Punctuality usually has not as much to do with schedule as with habit. In India, those who have experienced first-hand the brunt of VVIP culture know all too well that an hour late is expected, anything more than that is also a given.
However, on Wednesday morning, Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg decided to walk away from an event meant to felicitate him after Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai turned up almost two hours late.
Borg, who is in Bengaluru to support his son Leo for the Bengaluru Open Tournament, was to be honoured at the event along with former Indian player and Padma Shri awardee Vijay Amritraj. However, after waiting for over an hour, Borg excused himself from the felicitation at the event, organised by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association.
The event, scheduled to begin at 9.30 am was first postponed to 10.15 am due to the CM's schedule. However, Bommai eventually arrived at the programme at 11.15 am. Since Borg had to attend his son's game at 11 am, he excused himself.
Netizens school K'taka CM
Echoing the thoughts of many, especially those who have faced the brunt of VVIP culture, wrote a netizen, "It was the same Bengaluru traffic for both. If Borg can reach on time, why can't our CM?" Someone remarked, "It has become a habit of bureaucrats and political leaders to take everyone's time for granted. They get away with it because we put up with it."
Someone posted how school children are often made to wait for VVIP's for hours at a stretch, sometimes in unfavourable weather.
