Anant Sharma, co-founder of a Bengaluru-based company, wondered if he should “leave India” as he criticised the city’s infrastructure, weather and water situation. Not just that, he even asked his social media followers if it was worth shifting to Mumbai or Pune.
“Bangalore looks like it’s gonna go to the dogs in another 5 years with bad infra, bad weather, and bad water. Is Mumbai or Pune worth shifting to or should I just leave India?” wrote Sharma on X (formerly Twitter).
His post soon caught people’s attention and garnered over 3.6 lakh views. A few even shared their thoughts on his post.
Srijan R Shetty, an entrepreneur from Bengaluru, shared his thoughts on Sharma’s post. He expressed, “People don’t come to Bengaluru thinking about the weather. They come to Bengaluru and then realise the weather is/was great. People here are kind and want everyone to win; young folks want people playing non-zero-sum games, and I don’t see that happening anywhere else but here.”
“The systemic problem with Bangalore is that people think of it as an immigrant city. Unless it becomes a vote bank, no one will want to change the city. Getting voter percentage up to 80% and asking officials to get stuff done is the only way to solve the infra issues. And till we don’t do that, can’t really blame the government because they want to stay in power, and Bengaluru is not a factor in that,” Shetty added.
“Every city has issues. Stop running and start owning the city,” posted an individual. To this, Sharma replied, “Been doing that only all this time. Feel like it’s overdue now.”
Another added, “Probably an unpopular opinion, but it’s pretty straightforward now. It’s not just about weather and water. There are many other indicators. If you can afford it, leave. Period.” Sharma replied to the comment by saying that “the reasons to leave the city strengthen every day”.
“Mumbai has its own issues. If you want to move, get out of metro cities. All metros will face even more issues in the next 5-10-20 years,” said a third. Sharma reacted to this and said, “Heavy. Do you think other metros are better equipped to handle this kind of growth tho? Bangalore seems relatively noobish to such development in general.”
This, however, is not the first time an entrepreneur has considered moving out of India due to an array of issues. Last year, Brij Singh, founder and CEO of a Bengaluru-based company, said that he learnt more in three days in the Bay Area [San Francisco] than he could learn in Bengaluru, India. He added that he spent two months trying to register a company in the city, but all his efforts were in vain. This, he said, prompted him to consider “moving back to the US”.
Bengaluru, known for its pleasant weather, has been grappling with scorching heat for the last few months. This has contributed to water shortage in the Silicon Valley of India. The recent showers brought much respite to the residents, and this is expected to continue from May 7 to May 19.