From Flooded Streets to Flourishing Souls: Can Art Revive Bengaluru’s Lost Activism
As knee-deep waters return with Bengaluru’s rains, so does the age-old question: where is the outrage? Once a city of civic pride and youthful activism, Bengaluru now seems muted — distracted by startups, stress, and soft power.
Critics online mock the city’s flooding despite lower rainfall than Mumbai and half the population. Even as the BBMP fumbles, Bengaluru’s youth appear too busy hustling in tech cubicles, sipping filter coffee, or meditating in Cubbon Park to protest. Dancer Ramaa Bharadwaj asks, “Am I living in Varthur or Venice?” while citizen Dhivya Kiran takes rare legal action against pothole-induced trauma — a flicker of accountability in an otherwise drowsy civic landscape.
And yet, this isn’t a city without activists. Oorvani, I Change Indiranagar, BPAC, Namma Bengaluru Foundation, and many others fight the good fight. But they’re mostly run by middle-aged, home-owning locals — not the drifting youth drawn here by code, coffee, and culture.
So what do Bengaluru’s young care about? Community. Connection. Creativity. From pole dancing to poetry nights, from hand-pan music to journaling meetups, they’re building tribes — not just teams. And this cultural flowering may be Bengaluru’s real revolution. The arts humanise us, says the author. They stir empathy. They nudge coders to care. And in this fusion of tech and theatre, perhaps activism will rise again.
Read also;