The GREAT Bangalore Habba

Post liberalization, Bangalore has had a drastic change in its demography. The opening up of the constricted Indian market in the early 90s had marked the insinuation of several big names in the world trade set up camps in Bangalore. Especially, the information technology honchos. This called for enormous skilled and unskilled man power, coaxing thousands of Indian youths to migrate to the city. Not to mention hundreds of educational institutions, of varying capacity and capability, mushrooming in the city. To sum up, the denizens of Bangalore are a heterogeneous mix of cultures, faiths, practices etc.
Bangalore habba, an initiative of AFFA, has given the Bangaloreans (including the immigrants), an opportunity to have a comprehensive view of the cosmopolitan cultural of Bangalore. The audience has a wide array of performances to choose from. Thus, Bangalore habba is special in its diversity, as it caters to audience with distinct sensibilities. This is in concordance to Bangalore’s demography, where there are audiences for Kannada theatre, folk performances, arts exhibition, as well as rock bands. With a blend of indigenous and western arts, habba does not disappoint on content.
The habba highlights the democratic culture of Bangalore as well. One of the fore most cosmopolitan cities in India, often reeking with complaints from the immigrants about limited linguistic flexibility of the region (which is considerably low as compared to the orthodox Chennai), Bangalore gives its denizens a liberated cultural scenario which is a healthy concoction of western and regional influence. Thus, in addition to catering to a heterogeneous population which is a result of liberalization, the Bangalore habba also showcases different facets of Bangalore culture. It proves that Bangalore has an audience for the diversity on offer.
The event remains true to its motive of highlighting the cultural diversity of Bangalore as it offers a free entry to the audience, thus liberating a willing audience of economic constraints and provides emerging talents a platform to showcase themselves, all the while. This can be attributed to the sponsorship by few of the fattest purses in the corporate world. It can be safely presumed that the big money it has drawn in, from the likes of Airtel, Tanishq, Black Dog, ONGC etc, is an outcome of liberalization. With more business and an increase in revenue garnered, the corporate are now capable of pumping money into such events, the events getting bigger and better in the process. This is a glaring example of liberalization’s contribution to the habba.
The event justifies the corporate image of Bangalore as well. The selection of venues, which ranges from the UB city auditorium, the Mantri mall, to the Palace grounds, complements the kind of events at the respective places. With events like crafts mela, the habba has commerce as an integral constituent. Association of big brands, with the main sponsor Airtel having around 200 words dedicated to the company profile in the official Bangalore habba website, showcases the event as a platform for advertisement and promotion as well, justifying the corporate flavor of the city.
Thus, the Bangalore habba, replete with the indigenous earthiness and cosmopolitan polish, provides a platform to showcase the diversity and flexibility of Bangalore’s culture with efficacy.