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Not long ago, Brand Bihar garnered the most amount of negative publicity. Whether it was the lawlessness, safety of women or corruption, our perception of Bihar was synonymous with everything that was wrong. But today, that is the image that people have of Brand Bangalore! Bihar’s loss, unfortunately, has been Bangalore’s gain.
 
But before people jump down my throat for this statement, let me elucidate. Recently, we had an American business delegation visiting us and one of the entrepreneurs in the team gaffed when I introduced myself as a Bangalorean. “Oh yes, Bangalore the corruption capital of your country,” he said. I bravely defended my city. But somewhere, I thought, he made a point and it pinched my gut. After the independence movement, if there has been one unifying problem for India, it has been corruption. And the amount of press and attention that Karnataka has been getting for its corruption issues in the recent past has made sure that its infamy has reached distant shores as well. Corruption always existed, but never in such a blatant, in-your-face manner that does not even attempt at addressing public perception.

If the political class had not done enough damage, then there is the report of the lady getting beaten up in a pub for refusing to dance with a stranger. What are we trying to do to our city?

There has always been a healthy jealousy among the other states about Bangalore. We were a class apart. And now, all of the recent happenings have given them a chance to whip us into a pulp. The real tragedy is that we have given the stick ourselves! We are getting stuck with the negative imagery and something needs to be done to set it right.

Yet, there is hope because everything that made Bangalore famous and created the positive image of Bangalore still exists. We are still an all-embracing society which does not work on narrow jingoism. Bangaloreans can still speak the most number of languages - because we want to make other people comfortable. IT may have lost some of its sheen because of the fraud cases, but it is still a success story that has the attention of the American president. The next elections are crucial for the state, so they will tell what the people want to do in changing Bangalore’s image.
 

Suhas Gopinath, CEO and founder, Globals Inc
Suhas, who is in Bahamas, told Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore, always known and acknowledged globally as a city of scholars, a city of innovators and a city of entrepreneurs is no more the same. Earlier, the first response I would get whenever I mentioned that I hail from Bangalore was “The IT capital of Asia?” They used to say that the people in Bangalore were strong and hard-working. The situation has changed.

Recently, when I mentioned my origin to a friend in New York, the response of was shocking and upsetting. He asked if it was the same city where some ministers watched MMS in the state assembly. It’s painful, uncomfortable and unpleasant.
 
With and more and more unpleasant news like what happened today (lawyers attacking media and police), Bangalore is being seen in a slightly different way. Though Bangalore still continues to be an IT capital, it certainly takes toll on Brand Bangalore image. It impacts every Bangalorean. It took ages to build the Brand Bangalore’s image internationally, but it is crumbling. I feel it’s the responsibility of every Bangalorean to maintain the city’s image.
 
— As told to Chetan R
 

Mohan Das Pai, Former director of Infosys (human resources)

Five years ago, whenever I introduced myself as a Bangalorean while travelling abroad, people would ask “Oh wow!

So what is happening in Bangalore?” The image of Bangalore they had was a city that was all wired up, full of techies all ready to take on every challenge in the world. But today, that question has changed to “What has happened to Bangalore?”

When Brand Bangalore was being built, we had cultivated the image of a larger than life city, in the hope that its administration would catch up. But today that bubble has burst and people have realised that there is a wide disparity in our society, and that Bangalore is not an exception to the rule of democracy where numbers decide the political class.

Bangalore’s journey from a pensioner’s paradise to a bustling cosmopolitan has been a fast-paced one. The political class did not take it well that the success story of the city was being charted by entrepreneurs rather than leaders. The urban and rural divide is also not helping the situation.
 
But, despite the gravity of the situation, I would still say, we will bounce back. The city is growing up and these are growth pangs that are expected. We are growing up to be an important part of the maturing democracy and that always takes time. So let us give the city the time.
— As told to Manasi Paresh Kumar

Justice N Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta
I am ashamed to say that I was a lawyer once. What was once known to be a noble profession has turned out to be a profession for rowdyism. Do they have an answer for all the damage done? Just a few months ago, we had the same bunch creating a ruckus in the Mysore Bank Circle. Such untoward incidents have affected Brand Bangalore’s image very badly. I was proud to say I am from Bangalore. Now, when I travel outside, the way people react is different. They say, “Here comes a Bangalorean.”