I once put up this "Dilli hai Dil hindustan ka" crap on my facebook page just to see what people make of it. Proud Delhites lapped it up as an appreciation of their city. Some nice people also agreed thinking that my statement celebrated India via Delhi which they falsely believe is also the cultural capital of modern India. Unfortunately, they are wrong. I don't give a rat's ass about this city and I think even less highly of its denizens. if you want to believe me and continue reading, I believe that it's a rotten city and I am very sure that it doesn't have a Dil.
How do you define a city- by the roads, the buildings or the culture? I favour the latter and culture in itself is derived from people and people in Delhi don't seem to have much of of it. Whatever it has can be and should be referred to as bad culture (analogy to a bacteria colony..That's what I think of this city). Punjabis as shown in the Yashraj movies are big-hearted people with big dreams. The big dreams part may very well be true but it does come at the expense of the big heart.
There's a word which I don't like to use. However, it pretty much sums up the Punjabis of the city and their culture(which in turn defines Delhi). The word is Wannabe. I have never had a problem with the word because what's the problem with wanting to be something different? In the case of Delhites however, what they want to be is an even more grotesque version of themselves. What I hate about Delhites most, (hate is a term I prefer to use in generous doses, still) is their lack of empathy. Empathy doesn't exist or it exists in hidden, hitherto unknown parts of the city.
Manners. Where can you see manners ? It is there in the big shopping malls and clubs because almost everybody there is trying to be nice to people of "their kind". The same people walk out on the streets and they behave like a pack of rabid dogs barking at people who are not "their kind". Truly, the lack of respect and empathy for the poor and the so-called menial workers is simply mind-boggling( Forgive me if I come across as a socialist. I am one). Delhi probably boasts of the only shopping mall in India with a zero-tolerance policy for poor people. If you don't believe me, check out the aforementioned place (dressed in poor-people clothes) in the heart of obnoxious Delhi, the south.
There's no way a Delhite would try to make you feel comfortable if you encounter a group of them, unless and until your car, clothes and siren clearly state your CV. I can write a novella on Delhites and their manners but let's just say that they are not nice people.
Another pet peeve of mine is the fake Punjabi accents. The Yashraj movies were crappy and that includes DDLJ( There. I said it). So there's no point trying to sound like one of its characters if you live in the real world. The needless urge to mix English and Hindi which even we are guilty of, is another thing I cannot stand. If two people are meeting for the first time, what is the point of giving introductions in English and then gradually slinking to Hindi when one party realises that one or (and in most cases) both of them were pretty much molesting the queen's language.
In Delhi, you are not expected to be different. The degree of uniformity in the people makes it really hard of distinguish between them. The girls dress alike, talk alike and the poor, little ones from UP and Bihar also try to do the same so as to become one with the crowd. It's hard to find variety like, say in Mumbai.
People on the metro are obnoxious and the travelers could give Mumbaikars a lesson on how not to behave on public transport. Seats are voluntarily offered to fat Punjabi aunties who make it a point not to thank you because there's a deeply intrinsic mindset that they deserve everything they get. I may be biased in this judgement because I haven't ever received a thank you or even a friendly smile on nearly half a dozen occasions. One possible explanation can be that Delhites get confused and don't know how to react when they receive a favour they would never give to someone else. Compare that to Kolkata where even a wizened old lady who actually deserves the treatment would say thank you in Bengali even though you are not expected to understand it.
Actually, I believe that almost every big city in India is better than Delhi when it comes to morality and human values. The only saving grace for the great CRAPital city are the old-timers and the Muslim gentlemen you across in Old Delhi. As for the rest, I am just sick of of you all.
