless it's absolutely necessary. You never know who you're dealing with.


Stay safe!

[ShivrajG]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Unfortunately, Pune is also fast degenerating into a Bengaluru like situation w.r.t traffic, and it won't be long before we see such mayhem on a regular basis here too.
Cheers,
Vikram

Yes that is true but if there was such a incident in Pune the cops wouldve dealt it differently. I am saying this because I have seen this beforehand with my friends and relatives. In all 6-7 cases I have seen in Pune the police was equal to both parties irrespective of whether they talked in Hindi or Marathi or Tamil in one instance. I am talking about Pune as well as PCMC.

One Tamil Guy driving I10 was sandwiched between my XUV (front) and a Sumo (Local guy) behind and how the police behaved with the Tamil guy (infy Employee) made my respect for them go up few notches.

Originally Posted by pkulkarni.2106

That's terrible. I feel sorry to hear that.

But I also feel that this is just another bitter experience. You may start to love the city one day.

I feel it's better to let go some times. Do not confront unless it's absolutely necessary. You never know who you're dealing with.

Stay safe!

Thanks! sometimes its better to go away and I do let it go but sometimes you cant escape the reality and have to stand your ground & that was one of such day for me.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

PS: I understand Fellow Bangalore BHPians here may not like my post and this is not to offend anyone or a culture but it’s a personal opinion of me and what happened with me and would respect your opinion as well.
Regards
Shivraj S Ghorpade

That is a bad experience to go through when you are just moving in to the city. I think this is a deliberate ploy played by this gang to exhort money. This can happen to a localite as well. With regards to the hostile local crowd, yes many people are unhappy about the widespread migration to the city and them allegedly being marginalized. I have heard things like 'IT guys' have made the city expensive or 'Kannadigas are unable to get jobs' etc.

[deehunk]

The thoughts of extortion and people not happy with migrants is just an over-reaction, there are more dangerous places inside Bangalore where you hardly find a Kannada speaking localite. The famous incident of a migrant MLA's son"s brutal assault on a reputed Kannada Industrialist's son is a testimony of the apathy towards people in Bangalore. We feel more secured doing small jobs rather than working in a volatile and ethicless MNC.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by ShivrajG

Yes that is true but if there was such a incident in Pune the cops wouldve dealt it differently. I am saying this because I have seen this beforehand with my friends and relatives. In all 6-7 cases I have seen in Pune the police was equal to both parties irrespective of whether they talked in Hindi or Marathi or Tamil in one instance. I am talking about Pune as well as PCMC.
One Tamil Guy driving I10 was sandwiched between my XUV (front) and a Sumo (Local guy) behind and how the police behaved with the Tamil guy (infy Employee) made my respect for them go up few notches.

Well I had a different experience. About 7-8 years we were on vacation traveling in our car. We had lightest tint on our car and was following a MH registered Scorpio which had darkest tint possible. Somewhere near Pune, cops stopped us while letting go the scorpio. We were told our car had tints had to pay them 2K bribe. With broke Hindi back then, we stood clear stating the tints were within permissible limits and how could he let go off Scorpio. The cops started abusing and in a new place we ended up budging down.

In another incident, my relatives car's windshield was broken by a small mob when a pickup tried to overtake from left which built up into a road rage. This was again some 10 years back.

Because of these incidents do I have an opinion on entire region? No way. Road rage is prevalent across length and breadth of country and mob mentality is same. Blaming entire city/people is so wrong. There are good and bad people everywhere.