Spies and charlatans assume new names to dupe others. Some people respell names or respond to new ones, in an attempt to secure the shibboleths to future peace and prosperity; some, to rid themselves of taunts. Still others rechristen themselves to signify a renewal that involves the death of a part of their erstwhile identity to enable the development of more desirable traits. With the English label of my beloved hometown altered in nostalgia, I hope the city doesn't merely revel in its past glory, but changes for the better. I do admit that change implies relinquishing some qualities and cultivating new ones; and that better, like any other adjective, is subjective.
A few hundred engineers graduate from the various engineering colleges in the city each year. A significant number of these engineers are from the city or will have fallen in love with it during their not-less-than four-year stay. But for a couple of companies with operations in and around the city, it is usually the MNCs from the capital that offer most of these novices a job, majorly in the software industry. While those not belonging to the city and those bedazzled by the capital relocate, a tad wistfully, yet with excitement, many develop a homesickness resistant to the remedies of remuneration, retail shopping, and rambunctious parties. The greatest challenge, I think, is to habituate yourself to the strange dimensions of time and space, with travel times measured in hours, and snug houses that guard against the weather, while goading you to get out.
To pare the pall of parting, most of us come home each weekend, our cheerful moods on Friday bettered only by our glee ahead of long weekends, and contrasting our tired, reluctant miens on Monday. Not surprisingly, many of us - we may become a vote bank very soon - would readily return to the city for good should suitable employment become available. It is in this regard that the city could change, exchanging the exiling of engineers for enterprise and employment. Strangely, this is a change that has been long anticipated.
The idea that the city could be the next IT destination in Karnataka owing to its proximity to the capital and in light of the capital's strained sprawl, has caused a near steroidal surge in its real estate market. Equally, the setting up of software and services firms is deemed feasible because they rely primarily on human resource and operational infrastructure. The availability of specific raw materials in and around the city, thus, is not a concern. This change in the city's economy, one hopes, will not be thwarted by any numerological mishaps in its new English label! There should have been two Os between S and R instead of the U, did you say?
Also, should the city start having software parks and clusters of companies, the city administration would have to scale up the infrastructure in keeping with the potential demands, especially in the case of roads. A common scene from our capital that should never be recreated involves an ambulance, its sirens blaring, and lights blinking, desolately stuck in traffic, with the other motorists inclined to make way, but having nowhere to go. Here, as also in general traffic conditions, the city should strive to remain the same.
And, as long as we are being wishful, why not wish the city accrues more cultural capital?
A few hundred engineers graduate from the various engineering colleges in the city each year. A significant number of these engineers are from the city or will have fallen in love with it during their not-less-than four-year stay. But for a couple of companies with operations in and around the city, it is usually the MNCs from the capital that offer most of these novices a job, majorly in the software industry. While those not belonging to the city and those bedazzled by the capital relocate, a tad wistfully, yet with excitement, many develop a homesickness resistant to the remedies of remuneration, retail shopping, and rambunctious parties. The greatest challenge, I think, is to habituate yourself to the strange dimensions of time and space, with travel times measured in hours, and snug houses that guard against the weather, while goading you to get out.
To pare the pall of parting, most of us come home each weekend, our cheerful moods on Friday bettered only by our glee ahead of long weekends, and contrasting our tired, reluctant miens on Monday. Not surprisingly, many of us - we may become a vote bank very soon - would readily return to the city for good should suitable employment become available. It is in this regard that the city could change, exchanging the exiling of engineers for enterprise and employment. Strangely, this is a change that has been long anticipated.
The idea that the city could be the next IT destination in Karnataka owing to its proximity to the capital and in light of the capital's strained sprawl, has caused a near steroidal surge in its real estate market. Equally, the setting up of software and services firms is deemed feasible because they rely primarily on human resource and operational infrastructure. The availability of specific raw materials in and around the city, thus, is not a concern. This change in the city's economy, one hopes, will not be thwarted by any numerological mishaps in its new English label! There should have been two Os between S and R instead of the U, did you say?
Also, should the city start having software parks and clusters of companies, the city administration would have to scale up the infrastructure in keeping with the potential demands, especially in the case of roads. A common scene from our capital that should never be recreated involves an ambulance, its sirens blaring, and lights blinking, desolately stuck in traffic, with the other motorists inclined to make way, but having nowhere to go. Here, as also in general traffic conditions, the city should strive to remain the same.
And, as long as we are being wishful, why not wish the city accrues more cultural capital?
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