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All the elderly people say it, all the magazines and newspapers publish controversial content but there is no denying the fact that we are hugely influenced by the lifestyle from the West. North America to be more precise. On the other hand, many people also say that the West is also getting influenced by the spiritual lifestyle from the East. Whether this is right or wrong, or which of these is better is not my point of discussion, but I would like to focus on this aspect where we are influenced by the West. And not rightly so. New Delhi (North India) to be particular.
I have been frequenting New Delhi a lot in the past year. and even before that I used to be there for occasional visits as the DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation] has its main office in New Delhi. And I say every word below, from nothing but my own experience, with all due respect to the people who do come from there:
To begin with, the people of New Delhi are utterly selfish. They have no sense of compassion towards the people new in the city. Secondly, I don't know whether this is in the water of New Delhi but they really like to fool people all the time by saying things which are not of any profit to them but are of loss to the opposite person. Like for example, If you ask for directions to the people, very few will actually tell you the right way, most of them give you the wrong way and if you do trust the Rickshaw-walas in the city then you will end up emptying your pocket by the time you reach your final destination. Anyway, coming to the point, the lifestyle in New Delhi is very much influenced by the lifestyle in the west. Atleast they try to show so. But if they think so even 1% then they are so wrong! People in the west are much more morally stable and they do not believe in showing off what is not theirs. In New Delhi you would always, always find people talking about Millions and Trillions owned by them when they themselves travel in Autos. They have a tendency to overly flaunt their status and not be modest about it. They just like to talk and talk and talk about it. They talk about owning cars but they do not realise that the pollution level in their city is at warning levels as on date. You can see small kids, barely 12 or 13 years old flaunting their parents cars and riding bikes on the streets without their driving licence and the police doesn't even bother! I was with Ash at this Liquor Store the other night and there were kids purchasing alcohol. No one says anything to them. This does not happen in the west! As much as I know of it, the westerners like to flaunt what they got and not what their parents got. They are also extremely hardworking people and like to be paid for their duties. No wonder there is no domestic labour in the west. It is not funny the amount of thefts, murders, rape cases and eve teasing cases are a part of New Delhi. Just yesterday I saw on the news that a 21 year old girl suicided after she was gangraped by a group of 12 young lads 5 of whom were arrested. This is disgraceful, she was just coming back home from her college for the love of God! This does not happen in the west! But this is partly also due to the UP illiterate population roaming like they own these roads. The young population of New Delhi, the guys and girls in the dating zone are known to be huge traitors and most of their love depends on the amount of money their partner owns. That is about it for them! It is shameful! All I want to say is that, if you want to adopt the western culture, adopt it fully and live up to it. This is not the state in which the Capital of our country should be!
There are so many other aspects to this! I will discuss them one by one as time goes by... But for now this is what I think. Let me know what are your experiences/comments!
All the elderly people say it, all the magazines and newspapers publish controversial content but there is no denying the fact that we are hugely influenced by the lifestyle from the West. North America to be more precise. On the other hand, many people also say that the West is also getting influenced by the spiritual lifestyle from the East. Whether this is right or wrong, or which of these is better is not my point of discussion, but I would like to focus on this aspect where we are influenced by the West. And not rightly so. New Delhi (North India) to be particular.
I have been frequenting New Delhi a lot in the past year. and even before that I used to be there for occasional visits as the DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation] has its main office in New Delhi. And I say every word below, from nothing but my own experience, with all due respect to the people who do come from there:
To begin with, the people of New Delhi are utterly selfish. They have no sense of compassion towards the people new in the city. Secondly, I don't know whether this is in the water of New Delhi but they really like to fool people all the time by saying things which are not of any profit to them but are of loss to the opposite person. Like for example, If you ask for directions to the people, very few will actually tell you the right way, most of them give you the wrong way and if you do trust the Rickshaw-walas in the city then you will end up emptying your pocket by the time you reach your final destination. Anyway, coming to the point, the lifestyle in New Delhi is very much influenced by the lifestyle in the west. Atleast they try to show so. But if they think so even 1% then they are so wrong! People in the west are much more morally stable and they do not believe in showing off what is not theirs. In New Delhi you would always, always find people talking about Millions and Trillions owned by them when they themselves travel in Autos. They have a tendency to overly flaunt their status and not be modest about it. They just like to talk and talk and talk about it. They talk about owning cars but they do not realise that the pollution level in their city is at warning levels as on date. You can see small kids, barely 12 or 13 years old flaunting their parents cars and riding bikes on the streets without their driving licence and the police doesn't even bother! I was with Ash at this Liquor Store the other night and there were kids purchasing alcohol. No one says anything to them. This does not happen in the west! As much as I know of it, the westerners like to flaunt what they got and not what their parents got. They are also extremely hardworking people and like to be paid for their duties. No wonder there is no domestic labour in the west. It is not funny the amount of thefts, murders, rape cases and eve teasing cases are a part of New Delhi. Just yesterday I saw on the news that a 21 year old girl suicided after she was gangraped by a group of 12 young lads 5 of whom were arrested. This is disgraceful, she was just coming back home from her college for the love of God! This does not happen in the west! But this is partly also due to the UP illiterate population roaming like they own these roads. The young population of New Delhi, the guys and girls in the dating zone are known to be huge traitors and most of their love depends on the amount of money their partner owns. That is about it for them! It is shameful! All I want to say is that, if you want to adopt the western culture, adopt it fully and live up to it. This is not the state in which the Capital of our country should be!
