KARNATAKA’S DREAM RUN

Many Worlds, One Bangalore

Reads the two page Advertisement in Wall Street Journal this last Wednesday. As one could have expected the majority of the space is used to showcase IT and BT exports. Also the ad tries to focus on areas like Tourism, Textile and other Smaller Industries.

It’s refreshing to see that a coalition government involved in its own petty politics and mud slinging still managed time for a forward looking initiative. The Advertisement talks about Bangalore being the IT hub with $8 billion software exports for 2005-06 accounting for 38% of software exports in the country. Ad also tries to gain some mileage for Bangalore being the global headquarter of Infosys, and NRN leading the State’s IT vision group.

The section on tourism I think was pretty neat, the initiative to group 116 tourist destination into 11 circuits based on varied themes was innovative. So instead of tourists picking random places they can pick a theme based on tour. Themes include ‘Songs in Stone’ – Hampi, Aihole and Pattadakal. ‘Leisure City’ – Bangalore with emphasis on parks …. Poooh…. I would rather focus on the Pubs and Eat-Outs in Bangalore than parks for relaxation and winding.

One initiative that has been quite acclaimed and been seemingly profitable is the ‘Stay at Home’ initiative – The concept was introduced during Dasara, where tourists get to stay in Homes, just like you staying in a relatives or friends place. It is an enriching experience for a foreigner to visit kodagu (coorg) and be part of a wedding, food and booze. This initiative has a catchy phrase too. ‘The feel of a five star in Paris and London is the same; but a home stay in Kodugu village is unique’. I quite agree with this and full marks for Karnataka Tourism to have envisaged the concept.

Final Words: Although the initiative itself is laudable, the focus some how still remains on Bangalore which already is bludgeoned and cant take any more. There is no point mentioning Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli as alternate venues for investment - if there ain’t any infrastructure to back this. Infrastructure in Bangalore and rest of the state is all but pathetic. The completion of International Airport and good roads, better Traffic management would be pivotal for growth in the State. Creating pull alone is enough – you need to have the right environment for those investments to keep invested.

Ps: Oh did I mention Kummaranna and Yediyurappa were spotted in the centre spread..!!