‘Bandhs do no good, only inconvenience people’

The issues may be genuine but are violent protests and bandhs the only way to register protest? We, in Bengaluru, have seen strikes and bandhs quite frequently of late. There was a two-day bus strike, then a Bharat bandh and now a Karnataka bandh. This has affected our daily lives greatly. My nine- year -old son, Pranav, has missed school for several days in recent weeks because of the strikes and bandhs. Some of my friends’ children, who are in higher grades, are having to make up for missed classes on the weekends and so on. Some have had their exams rescheduled.

My son does not understand why he cannot go out on the road or go and meet relatives on a day when he does not have to go to school. I dont know how to explain the situation to him. It is a little scary to go out on the roads with all the shops shut and no people around in anticipation of trouble.

Can we not think of better ways of registering our protest and finding solutions to problems? We create more trouble for ourselves by calling a bandh. I had to cancel the dance classes I conduct as I was not sure how my students would be able to commute with no buses and very few autorickshaws running.

It is a forced holiday and a waste of a holiday. I cannot go out to meet friends or family. I cannot even buy grocery. During the last Bharat Bandh, I remember, I had no grocery at home , but could not go out to get any.

With frequent bandhs, I guess I need to mark my calendar with them so that I can plan how to take my son to school and stock up on grocery. I am not sure how effective these bandhs are in solving our problems. But the inconvenience they cause to the aam aadmi. Perhaps, it is time we explored better ways of registering our protests.

— The writer is a dancer and mother of two

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