Photo Essay – Is Delhi Rude?
The Delhi walla‘s pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls – Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks
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[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]
In July, 2009, AFP’s website beamed the headline – ‘Rude’ Delhi to be taught good manners. The report said, “Authorities in Delhi have admitted the city’s residents are “rude, impatient and arrogant” and vowed to tackle anti-social behaviour before the Commonwealth Games open in the Indian capital next year.”
The Delhi Government is an honorable institution and The Delhi Walla has no counter-argument to make except present a series of pictures of ‘rude’ Delhiwallas. Look at them and decide for yourself if Delhi indeed is a rude city.
Is she behaving rude?
Is she looking rude?
Is she rude?
Is he acting rude?
Are they being rude to the tourist?
Is this autowalla looking rude?
Does this bus conductor seem rude?
Can he be rude?
Is she acting rude?
Do they seem to be rude?
Is she rude?
Is she looking rude?
Are they looking anti-social?
Are they rude?
Are they rude?
Are they rude?
Is she looking rude?
We Delhi people are definitely not anti-social and using the word “rude” to describe us is not right but we are surely impatient and short tempered.
Dont you think its unfair to show just one side of the story.
Delhi is rude because its a city on the move. People are in hurry, they have to get somewhere all the time. As Ravi put, they are impatient. And they push anyone that comes in their way. Also Delhi is a amalgamation of cultures, the original Delhi (which had tehzeeb), is lost somewwhere. In this amalgamation, tehzeeb as it should have been is pushed away and you get a city teeming with people trying to find/establish their cultural identity.
To sample rudeness, all you have to do is stand at a traffic signal in your vehicle. the moment the signal turns green, the friendly Delhi wallah behind yous starts honking. As if one would magically fly and get out the way.
It is possible to live in a city on the move and not be rude. It is possible to find/establish your cultural identity amid an amalgamation of cultures and not be rude. It is possible to walk along a crowded pavement in a sedate fashion.
Part of the trouble with some (not all) Delhi dwellers is that they are not aware they are being rude. Someone learning to drive in Delhi knows that it is hard to get anywhere without your hand on the horn.
Learning not to spit or throw litter or queue in an orderly fashion is learned behaviour, it is not innate.
And then there are those who think their money and status allows them to be as rude and objectionable as they like.
am reading Sophie Mol’s funeral and looking at the updates..so first thought lemme complete reading updates and then i would read the rest of the pages in silent….
NO DELHI IS NOT RUDE.
Yes we all are running against time and we all have our goals…we all have become modern no no !! thats so 1990’s the correct word is Uber cool …but who defines anti social …and what is it..
….and as some one earlier pointed that the tehzeeb is lost somewhere…no i don’t think so in the past few days from all the pics and stories i read in Delhiwala there is still tehzeeb in the places where “REAL” people live…
We should come out of our self created illusion of what is right and what is wrong…and how should everyone behave….
It has become norm that if someone does not behave as we do he is branded as rude,out of line,dirty….
Just look at the smile on the face of the poor women with her husband ( if i am recollect from what i read Mayank u took this pic on the day of Eid)here is someone who has no money to even buy a small meal ..and look the smile on their face
These people are not the anti social elements…they are the REAL people….and its because of Dua and prayers of such people who we all love to hate that God is still merciful on us >>.
Sorry if i offended any one…but look at the smiling and cheerful faces
Yeh Dilli nahin rahi Dilli mere Pyaare!
4th Generation Delhhite that I am; my Delhi has lost its culture and sheen. Old Time Delhhites arent rude, its the people who are teeming in from all corners of India who are making it rude.
Call Centre puppies, Auto Wallahs from Bihar and other states, Jatts of Haryana, Gujjars of UP, Meena’s of Rajasthan, South Indian techies, North East Indian students at DU or JNU, shitty call centre cabs, West Bengal (Bangladeshi’s) labor, are solely responsible for making Delhi an unsympathetic city to live in.
Not that I’d like to be compared to the likes of Raj Thackery of MNS, but come to think of it; sometimes I feel that if Delhi gets a man like that, it can surely clean up a lot of filth encompassing Shahjahanabad. Meri Dilli marr gayee, ro pitt ke mar gayee.
My goodness, yes! They’re all rude. Just clicking them around town with smiles on their faces doesn’t make them polite or cultured. Try spending a minute with anyone from Delhi. If you survive that intact, you’ll be able to say how rude they are.
AWESOME pictures to drive home your point, MAS.
The icing on the cake was the last photo… it made me smile because as I was scrolling down I was expecting it to come:)
Anti-social? From my – well, yes – european point of view no city is as open-minded as Delhi. And this open-mindness is seen in these people’s eyes. But, I guess, no government has enough time to look into people’s eyes.
Delhi is certainly one of the biggest rude city of India. Even though being a capital, people have no civic and behavioural sense. The men are MCP’s and love eve teasing. They have no respect for women. Go to pune bangalore mayank bhai u will be able to understand the behaviour of the people from that geographical space. Also, Mayank bhai u are in love with Delhi seems, your sufism and stuff like that, but open ur eyes look beyond that, there is lot of undercurrents going.
