A social media post by a Bengaluru woman has sparked a discussion online about the growing hostility in the city. In the post, titled 'I'm a Kannadiga and I'm done defending Bengaluru. This city deserves the hate it's getting,' the woman shared a disheartening incident that pushed her to a breaking point. The anonymous user, who moved to Bengaluru 6-7 years ago from a tier-2 city in Karnataka, revealed that she was mocked by a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus conductor for knocking on the door while on a call.
According to the post, the conductor made a snide remark in Kannada. "It felt unnecessarily humiliating. Just for knocking on a bus door while holding a phone?" she wrote, adding that this wasn't an "isolated experience".
"I've been spoken to rudely by auto drivers, metro staff, and others in similar public-facing roles. A lot of them behave like they hate their jobs and are constantly irritated-like they're waiting for a chance to lash out," she wrote.
I'm a Kannadiga and I'm done defending Bengaluru. This city deserves the hate it's getting.
byu/PossibilityOk971 inBengaluru
In the post, the woman also detailed a pattern she has observed living in the city.
"I've been treated very differently depending on how I'm dressed. Ironically, the more well-dressed or "put together" I look, the worse the attitude becomes. On days when I'm in a simple kurta, with oiled hair, same calm body language-no issues. But when I look like I belong to a higher income group, that's when the friction starts," she shared, adding that speaking in Kannada usually softens people's tone.
"There's this strange mix of entitlement and insecurity. I'm just tired. Bengaluru feels increasingly soulless," she concluded.
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The post resonated with many social media users, with many sharing similar experiences.
"People are increasingly frustrated as essential facilities continue to deteriorate, making the city more unliveable each day. Instead of addressing real issues like poor roads, open sewage, or the slow progress of the metro, attention is often diverted elsewhere. It's easier to target strangers or migrants than to speak out against genuine problems. Standing up for one's rights has become difficult-many are afraid of political intimidation and choose silence over confrontation," wrote one user.
"Tier 2 cities operate in a calm, organized manner while big cities are chaotic, anyone who moves from tier 2 to tier 1 cities in India will experience this shift," commented another.
"Totally understand where you're coming from. You're not alone in feeling this many of us who are Kannadigas and have been in Bengaluru long enough have noticed this shift too. There's a definite change in the public attitude, especially among people in service roles who interact with crowds all day. It's like the city's chaos has hardened everyone," said a third user.
"So sorry, you faced this even as a Kannadiga. The problem fundamentally is that the city grew too quickly and a few people got pissed that they didn't get that opportunity to grow financially along with the rest. Unfortunately the people who benefited from the growth of Bangalore are not necessarily from Karnataka, hence this issue manifests as local vs outsiders....but essentially this problem is a class migration problem, where one class of people grew quickly in a span of 2 decades compared to others," added another.
