BENGALURU: A viral video posted by Canadian national Caleb Friesen has sparked not just swift action from civic authorities, but also a wave of citizen appeals urging him to highlight other neglected areas in the city.
On Thursday, Caleb recorded his 30 minute, 2.4-km walk from Majestic bus stand to a coffee shop, capturing the broken, and encroached footpaths along the route. The video quickly went viral, drawing sharp attention to pedestrian woes. Within a day, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) acted to clean and repair the stretch. By Saturday, Bengaluru Central City Commissioner Rajendra Cholan had joined volunteers in the clean-up drive and was later seen sitting and eating on the revamped pavement in a symbolic gesture.
The unusually quick response has left residents amused, but also frustrated. Many took to social media to request Caleb to continue his walks in other parts of the city, pointing out that years of citizen complaints had failed to move the authorities. A user, Suraj Clark Prasad, asked, “Can I pay you to walk on Bannerghatta Road? From 1942 Angrezo Bharat Chhodo to 2025 make white man walk around. We won’t progress if civil sense is missing.”
“Since you are the reason Bengaluru authorities are listening, please take a two-wheeler ride from Kundalahalli Gate to ORR via Panathur. The rest of the city might be living in 2025 but this road is medieval,” wrote Piyush Prabhakar.
A few others pointed to Sarjapur Road, Outer Ring Road, and Gear School Road, where even basic footpaths are absent, urging Caleb to spotlight them too. For many Bengalureans, the episode has underscored a painful irony, while local complaints often go unheard, a foreigner’s viral walk has compelled civic authorities to act overnight.