Why is Bengaluru becoming angry?

Over the past year, social media has been abuzz with cases of road rage, petty fights and violence in Bengaluru, slowly earning it the reputation of an ‘angry city’.

On Wednesday, a man was stabbed to death at Bengaluru airport. Last week, a bouncer was arrested in Bellandur for damaging a car in a fit of road rage. In the same week, an angry driver chased and killed a motorcyclist in Vidyaranyapura. Earlier this month, frustrated with youngsters performing wheelies, the public hurled bikes off a flyover near Nelamangala. In December 2023, Bengaluru made national headlines after a rally to raise awareness about Kannada signboards turned violent.

Metrolife spoke to sociology experts and law and order officials to understand the triggers behind such rage.

‘Clash between classes’

Sudha Sitharaman, a retired sociology professor, relates the rising tempers to the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. “Such gaps will inevitably make the less-privileged lash out. People move to Bengaluru with big dreams. When they see people moving about in their big cars and wasting food while they struggle to put two meals on the table, it’s frustrating,” she says.

Growing dissatisfaction and worsening standard of living rid people of empathy, she believes.

‘Lack of community’

English professor Daniel David blames it on the fast-paced life in Bengaluru. “Most IT jobs are high-pressure jobs. After keeping their temper under control for 6 to 10 hours in the office, people tend to let go when they are out of that space. That is when you notice an increase in petty fights and unnecessary squabbles,” he says.

A lack of sense of community could also be driving the tension. “You have Kannadigas, Kodavas, Mangaloreans, Gujaratis, Hindi-speaking people and so on living in Bengaluru. When you have such diverse sets of people living together but without a sense of community, there is bound to be friction. However, in Chennai, which has a huge population of Gujaratis and Marwadis, people have made an effort to integrate into the society, accept the culture and learn the language. This is lacking in Bengaluru,” he adds.

C K Baba, superintendent of police (Bengaluru district), concurs. “When one doesn’t feel like they’re part of a community, they’re on edge. They feel like they have to fend for themselves. They begin to lose empathy and patience. Such people are more confrontational,” he says.

He attributes the road rage cases in rural Bengaluru to factors like severe traffic congestion and aggressive driving culture. “The outskirts of the city were not built for such a huge population. Earlier, we used to talk about how bad traffic in Nelamangala is, today we talk about Hebbagodi the same way. Tomorrow, it will be some other area. We need to look for solutions. Diverting traffic won’t help,” he adds.

‘Increased exposure’

Avatthi Ramaiah, professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, believes the problem of violence in a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru is not new. It is
only a case of increased exposure. “The opposition will blow up any violent incident, no matter big or small. Media is also stuck in a race of covering (such incidents) first,” he says. A senior traffic police officer adds, “It is due to social media that we feel road rage is high.”

Counselling psychologist Kala Balasubramanian has also noticed an increase in frustration and animosity among people in Bengaluru. “It is only recently that we have started considering anger as an issue. In India, anger has been glorified. It’s depicted as a powerful tool, as a means to an end. That’s where the issue stems from,” she says.