There are so many other aspects to this! I will discuss them one by one as time goes by... But for now this is what I think. Let me know what are your experiences/comments!
22 comments:
indeed a great post
*bows * and * applauses*
i have been born, brought up and lived all my life here but i have loved this place because i was born and stayed till my college in an university area and thats paradise i dont even call it delhi as ur secure, free and independent there but when i entered the college and shifted my house i realised what real delhi was.......
even today i m insecure returning back if its late...till date only place i m sure i m safe is my campus as luckily i was born there too....i might Love it or hate it but its still a part of me....but then i do agree to what ur experiences say abt it...this is not a dream capital sadly....but i hope we do make it oneself...but only if WE wanna make it ...
We must! We have to!!
very true yaar!! delhiites suck bigtime!!
But u dint mention the good things like gol gappe or sanjha chulha or cheaper booze than mumbai!!hhahahahahaaaa
Can't comment much, as i haven't really been to Delhi in the real sense!!
But i accept with you , cos when ppltry to copy western culture, try to take d good ones too not just the bad. and people in Chennai also think flaunting their western side is cooler arghhh !! Give it a break!!
A very good point raised Ash... I had read about it a few years back somwer else too. I dont know about much about Delhi but saw in News about how dangerous it can be for gals... About the underage driving and drinking I think their parents are largely to be blamed for that... All said and done the only way we can bring a change is by creating awareness and you are already doing your part!
Btw i have added a new poem on my blog...
Cheers... keep writing!!
Nikhil i m a delhiite too :|...so u still stand by the comment :P
very good post,who thinks about DELHI everyone is in ratrace. salute to U.
Nikhil : They do, but there are always exceptions like Nabs :P
And hey I agree there are many good things too which I will be writing about soon :)
Seno : It is everywhere darling, Mumbai is no less. But the degree of over flaunting flaunted by New Delhi cannot be beaten by anyone :P
Celestial : Thanks for liking my post! And it is 100 times worse in reality than what is shown on news! New Delhi is very unsafe. But I think parts of UP are worse than that!
I am going to check your poem out right now :)
Nabs again : Nikhil owes us a clarification of this point hahaha.. Coz Ash is living in New Delhi too these days :|
Thanks Kishore! When are you Blogging next? Love reading your stuff, besides my Hindi reading speed is getting better now :)
Nabs and Ash: I still stand by my statement although there are always some exceptions :p....like nabs and aishwarya :D..i hope i am outta this now #:-s
heyyy.... i jus happened to stop by delhi on my way to shimla.... n i HAV to say tht i totally agree wid u... the delhites in my train were obnoxious to say the very least. they were rude, and very very dirty. the entire station stank like anythng and there were perverts everywhere. it was horrible.
delhi suxxx...
Hey Ash, Here is a critical view, no offence :)
I don't really agree with your post!
First, I think that people in the west do flaunt their status and wealth. And their kids definitely do, Kids who own Porches, wear only Prada and Gucci, go to private school, spend $200 on jeans.
The reason I feel this way is because I go to an extremely expensive college and a lot of the kids are extremely stuck up and have had chauffeurs and housekeepers all through their childhood. They barely wear clothes a second time, no kidding.
Secondly, the thing about gang rapes and rape in general has more to do with sexual repression in India, and the UP boys serve as a great example. In the west, since people are 13 they can have sex if they want to and that makes all the difference.
