In an exclusive interview with Ashok Kumar, Mahesh Dattani argues that Hyderabad does not have a conducive atmosphere like the one that is in Bangalore, making it difficult for Hyderabad to take over the garden city.

Bangalore is not likely to be Bangalored by Hyderabad, though it is a different issue that Hyderabad might grow with the obvious growth of the IT industry taking place throughout the country. In the present times Bangalore is facing stiff competition from the upcoming hubs of IT in states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Chandigarh in general and Hyderabad in particular.

Hyderabad, at its best, is an alternative to Bangalore and not its proxy. Nowadays, there is space for everyone and along with Hyderabad other cities could also come up as rising IT hubs. Bangalore per se has benefited because of the IT industry sprawling in its lap, which further enhanced the general prosperity in the city. This inflow of wealth also gave enough scope for other allied and non-allied sectors, such as educational institutions and growth of art and other tertiary fields.

Repressive policies are a big culprit to malign the liberal image of Bangalore in the eyes of global IT industry. Certain actions such as closing down of bars have been very detrimental to the image of Bangalore, which forced the companies to look for areas that suited them better. I have learned that there is a proposal, which would categorise all forms of prevalent dances, except Bharatnatyam, as cabaret. Now such weird moral policing would certainly come in the way of the IT prospects of Bangalore. Who would like to come to city that bereaves you of that very essential freedom, which is a must for an all round well being of the person and his/her family?

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