THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE 2 - CYBERCAFE VENTURE

THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE – 2
CYBERCAFE VENTURE

After the rains one can find the mushrooms sprouting up in the dense jungles and in the parks where the sun’s rays do not permeate to the ground. One can find them in the house gardens too. There is an abundance of parks in Bangalore.

Like the mushrooms, the cybercafes have mushroomed all around the Bangalore. In a shop area of 10 ft x 12 ft one can find at least seven cubicles with the desk tops. One cannot move the elbows to organize the keyboards or the mouse. One cannot sit comfortably to operate the inter-net. They charge you by the hour. Some of them do have monthly subscription rates too. Is it a world wide web or Bangalore wide web? Like a spider they have woven their web around the Bangalore. There is a need for them.

Since he can speak English and Hindi too, this time Mr. Nagaraj accompanied me for my run around the circles of the Bangalore. There are a number of circles around the Bangalore e.g. Majestic Circle, Hudson Circle, etc. In these cybercafes one can find the people of African origin, Westerners, the people from the NEFA (north east frontier area of India) i.e. Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and the Assam. No doubt, apart from the people from other parts of India, there are the locals too.

The people working in the IT and ITES industry are not allowed to access their personal mails in their work place. So, they troop down to the cybercafes in their spare time. Indians were severely cautious to talk to. They give a furtive look and question you thoroughly. Well, some pep talk and some cajoling helped them to loosen down. The scenario is that one cannot count on his/her colleague as a friend. So, also one cannot be called a foe. This is the truth from the top management level to the junior most employee. If one wins a laurel or a certificate of appreciation, then there is always someone to pull the rug under you. If one gets a small gift cash voucher, then the situation becomes diabolical to handle. In the work place if the decibel of your voice goes up a little, then someone will be breathing behind down neck. The fear and the fright grip that person like a tentacle.

The people of the African origin straightaway refuse to talk. They simply say “go away man, go!”. They would not even talk about the country of their origin. They live in groups and move as such. There is something surreptitious about them.

The westerners adopt the British etiquette. They palm of niceties and brush you away. They would not even say whether they are from the Eastern Europe or the Western or the USA. Even after producing the identity cards or business cards, the westerners would not open up. It appears they are afflicted and pull into their shells like a turtle. Are they also affected by the fear and fright?