Whitefield rises up in anger

It was a mess as usual on all roads lead ing to Whitefield on Monday morning -clogged with heavy trucks, cars and two-wheelers trying to inch past one another, as clouds of dust rose. But once the clock struck 10, the scene metamorphosed into a show of people power, as hundreds of residents, many dressed in black, streamed out of their homes armed with posters and placards, to protest the pathetic road conditions, broken footpaths and roundthe-clock traffic crawl.Employees of tech companies from the Whitefield area too stepped out of their offices and participated in the peaceful protest.
The residents and employees first assembled at seven different points. By 11.30am, the march began, with protesters shouting, `Save Whitefield, Save Bengaluru', `Wake Up, Sid!', `My Tax And Vote Has Failed', as they proceeded towards ITPL, their final meeting point. “I am not a resident of Whitefield, but I work here, and have considered quitting my job a thousand times because of the commute,“ said Ranjani V , who stood with her colleagues outside their workplace.
Her colleague, Sindhu S, added, “We spend a minimum of three hours commuting daily . It is taking a toll on our health and family life, and I'm speaking for each and everyone here. When it rains, we feel like spending the night in office because it will anyway take forever to reach home.“
By noon, there was a sea of humanity on either side of the road in ITPL, where the protests hit a crescendo, the sound of drums in the background adding a fresh zeal to their united voices. “We are genuinely angry . We don't have a life in Whitefield and all we can think about is the bumper-to-bumper traffic and terrible roads we have to navigate every day ,“ said Indrani Choudhary , who chooses to work from home in Whitefield.
The area's children also took the opportunity to voice their problems. Arjun D, 3, who was accompanied by his father Ashutosh at the protest site, spends three hours a day in traffic to attend three hours of school.“He is too small to understand this traffic, but his discomfort is pretty evident when he gets home. Sometimes his grandpa has to wait for more than an hour for the school bus to turn up. Everything is so unpredictable,“ said Ashutosh.
Diya, a class II student and resident of ECC Road, said she always misses her first class by the time she reaches school in Hoodi. “By the time I return home, I am exhausted and hungry and not in a mood to study ,“ she rued.
The protesters hung around the spot for about 45 minutes. There were no speeches, only angst over their plight and fury at the authorities. The huge protest ended by 12.45pm, after which residents and employees headed back to their homes and workplaces.