Sir,

After reading Vikram Muthanna’s article ‘Shhhh… they’re building Road to Riches’ under his weekly column In Black & White in Star of Mysore dated Sept. 27, about the pothole menace in Bengaluru, I was reminded of an interesting WhatsApp forward which I thought would interest other SOM readers.  Here it is:

Few people know this, but the legendary battle between Karna and Arjuna once happened near to the Chola Kingdom, close to current day Bangalore!

That morning, Karna had sworn:

“Before the Sun sets today, I shall defeat Arjuna!”

Confident and fiery, he climbed onto his Rath, the horses neighing like they were ready for Formula 1.

Arjuna wasn’t far away — just across what today would’ve been a couple of junctions.

Karna thought, “Piece of cake. I’ll be there in minutes.”

But little did he know, he was about to face the true test of Bangalore. Not celestial weapons, not divine warriors, but something deadlier: roads and traffic.

First came the endless wait at what looked suspiciously like Silk Board.  “Why are we not moving?” Karna shouted.

His driver Shalya replied, “My Lord, this is peak hour. Even gods avoid this route.”

Then came the diversions: Metro work, service lanes that ended in cows and Maps shouting “Recalculating!” every two minutes.

Still, Karna pushed on, sweat dripping, the Sun inching West. He could almost see Arjuna in the distance, calmly drinking filter coffee and laughing at memes. Victory was so close!

And then… destiny struck. THUD! The Rath’s mighty wheel sank deep into a massive pothole. No force could pull it out. The more they pushed, the deeper it stuck. Karna’s heart sank — the curse had caught him.

In helpless rage, he shouted to the heavens: “Let no wheel in this land ever move smoothly! Let every traveller taste the pain of being stuck!”

And that’s how the land came to be called Karnataka — the place where ‘Karna’ got ‘ataka’ (stuck).

To this day, when you’re stranded in Bangalore traffic, remember — you’re not late. You’re just part of Karna’s curse.

– Dr. C. Shetty, Mysuru, 28.9.2025

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