When we talk about Delhi—the city we call our own—what is the first thing that comes to our mind? It’s not the historicity of the city, it’s also not about it being the capital of India; it’s not even the richness of its composite culture. What the common man feels about Delhi is that it is Dilli Dilwalon Ki (Delhi, the city of people with big hearts). But ironically, the city has been turning heartless.
People are becoming insensitive towards each other. This thoughtlessness is reflected in every section of society.
Whether it is the taxi-auto services or our traffic sense, the behaviour of people in metro or societal interactions; crime against women or helping each other when in need, Delhi ranks last. You try hiring a taxi or an autorickshaw in Delhi, the drivers will rarely go by the meter, always asking for an inflated fare. In Mumbai, seldom would you come across this kind of experience. And the traffic sense, many a times crosses all the limits. Not only do we not follow traffic rules properly, we are rather always prepared to show our aggression on the road even when it’s our fault. This road rage takes an extreme form sometimes, and at times is transformed into a life-threatening incident.
Another illustration of our heartlessness and insensitivity can be seen at the metro station queues. We always want to board the train first, in spite of the announcements of allowing the passengers to alight first. We often flex our muscles to enter the train, even if it means to not allow an elderly person to get down first.
Similarly, when it comes to helping people in need, or in the context of politeness in social exchanges, we lag much behind our fellows from other cities. Delhi needs to learn a lot in this regard from other cities like Mumbai, Kolkata or Chennai.
Last but not the least, people need to change their attitude and empathise with others. Delhi has already been named as world’s rape capital. We need to change this. For this, we need to instil good values in our children.
A huge amount of work also needs to be done at administrative, infrastructural, socio-cultural and socio-psychological fronts. It is vital, therefore, that all stakeholders of government, NGOs, academia, media, as well as the icons of society come together and work in unison rather than in isolation to make the city a better place to live in. The big question however is, when will this start?
Niranjan Kumar
Professor, Hindi Department, University of Delhi