Far from the maddening life of
the metros when the aspiring eyes look at newspapers or Television, the word
Bangalore is never just another name, rather it is — The Big City. Teeming with
talent, this busy city arouses hope to make life large by dreaming big. The
first step into this famous cosmopolitan city feels like stepping into a
paradise. Not just a pensioner's paradise, but a paradise for the young minds.
The lucrative educational and
career opportunities, all thanks to the IT and BPO boom, strengthen the passion
more. And the money that has flowed in has expanded opportunities in art and
culture too, with more sponsors for music, dance, and theatre. Many art
galleries have sprung up and are flourishing, given the loosening purse strings
of the affluent people of Bangalore. The support for NGOs for social causes has
also seen a definite boost. In fact, this economic, social, and cultural
progress has made Bangalore an internationally recognized city.
It's a city of compassion where
everyone is given the chance to explore the possibilities. For instance, on
16th June, a Sunday, when most of the people took time to relax their senses,
many in Bangalore gathered at Palace Ground to encourage a number of visually
challenged at the Round Table India for Sight 2012, a 50-km car rally for
visually impaired people. The drivers were assisted by visually challenged
volunteers, who provided directions in Braille on how to reach the destination
and come back. The rally was designed to be a time-speed-distance test.
The city's compassion is not just
limited to mankind. In an event in April, Lets Live Together, a charitable
trust for the welfare of homeless animals rescued 13 puppies and each of them
found homes in a single day.
But progress has its own curses
too. Bangalore, where people are more bound by the quest of money, has emerged
as one of the most unfriendly cities in the country for senior citizens. From
among 20 cities surveyed by HelpAge India, a nongovernmental organization, Bangalore
ranks seventh. The story doesn’t end here. The experimenting teenagers in the city's
schools have become an easy target of menacing addictions and as per a recent
report of the daily newspaper DNA,
30% of students in Bangalore are drug addicts. And the sources for these
tendencies range from near-by local shops to rave parties.
It's a place where opportunities
galore for those who dare to dream, and everyone is busy in their quest to make
their dreams come true. However the kids and the elderly, who stand to be the
future and as the root of the city, respectively, are finding it hard to
realize that they do play an important role in building up of a greater
Bangalore. In all, Bangalore is a city that builds hope, and to some extent,
crushes them too.
