Good Bandh to you

Yesterday was a 12 hour bandh in Bangalore ("stop" in Hindi). For me, it was a day for me to stay home from work.

It was a protest organized by the Karnataka state to show their displeasure at the way water was portioned from the River Cauvery. Karnataka state shares water from Cauvery with Tamil Nadu and Andhra. It hasn't rained much lately, and the latter two states are faring better as far as water is concerned. Protesters in Cauvery want the water re-apportioned by the council that governs things.

I think the bandh was successful. Normally I don't put a lot of stock in protests in the US. A guy from work was telling me that protests in India are different -- they're serious. Most people stayed home. Active protesters chose to go to where people were already gathered -- at the airport, at the train station, on major roads near the border. I came in from Hosur yesterday afternoon (Hosur is just across the state border in Tamil Nadu) and there were already news cameras nearby, and a few groups of 5-20 people standing around at the border.

Near me on Monday, Bangalore was absolutely still during the 6AM to 6PM stoppage. (It was announced one week ago.) If it wasn't light outside, you'd think it was 1AM on the streets.

The Bangalore bandh was the headline in the national news. According to TV news, tech and BPO (business process outsourcing) companies were concerned protesters would gather near their campuses if people went to work today. So, most closed, which meant they weren't serving European markets during the day.

One estimate of the financial impact was $400M US. For a state that prides itself on service to the rest of the world, that should get the
politicians moving again....