Oh and the thing about alcohol, I'm not sure if it was completely different in Canada(isn't that where you lived?) but in the US -almost every single kid- started drinking and doing drugs at 12 or 13, that certainly surprised me.
There also is domestic labor in the west, mexicans/south americans/ heck even indians - all the illegal immigrants.
The west is not much better than India in the terms you have described, the only thing I agree with is people are a lot more helpful here. But other than that, East or West every single city is the same.
Oh and btw, i added the followers gadget to my page :)
And again, no offense, it was just what i felt :)
Meenaxi,
The facts you put across are true. And yes there are those spoilt brats everywhere who flaunt their parents money. But my point here was that if you want to be influenced by the West in anyway, why the bad things and not the good things! Look, doing drugs and drinking at the age of 12-13 and having sex legally and getting aborted or delivering babies at such age is not taken in the West the same way as it is taken here in the East! And about the Indians in North America, what do I say! most of them just spoil the name of our country and I think it is due to such people who are the local 7/11 and gas pump owners, the Indian restaurant owners, the local cabbies and the Indians married into the US who are spoiling the reputation of the people. They make us look like some "bechaare" who are always looking for sympathy and are here to test their luck in the US or in Canada. Same story everywhere. We went to an Indian restaurant in Canada the other night and the waiter was a very sweet Indian guy and coz he served us well we decided to give him a huge tip. The man returned the tip to us saying that I know how all of us are doing here for the money, keep this with you, I know you need it! What the heck was that?!!
The westerners follow us too, but in a good way. They have started doing Yoga, they have started being more spiritual and they are adopting everything from Ramdev Baba to Kama Sutra. All these are the good things. None of them are adopting the poverty or the selfish nature of the citizens. I do not think the system in the West is as corrupt as it is in the East.
Annie.. I know!! I am not saying Mumbai rocks or anything, But Delhi sucks this way :|
You know what, after the blasts of 26/11 I had flown to New Delhi on the 2nd of December amidst tight security. I read the Hindustan Times on the 3rd morning, and in the editors column there was absolute rubbish sent in by the New Delhi crowd. Although most were supporting Mumbai and its loss, 2 of the posts said that Mumbai was over reacting to the blasts!
Well you are right about how Indians are perceived as Cab drivers, 7/11 owners, etc but you are forgetting that Indians in the US are also quite prominent on the other end of the spectrum- super rich. All my Indian friends at university are rolling in cash, and all my non-indian friends know that the Indians who were their friends in high school were uber-rich.
But that is annoying, what happened with the Indian waiter! Kind of sweet i guess though :) Haha, I don't know, I dont tip much, I am a poor college student making $10 an hour ;)
I agree again Meenaxi :) There are some pretty well to do Indians in North America! And that is why I was pissed when he returned the tip. You should have seen our faces, lol! Most of the Indians are like that but some of them have made their mark!
very well written. i think "Flaunt what you got" thing exists everywhere. its universal.
i have done my entire schooling from delhi yet no attachment to that city. would never ever like to go back. Yes people are rude there. what to say about women safety.
Thanks for liking the post Manjari :)
nicely put up....
actually i have never been to delhi,so its not appropriate for me to judge..
bt ill share one incident...
A friend of mine happened to be from delhi..he once told me dat ppl in capital are very coperative and speaking in mother language does help a lot(in private firms too)..he said in mumbai u hve to be verbally correct n ppl tend to tame u for ur mistakes n never believe in having second chance..city is full of professionals n never bound to emotions...
well he never criticized in a way that wud hurt...bt he believed dat back in his home town ppl think by der heart first n are very helpfull....bt such behaviour is depleting n he blames other states ppl fo dis..and in delhi ppl are nt as lenient as ppl are in mumbai..
As far as i know..he wont lie blankly....bt the point is,every one has der own experience which drives them to conclusion...
I did argued abt the crime rate to which he replied "no state is perfect..n exceptions are everywhere and ders no doubt dat most of them belong to neighbouring states"
he belonged to middle class family and was never insecure of rich brats...
wel!! I cudnt debate further as i hve never been der....
My friend is a nice chap..n wud appreciate ny comment on delhi peoples attitude..tc
Thanks Salil for posting in :)
Maybe your friend is exception.
As we all say :Dilwalon ki Dilli! It is not as dilwali for the people who are not from Delhi
And I have realized that we can criticize anything and everything!
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