Delhi serves as a transit point for me, every time I’ve to undertake the 10 hour journey to my hometown, 4 hours to reach Delhi, 1 hour from Airport to ISBT and another 5 hours from there. And I dread the one hour in Delhi the most just because anyone I’ve to interact during that time is shamelessly rude, be it the airport staff, taxi drivers, autowallahs, bus conductors, policemen or even the juice shop owners . My colleagues from all around the country testify going through the same experience when they visit Delhi. Yet we all might be partial to Delhi since everyone find his/her own place better and people less rude.
But even if Delhi is not rude, improvement never hurts anyone. If etiquette are being taught for free to even those who don’t have the privilege of going to convents and Stephens, then why be hostile to the idea.. The article itself reflects hostility masked in sarcasm..
wow nice collectionzzz
delhi is only rude in roads yaar
kabhi kisi ke ghar jayo nd fir dekho DIL,dilli waloon kaaaa
ab dilli jaisi bhi hai ,hai to hum jaiso se hiiii
nd hum nahi badalne ke 😀
we are rude specially towards women and our countrymen from NE
Hi MAS, are you going to be in Delhi untill the Commonwealth Games? We would like to see the ringside view at the games, the great amalgamation of sports-people, and their amalgamation with Delhi.
a horrible generalization.
When I was in Delhi, I didn’t see any rude Delhi people. They are very helpfull. Only Media who always highlight something bad about Delhi Wallas. May be they have their own agendas specially westerners. If you had been to other countries like Britain, Australia or America. You will see how rude they are specially toward Asian people like us.
Hmmm… Well… photos can’t be the real judge… because Delhi people are equally good at faking it…
Delhi, I think, is not rude, bad tempered or terribly impatient. It is an amalgamation of cultures, as it has always been. this contributes to it being a great city, one which I find the most fascinating of all.
By the way.
Only SOME very small parts of Australian society are rude to Asians, and Sydney has a vibrant Indian community, as well as Chinese, Thai and Japanese.
Not all of us are in the Australian cricket team!
lol i don’t think you proved anything here Mr Mayank just shows how naive you are by posting those pictures to prove a point meh i expected better from you : /
Screw YOU! How dare you say Delhi is not rude? It’s RUDE RUDE RUDE. Delhi = Rude. Look at all the comments saying Delhi is rude. Everyone says Delhi is rude.
All these photos are photoshopped. You stole the smiles of non-Delhi residents and doctored these photos, you happiness thief!
tell someone to screw himself and call others rude. fly, you fool!
dude…whatsup with you and arundhati roy…are you dating or something…you seem to run into each other all the time.
Whats ur camera?
– DB
Hey bro. I am from Bombay and I found it really shocking to see the general attitude of the people. Delhi is RUDE, yes. And saying that it is “a city on the move” dos not mean anything coz Bombay is atleast three times the pace of Delhi and I have never come across such anger in my entire life.
Bruised Delhiite – You have just cemented the fact with your comments which are not only rude but also RACIST.
Well, it’s kind of hard to say judging from these random pictures. Perhaps they aren’t being rude in these photographs, but in real life, in a different situation who knows how they will react? Nor are they the only Delhiites, hence it’s just one side of the coin.
By the way, some of the photographs are amazing. Really enjoyed looking at them. Thanks a lot for sharing.
P.S. My fascination with Delhi started ever since I read, The City of Djinns:)
You are a fake. They are all rude you know it.
Even for your standard of biased PR, this one is pretty lame, Austen. These pics would’ve been better received if titled something like “the other face of rude delhi’s rapists”!
Hi,
I was born in Delhi, brought up in Gujarat & worked/lived in Mumbai. I been & lived in Delhi time by time. But I realy feel shame to say that there is a huge diffrence in Delhi & Gujarat or Mumbai. I am sure people in Delhi are rude & allways try to cheat other people. People are very aggrasive, they don’t love there nation.
From my individual experience of having lived in Delhi, the city – and North India in general, is quite aggresive – overtly and covertly. Especially to women.
For heaven’s sake!! Why are u guys being so judgmental…Its been close to 3 years since i have been staying in Delhi.
I can’t say that people here aren’t rude or impatient but wait a minute..why does everyone have to only look at the darker side of it.Why forget the generosity..the helpfulness?? Remember the times when u lost your way…or missed a turn…rolled your window and asked people for directions!
Guys try doing that in US!
am not getting into the debate of whether Delhi is rude or not coz thats alltogether too negative…its equally nice.
I travel to and forth Delhi everyday.
Once at Rajendra nagar I had to stand in line 3 times to get on the Metro, coz people would simply push past me and it was a total mayhem, with nobody to look at the elderly people or the kids.
whatever they were in a hurry for was important than what the other person was in a hurry for.
But then I frequently get lost and have asked directions from all sorts of people. Have chatted with autowallas, conductors and the Drivers and had a nice ride. 🙂
i've lived in delhi my entire life and have yet to see the so called * rude* delhi… people the world over are rude… thats depends on person to person… you really cant generalize to such an extent.why forget that people from all over the country have made delhi their home. how can anybody say that delhivaalas are rude when alot of delhis population are not true delhivalaas… maybe they are the ones being rude…lol…broaden your minds a bit and try not to be so negative. dont live here if you think we're so rude.(p.s. im not being rude 😛 )