Preferring B'luru footpaths like steak: 'rare', not 'well-done'!

What is that striking feature in our state capital Bengaluru which is conspicuous by its absence? In fact, its absence holds potential to attract global tourism — albeit with a statutory warning for the tourists: "Come and experience it at your own risk!"

- NIRAD MUDUR

Namma Bengaluru may have had a slew of sobriquets to describe the city nationally and globally, but the latest one—and the most apt—that deserves to stick now is: "City Without Footpaths".

The irony is that the "Pensioner's Paradise", which Bengaluru used to be once, has today emerged as the biggest threat for pensioners and elders, because there are no footpaths for them to walk safely on. And the average modern Bengalureans—although constantly cursing under the breath for being presented with a city without footpaths to live in—seem to have accepted their fate, and absorbed the culture of a "foothpathless" city in their DNA. That probably explains why even in public spaces with the seemingly miraculous presence of a good footpath, Bengalureans still walk on the road, risking their lives with vehicles zooming past, rather than take refuge on the footpath—as if they are robotically programmed to do so.