When hashtag 'Trevor Noah cancelled his show' became synonymous with #peakbengaluru traffic woes
Bengaluru (PTI): Although Trevor Noah cancelled his show in Bengaluru reportedly due to sound system glitches, Bengalureans grabbed the moment to add another hashtag to their #peakbengaluru angst stories. From funny memes about the pot-holed roads to while-we-wait-for-cars-to-inch-forward anecdotes, Bengalurians's interesting takes on social media, tagging #Noah, have gone viral.
Incidentally, the unprecedented traffic jam on September 27 on the Outer Ring Road stretch, the lifeline for the tech community living there, resulted in a ripple effect all over the city, causing even the stand-up comedian and former talk show host to be late for his own show.
With only an hour to go, many who were heading for Noah's show and were stuck in the traffic were seen trying to sell tickets that cost them Rs 6,500 for Rs 5,000.
The show, however, was cancelled because of some technical glitches in the sound system.
But having an international stand-up comedian in the city was too good an opportunity to let pass for Bengalureans, who never hesitate to roast' the IT hub known for its traffic bottlenecks and civic infrastructure issues.
So, while Bengaluru waited endlessly for the jam to clear up, social media kept buzzing with pictures and updates late into the night, providing an insight into the chaos.
Not surprisingly, even BookMyShow, the organiser of the Noah show, which has come under a lot of flak, and Noah himself, took to social media platform X to put out an apology.
"Bengaluru, we are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused at Trevor Noah's Off The Record show at Manpho Convention Centre on September 27. The Bengaluru leg of the India Tour for both September 27 & 28 stands cancelled. All Customers who purchased tickets for both shows will get a complete refund within 8-10 working days," BookMyShow sent out a message on X, at 1.55am on September 28.
Many, like Anurag Mathur, a senior employee of Amazon, kept themselves busy throughout by live tweeting. Mathur's posts were punctuated with dark humour, as he crawled through the traffic for almost five hours to reach his destination. Here's one for sample: "With a sudden gusto of energy, our cab driver changed to 2nd gear for the first time in 3 hours and sped past another car reaching an ungodly speed of 10/km hour on ORR today. Map still reads 1.5 hours to home."
For what it's worth, tech city's star infrastructure' food and beverage stood by its "service at all cost" promise. When a techie working for Flipkart, also an X user, @Rishivaths, called Dominos, they actually delivered a pizza to his stuck-in-traffic car.
He promptly made a video of the delivery boys on a two-wheeler, snaking their way through the waiting cars, and posted it on X. "They were kind enough to track our live location (a few metres away from our random location added in the traffic) and deliver to us in the traffic jam," he had tweeted.
Of course, this triggered another avalanche of memes and sarcastic comments from other users. Like X user Vibin Babuurajan, who said, "Next time I'm booking a massage from Urban Company."
Another X user, Ritwik Z, listed out places to go from Bengaluru, when one has 4.5-5 hours to spare. "Mysore-Bengaluru-Mysore, Coorg-Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru-Bengaluru," read his post.
Politics came into play too. P C Mohan, BJP LS MP of Bengaluru Central, put in his two pennies worth by blaming the present government. His X post, "The Baiyappanahalli-KR Pura metro link could have eased this, but the state government's inaction, despite CMRS approval, prolongs the suffering," triggered a political debate on who did what.
Although according to @Bnglrweatherman, who tracks Karnataka weather on X, the jam did not ease out even at midnight.
In the morning, Bengaluru appears to have gone back to its "normal" mode. Now, people could get to their destination, literally at a stone's throw away, in less than one hour.
Software developer Ruthvik Ghagarwale, posted on his X account at about 10.42am - " I can practically see my house from my car, but it still took me a whopping 51 mins!".
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
