It was around 3 p.m. in the afternoon and I was going back home from school with one of my friends. We were walking on the side of the road and talking to each other. While walking, we saw three local teenagers on a bike. When they saw us, they shouted and showed their middle finger to us. We did not respond but because I was saying something to my friend, they thought that I was saying something to them.
They brought their bike back and came in front of us and said something to me in their language. I asked my friend what they were saying. He replied that they were asking me what I had said to them.
After finding out that I was an outsider and did not know Kannada, they caught hold of my collar and even slapped me. I tried telling them that I hadn’t said anything to them but they still thought that I did say something about them.
I actually thought of reacting by giving them a slap, but since I’m new to Bangalore and had heard that the police are also not co-operative, especially towards outsiders, I chose not to engage in a fight. After some time, my friend requested them to leave us and he said sorry for. This was my experience in Bangalore.
I don’t mean to offend anyone who is reading this and I also don’t mean that Kannada people are very bad or the police is very bad. It’s just my experience that some local people in Bangalore think that we don’t deserve to be between them.